Crave Lexington Food + Music Festival has announced more than 50 local and regional restaurants, food trucks and other vendors that will be featured in the upcoming culinary celebration, which returns to Masterson Station Fairgrounds on Saturday, August 12 and Sunday, August 13.
Designed for culinary exploration, the festival is celebrating its fifth anniversary this year. The two-day festival showcases a diverse assortment of entrees and samplings from local and regional restaurants, food trucks and vendors – all at convenient price points of $5 or less.
“With a mix of longtime Lexington favorites and new kids in town, Crave has something for everyone – from farm fresh and local to Greek and far East,” said 2017 festival co-director Theresa Stanley. “Staying mindful of food lifestyle preferences, vegetarian, vegan, and gluten-free options are all well-represented at the festival as well.”
A full list of participating food vendors – ranging from casual diners, handcrafted confections and ethnic street food to established fine dining restaurants and chef-driven caterers – can be found at www.cravelexington.com/food. Also returning this year will be a variety of unique food performances and demonstrations featuring some of Lexington’s best food and beverage makers and professionals.
While food is at the epicenter of Crave Lexington, the festival features a range of attractions for attendees of all ages, including an entire zone dedicated to kids’ activities organized in partnership with the Lexington Public Library. Kid-friendly activities will include a variety of inflatables, giant board games, face painting, art activities, a scavenger hunt and more. The festival will also feature craft beers, cocktails and wine; the annual Crave Classic Car Show; and nearly a dozen local and regional bands, representing genres that run the gamut.
“Central Kentucky’s music scene is incredibly diverse and varied, and we strive for Crave's music stage to reflect that diversity,” said the festival's music and production manager, Saraya Brewer. “While we love to showcase bluegrass, Americana, country and other more traditional Kentucky genres, we also feature lots of other original styles of local music, from R&B and funk to Brazilian samba and psychedelic blues. We’re proud of our local music scene and excited to connect our audience with these great acts, whom they might not be familiar with prior to coming to the festival. ”This year’s music line-up, presented in partnership with local cultural institutions WRFL 88.1 and Lyric Theatre Cultural Arts Center, features almost exclusively Kentucky bands. Popular Lexington group Joslyn & the Sweet Compression, featuring powerhouse vocalist Joslyn Hampton and a veteran group of local musicians, will close the festival Saturday night, with a set of hook-filled funk-and R&B-flavored pop. Closing out Sunday will be a set by Lexington country-tinged rock songwriter Justin Wells, whose 2016 release “Dawn in the Distance” made multiple yearend lists (including Saving Country Music’s Song of the Year). Also taking the stage Sunday afternoon will be The Tillers, a high-energy Cincinnati-based Americana band with roots in that city’s punk rock scene, who have been named “Best Folk and Americana Act” by CityBeat Magazine five of the past eight years. This year’s music lineup also includes the eclectic 10- piece “oddball” pop act Big Fresh, fronted by Apples in Stereo member John Ferguson; upbeat Latino/tropical collective Big Maracas; Driftwood Gypsy, who deliver fun, funky and soulful jam-based rock music; Appalachian roots duoGrits & Soul, self-described foodies who recently appeared on the Kentucky-themed episode of the Travel Channel television show “Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern;” buzzworthy psychedelic blues act Johnny Conqueroo, which consists of a trio of Lexington teenagers; local act The Recipe for Gamma Rays, whose songs “run the emotional gamut from dystopian absurdity to melancholy mania;” and up-and-coming blues virtuoso Treyvon King, the son of award-winning blues guitarist Tee Dee Young. The local 30-plus member ragtag community marching band March Madness Marching Band will engage in a “pop-up parade” style performance on Saturday evening as well. Full music schedule and band bios available atwww.cravelexington/com/music.
The event, which began as a small grassroots celebration of local fare at Beaumont Centre's MoonDance Amphitheater in 2013, has drawn an estimated average yearly attendance of 23,000 over the last few years, seeing an exponential increase in both attendance and vendor participation over the past few years. The festival continues to evolve while honoring the local-centric, exploratory, family-friendly model on which it was founded. “Going into our fifth year, Crave will be focusing more on chef-driven food exhibitions from across the Commonwealth while retaining the food festival atmosphere,” said Amy Eddie, festival co-director. “With 50-plus local restaurants, bringing festival guests more than 150 things to taste, along with new children's programming, craft cocktails and local beers, Crave continues to be the spot to find your new favorite place to eat.”In partnership with its longtime presenting partner Windstream, Crave Lexington is founded and produced by Smiley Pete Publishing, an independent, Lexington-based publishing company that produces the local magazines Chevy Chaser, Southsider and Business Lexington and the website tadoo.com, as well as various events throughout the year, including Lexington Burger Week, Lexington Pizza Week and Bluegrass BBQ Fest.Admission for this year’s event is $8, with children under age 10 admitted for free. Parking at the event site, Masterson Station Park, is also free. Discounted pre-sale admission and ticket packages are available on the event’s website through midnight on Friday, Aug. 4. In addition, a portion of the festival proceeds will be donated to the event’s charitable partner, GreenHouse 17.