Sarah Jane Sanders
An employee of Jasmine Rice Thai and Vietnamese Cuisine serves a taste to a patron at Crave.
If you really love corn, barbecue, apples, beer cheese or strawberries, there are festivals in Kentucky that celebrate these and many other singular foodstuffs. But if your tastes are more encompassing and you’d like to find a festival with 50 local restaurant vendors selling signature items and specialties, craft beers and cocktails, that’s not as tall of an order as you might imagine.
Crave Lexington Food + Music Festival, now in its seventh year, is like concentrating Lexington’s growing food and beverage scene into one location, said Amy Eddie, the festival’s director of operations. From burgers to Thai, Greek food, pizza and Southern staples, Crave is a great place to discover what Lexington is all about, and there are some festival patrons who come back year after year, Eddie said, hoping to check out the latest from old favorites as well as discover something new. “It’s a place where you can come and try new restaurants you haven’t tried before,” Eddie said. “It’s very community driven.”
Crave Lexington Food + Music Festival, now in its seventh year, is like concentrating Lexington’s growing food and beverage scene into one location.
Crave is produced by Smiley Pete Publishing, the parent company of Business Lexington, Chevy Chaser and Southsider magazines and Tadoo.com. About 3,000 people attended the first Crave festival, held in 2012 at MoonDance Amphitheater. The outdoor festival moved to the much-larger Bluegrass Fairgrounds at Masterson Station Park in 2014, and this year organizers are expecting between 15,000 to 20,000 patrons over the two-day event. It’s a massive undertaking to organize and execute, and Eddie emphasizes that the festival could not happen without the more than 200 community volunteers and 20 event managers who all play key roles in helping to make Crave a success.
The festival’s impact has also grown substantially over the years, as partnerships with local nonprofits also play a key role in Crave’s mission. GreenHouse17, a nonprofit aiding those who’ve experienced intimate partner abuse, is the largest of these partnering agencies. Others include On the Move art studio and Dress for Success Lexington. In all, about $70,000 in festival proceeds have been donated over time. “For us, that’s really where our heart is in this,” Eddie said.
“Crave is an opportunity to enjoy wonderful food, music and community while also providing incredible support for survivors of intimate partner violence and their children. GreenHouse17 is grateful to be a part of Crave,” said Darlene Thomas, the non-profit’s executive director.
Many local restaurant owners and vendors who participate in Crave also see a boost in business from the festival. The event has even played a role in helping to shape or launch several popular concepts. Crave was one of the first events at which Toa Green and her partners, then owners of Thai & Mighty Noodle Bowls, served inventive flavors of homemade ice cream that were a popular dessert at their restaurant. It was so well received that the partners created a new concept built around ice cream, opening Crank & Boom Craft Ice Cream in the Lexington Distillery District later that year. Crank & Boom has since opened a second location in The Barn at The Summit.
“Being at a big, local event, seeing our food friends who participate and meeting new customers who have never had Crank & Boom before” are motivating factors in Crank & Boom’s continued participation, Toa said.
Nipaporn “Kukie” Ruadrew, owner of Jasmine Rice Thai and Vietnamese Cuisine on Winchester Road, said Crave has likewise had a positive impact on her business, helping to introduce the community to her cooking and inspiring many to become regulars at her restaurant.
“I enjoy cooking and I love my customers,” she said. “I want everyone to come out and enjoy music, enjoy food and enjoy the activities and everything Crave has to offer.”
If you go...
Crave will be held from noon to 11 p.m. Aug. 24 and noon to 7 p.m. Aug. 25 at Bluegrass Fairgrounds at Masterson Station Park.
Daily admission is $8 or $12 for a weekend pass (free admission for kids ages 10 and younger). A wide range of food and beverages from local vendors is available for $2, $3 and $5 in “Crave bucks,” the event’s official exchange currency, available onsite at the ticket office.
A full roster of live music, kids’ activities, craft beer and cocktails, a classic car show and culinary demonstrations round out the rain-or-shine event.
The Dash and Dine Crave 5K, a new event this year on Saturday, is a twilight run through Masterson Station Park that finishes at the festival.
Visit cravelexington.com for information.