Crave sweethearts Erik Carlsen-Landy and Anansa Thompson. Photo furnished
As we hope you’ve heard by now, this month Smiley Pete Publishing (the parent company of this magazine) will produce the sixth iteration of our largest annual event, Crave Lexington Food & Music Festival. Through the festival over the years, we’ve made friends with a special couple, Erik Carlsen-Landy and Anansa Thompson, who we are confident are among the festival’s biggest fans – the second-annual Crave was one of their first big outings as a couple, and we are honored that this year’s festival will serve as the site of their engagement photos. We’ve enjoyed following their story over the years and hope you will enjoy meeting them as well!
It’s common for food and drink to play a central role in a couple’s relationship, particularly in those early days of courtship. Lexington couple Erik Carlsen-Landy and Anansa Thompson, who met in 2014, are certainly no exception.
Due to holiday travels and Erik spending the summer in Boston for an internship, many of the couple’s first eight months of dating were long distance, but after Erik returned from Boston, the couple made big plans to attend a new local event, Crave Lexington Food & Music Festival. The second annual festival, which neither had attended before, was to be one of their first big outings together after spending most of the summer apart.
“After his trip, [Erik] was starting to feel bored with Lexington, and I really was, too,” Anansa said. “I heard about Crave randomly on the radio, and it definitely sounded like something he and I would be into.”
Intent on making the most of the festival experience for himself and his new girlfriend, Erik insisted they order the Bacchanal Package: a high-roller package that cost several hundred dollars per person and offered patrons a pass for “all you can eat and drink.”
“[Erik] said that was the only way to do it and even paid for both of our tickets to get me to agree,” Anansa said.
It turned out that for this couple, the splurge was totally worth it. They still cite that weekend at the festival as one of their favorite weekends together. Erik and Anansa have been to every iteration of the event together since then and will be celebrating their recent engagement at this month’s festival.
Looking back, the couple considers that first experience at Crave to be not only a turning point for their relationship with each other, but for their relationship with Lexington as well.
“Crave was one of the reasons we decided to stay in Lexington,” Anansa said, when asked why the festival is so special to them. “When Erik needed to decide where to take the bar exam, our conversations went from ‘Will we miss our family and friends?’ to ‘How are we going to get back for Crave?’”
Erik said they even looked into hotel pricing in the area to see what it would cost them to return to Lexington for Crave, if they decided to move elsewhere.
“A lot of Crave’s importance is that it was the first thing we really did together – it kind of set the tone for what our relationship was going to be,” Erik said. “We look forward to reliving it every year.”
When Erik saw that the festival had stopped offering the Bacchanal package after 2014’s event, he contacted organizers directly and asked if they would create a special package for the couple, so he and Anansa could relive their “all you can eat and drink” adventures at the festival. Each year, the couple touches base with festival organizers, who curate a special package for the Bacchanalians.
While the couple was not quite prepared for what two days of “all you can eat and drink” in the heat of summer would entail that first year – “We both wore way too warm of clothing and ate too much too fast, and I may have been kicked off the stage for dancing during the Saturday night performance,” Erik remembers – they consider themselves pros at the event by now. They look most forward to discovering new local restaurants that they haven’t checked out before. Favorite discoveries of years past include Jasmine Rice, Sav’s and Hannah Lee Bubble Tea, as well as Crank & Boom Ice Cream Lounge.
Pro tip from Crave pro, Erik, regarding Crank & Boom: Get there early and make it your first stop at the festival.
“If you don’t get there early, the line [gets] crazy long,” he said. “It’s worth the wait, but I recommend starting your day off with ice cream at Crave.”
Another pro tip: Drink plenty of water. Hydration can help stave off any less-than-savory effects of eating too much heavy food in the heat, Erik said.
“Definitely go both days and split the park down the middle,” added Anansa. “Do one half of the park on the first day and the other half on the second, so you can experience everything.”
Our favorite Crave couple will take a break from wedding planning to attend the sixth annual Crave Lexington Food & Music Festival at Masterson Station Fairgrounds on Aug. 11-12 – keep an eye out for a couple doing an engagement photoshoot on the festival grounds!
Crave sweethearts Erik Carlsen-Landy and Anansa Thompson. Photo furnished