Garlicky
It’s why we taste so good in Cleveland
It’s a not so well-kept secret that Cleveland’s roots are in garlic. What, you didn’t know that? Think about our restaurant food revolution, our ancestors from all over the world, the chicken paprikash Grandma used to make. It’s all garlicky.
So it’s not surprising that someone in Cleveland would come up with a garlic festival. The Cleveland Garlic Festival, on Sat 9/10 and Sun 9/11 at Shaker Square will feature fourteen bands and other acts, an opening preview brunch, a top chef grill-off competition and crown a Miss Garlic to sit high on her chair during the Princess Fairy Court Parade. The event is organized by North Union Farmers Market, which brought one of Cleveland’s first farmers markets to a Cleveland neighborhood. The idea is to promote the importance of local foods and the love of garlic. After going to the Garlic Festival, you may find yourself roasting garlic to spread on a baguette or making a dish like 40 cloves of garlic chicken.
There will definitely be some garlic at the Lake Erie Perch Fest this weekend Fri 9/9 – Sun 9/11. With good weather, the sailboats seen from Fairport Harbor’s Lakefront Park will flavor your day with even more flavor as you taste Lake Erie perch. Festival hours are 4-11PM on Fri 9/9, 12-11PM on Sat 9/10, and 12-8PM on Sun 9/11. The highlight of the festival is the fishing contest, which draws fishermen desirous of showing off their skills. Visitors can watch the fishing competition, tour Fairport Harbor’s historic lighthouse and museum, and take a stroll under Lake Erie skies and across its beaches. Live entertainment, arts and crafts and children’s activities make this an event for the whole family, and it’s free.
Always about community, and as one of the most livable places in the Cleveland area, Lakewood seems to have never-ending festivals. This weekend’s Lakewood Community Festival will highlight those things that give Lakewood its flavor. Arts and crafts, music, pony rides and food — plus a chance to meet all your neighbors, or wish you were their neighbors — will happen at Madison Park on Madison Avenue, between Clarence and Halstead, Sat 9/11 from 11AM-5PM. Speaking of food, and garlic, these are some of the foods mentioned on the website: stuffed cabbage, pierogies, potato cakes, cabbage and noodles, kielbasa and sauerkraut. An assortment of traditional ethnic baked goods and other desserts will be available. Take home some kalachi.
If your way to savor Cleveland is art in a cool neighborhood, Tremont’s Art Walk is the way to go. Not quite a festival, but still with a festival feel, the Art Walk on Fri 9/9 will take you in and out of the galleries, stopping along the way for a beer or ice cream, passing houses where residents sit on their front porches glad to be part of Tremont. Loop, Eye Candy, Banyan Tree, Paul Duda, Robert Hartshorn, doubting Thomas, Tremont Digs, Bac, and Mastroianni Gallery make this Art Walk — the week before the Tremont Festival — one of the best. The Art Walk is from 6-10PM.
Tremont is one stop in Cleveland’s artsy neighborhoods. Another to visit this weekend is the University District (home of the Tower Press Building’s galleries), one stop on the Sparx City Hop tour of Cleveland’s artsy neighborhoods. This one-day event on Sat 9/10 will spark artistic desire from 11-9PM. The Downtown Cleveland Alliance and the Down and AroundTown have collaborated to open up Cleveland’s galleries and provide free trolley services to move people from Tremont to Ohio City to Downtown, AsiaTown, and the St. Clair/Superior District. The event also shows off unique retail stores and provides street entertainment. Don’t be left out — check out all that sparks our city during the Sparx City Hop.
We have the garlic and art thing going on this weekend. Cleveland’s so garlicky.
Claudia Taller’s book Ohio’s Lake Erie Wineries was just released by Arcadia Publishing. Find out more about the book by going to http://OhioLakeErieWineries.blogspot.com and order it through Claudia by sending an e-mail to claudia.t