Fresh Fun

A new event in Cleveland is offering a mix of food, health and wellness, live music, kids’ activities, art and a green infrastructure hike.

Fresh Fest will take place from noon to 9 p.m. Saturday at Rid-All Farm and Otter Park, 8129 Otter Road in the Kinsman neighborhood. The city has repurposed 26.5 acres of previously vacant land for the urban farm. 

The festival will include a farmers market from noon to 4 p.m. and food trucks throughout the event. Visitors also can enjoy food tastings, live music, a scavenger hunt, complimentary five-minute massages and meditation, among other things. Check out the full schedule and the musical lineup and get details about the free hike. Registration is required for the hike.

Locals who live in the suburbs and/or on the west side of town might not know much about the Kinsman neighborhood or the people who live there. Festival organizers seem to acknowledge that in their mission statement: “The mission of Fresh Fest Cleveland is to celebrate the arts and urban agriculture, promote health and wellness (and) showcase fresh and local food, all while breaking down the barriers of this unified and fertile neighborhood and emphasizing cultural unity.”

The neighborhood is not as far from the west side as you might think. Google Maps says it’s a 20-minute drive from Rocky River, for example. When you get there, you can park for free at The Cleveland Metropolitan Housing Authority’s administration building, 8120 Kinsman Road, or St. Paul Missionary Baptist Church, 7903 Kinsman Road. Lolly the Trolley will provide free round trips between the two parking areas and the festival. Trolleys will make pickups every 15 minutes.

By the way, Fresh Fest is looking for volunteers to help on Saturday with setup, cleanup, parking and “other.” You can sign up here.