Is your child a mac-and-cheese only kind of eater?
A ketchup-on-everything kind of kid?
A only-purple-foods-on-Fridays tot?
We hear you! Studies show that kids are naturally, well, kind of picky. And if you want your kids to broaden their culinary horizons, you should expose them to all different types of cuisine — as early as possible.
What’s a Cincinnati Parent to do? Head to one (or all) of these upcoming* food festivals in Cincinnati!
CincItalia
May 13 – 15
Harvest Home Park Fairgrounds, 3961 North Bend Road, Cheviot OH 45211
CincItalia is Cincinnati’s true celebration of Italian heritage. The three-day festival is a showcase of Italian culture— offering entertainment from local and national music acts, cooking demonstrations, carnival rides, games, and authentic cuisine prepared by Italian restaurants and Cincinnati’s Italian cultural societies.
Germania Society Maifest
May 13 – 15
Germania Park, 3529 W Kemper Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45251
Maifest is the traditional German celebration of spring. Each year the Germania Society raises a stein to the blooming flowers and warming weather with our own Maifest celebration called “the most authentic in Cincinnati.” This fest features traditional German food, including whole roasted hogs, ruebens, wursts, and delicious German pastries.
Asian Food Fest
May 14 – 15
Washington Park, 1230 Elm St., Cincinnati, OH 45202
The Asian Food Fest’s mission is to bring the various Asian communities and vendors together in the Greater Cincinnati area to promote diversity through Asian food and culture.
Buckeye BBQ Fest
May 20 –Â 21
The Square at Union Centre, 9285 Centre Pointe Dr., West Chester, OH 45069
This festival features music, car show, kids zone with bounce houses and petting zoo and, of course, barbecue!
Taste of Cincinnati
May 28 – 30
Downtown Cincinnati along 5th St., Cincinnati, OH 45202
Come see the nation’s longest running free culinary arts festival! More than 100 highly delicious dishes await at Taste of Cincinnati.
Italianfest
June 9 – 12
Festival Park, Riverboat Row, Newport, KY 41071
The festival has authentic Italian food and live Italian music performed by entertainers from around the nation and from “the old country,” a Golf Outing, and a Family Photo Booth showcasing the history of Italian families that settled in Newport generations ago. Other fun includes a pizza-eating contest, cooking contest, 5K, games and rides for the little ones.
Panegyri Greek Festival
June 24 – 26
Holy Trinity-St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church, 7000 Winton Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45224
This festival boasts authentic Greek cuisine, pastries, music, dancing, raffles, games and amusement rides.
Glier’s Goettafest
August 4 – 7
Festival Park, Riverboat Row, Newport, KY 41071
Experience this family-friendly, appetite-satiating, weekend-long festival devoted to enjoying a regional delicacy: goetta.
Taste of Blue Ash
August 26 – 28
Blue Ash Summit Park, 4335 Glendale-Milford Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45242
The Taste of Blue Ash is a three-day weekend event where the best food in the area is highlighted to over 120,000 members of the community. With fantastic food, music and exciting activities for everyone in the family, this event is one of the most anticipated events of the summer!
So goet-ta your kids — and appetites — to one of these upcoming festivals!
(*Note: this list runs though August. Stay tuned for a fall roundup!)