Devour Dayton September October 2011

42nd Annual Ohio Sauerkraut Festival

By Heather Bryant Mark your calendars and save these dates-October 8th and 9th, 2011 Did you know that Waynesville annually holds one of the nation’s largest craft festivals? What started out with the local merchants wanting to hold a sidewalk sale has grown exponentially each year.

When it all started in 1970, sauerkraut was what was offered for dinner. In October of that same year, the first Sauerkraut Festival was held and had over 1500 visitors. Five hundred and twenty eight pounds of sauerkraut were served. Entertainment was provided

by German bands, an antique car parade, a spelling bee, checkers, folk dancing and prizes for the biggest head of cabbage, as well as the best homemade sauerkraut. There was even a Sauerkraut Queen crowned!

The festival had booths that showcased and sold the fall harvest, arts and crafts, antiques and, of course, food with sauerkraut as an ingredient. This collection of booths and vendors were all set up in the middle of our fair town, on Main Street. Now, annually, the festival is held the second full weekend each October (hours are Saturday from 9am to 8 pm and Sunday from 9 am to 6 pm) and the Waynesville Area Chamber of Commerce oversees the festivities. A special group goes to each booth to ensure that what is sold is absolutely hand crafted, is of quality and has variety of product available.

Food booths are reserved for local non-profit groups that in turn help the community. Sauerkraut takes many forms at the festival. It can range from pork and sauerkraut items to kraut in brownies, pizza, nachos, donuts, fudge and ice cream, as well as bread. Wheat, rye and white breads are all available for purchase. All of this is just a short list! There are also foods without the kraut in them, like hotdogs, brats, funnel cakes, fries and deep fried candy bars. Pepsi is a main sponsor of the event, so their products are sold from many of the food booths to quench your thirst. Another food related sponsor is SnowFloss Kraut made by the Fremont Kraut Company. Waynesville also has a cookbook- Sauerkraut & More. What else would it be called?! It is available anytime from the Chamber of Commerce or at any of the official information booths during the festival.

Eleven years after the first festival the crowd grew to 100,000 and today 42 years later Waynesville hosts over 350,000! It just goes to show how wonderful food and crafts can spread quickly by word of mouth! For parking there are plenty of shuttle signs to follow as you come into town.

Parking at the schools on Dayton Road is hosted by