The Crave Lexington Food & Music Festival is returning this summer, but in a new, larger home.
Festival officials announced Tuesday that the event will be held Saturday and Sunday, Aug. 22 and 23, at the fairgrounds at Masterson Station Park.
Crave Lexington, presented by Smiley Pete Publishing (also Business Lexington’s parent company), will mark its third year at the new site after two successful runs at MoonDance Amphitheater in Beaumont Circle.
“We had a great time building the festival at MoonDance but we are expecting 40- to 50,000 this year,” said Crave director Robbie Morgan. “We just grew so fast that we are simply out of space. Not a bad problem to have really, and a testament to the excitement everyone has for celebrating our farmers and our chefs.”
Morgan said the new venue will serve as a fitting showcase for the festival’s focus on high-quality regional food and drink as well as musical talent.
"Crave is intended to make people happy and curious, and a venue like Masterson Station Park — with so many rolling hills, green grass, ample open space — well, it was really just what we wanted,” she said.
Last year’s festival drew more than 30,000 people to sample offerings from more than 50 food and drink vendors, plus free live musical performances from The Features, Brian Owens & the Message Trio, A Tribe Called Lex, Bluegrass Collective and more. Other activities included cooking demonstrations from local chefs; art installations by PRHTBN; specially ticketed, multi-course “slow food” events; and a variety of kids’ activities.
Information about this year’s vendors, musical lineup and a full schedule of events will be announced in the coming months.
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