Next up in our local series is the Hispanic Heritage Festival, which is a lively festival that celebrates Latin American heritage each year at the Dayton RiverScape MetroPark. This festival is well-attended and takes place just one day, this year lasting from 11am-11pm.
The music was great, especially if you like merengue
In terms of local festivals, this is one of my favorites, and much of that has to do with the food. From spicy pork to savory empanadas, you can find a lot to sample here. This was definitely my favorite part, although I will say
that the drink selection (which consisted solely of Yuengling and Sam Adams) left
something to be desired. I couldn't even find a Corona, let alone Dos
Equis or a Modelo. Still, the food is the real draw for us anyways. If you're a fan of Salsa or Merengue music, you're sure to enjoy some dancing too. I, however, could hardly walk (let alone dance) after sampling all the food I could. Here's what we did.
Plenty of food tents, although the ones on St. Clair were the best
Plenty of grilled food, including Mexican...
...and Peruvian (great empanadas here)
St. Clair is where the better food tents and vendor booths are located
The Lydys, Emerie, Peggy, and Jordan joined us for this trip. Festivals are always better with friends.
Ezra checks out some of the stands
Mmm... empanadas (I had two - steak and chicken)
Ironically, we got caught in the rain while drinking this... true story. Even these were non-alcoholic though, but still tasty.
The pavilion had some music and dancing as well, but to be honest I spent most of my time wandering around here after a brief excursion with Jordan to find an ATM (the closest of which, by the way, is directly East of the MetroParks main office at 409 E. Monument St).
Antojitos Criollos was probably the best food tent we tried, as the line can attest. It's also a local Puerto Rican restaurant that we plan to try now, located at 3937 Linden Ave.
Potatoes, beans and rice, and chicken and pork from Antojitos Criollos
Emerie and Peggy enjoying the fried plantains. The sweet fried plantains were delicious!
Between the food, music, and friends, this is always a fun festival to visit. There's stuff for the kids as well, including games and face-painting. Afterwards part of the group went to see Dr. Strangelove at the Victoria Theater, which was playing as part of their Cool Films Series. We would have joined, but had a class reunion to attend the same evening. It was a great time though and the festival is definitely worth the trip downtown. Enjoy!
So I've decided that this travel blog doesn't have to be about traveling all the way around the world. There are so many things right here in the Miami Valley that we can travel to easily and enjoy as well, and when I have time I'm going to highlight some of them. Given our very brief trip to Germany for an unplanned layover on our trip to Italy this summer, I thought the annual Dayton Germanfest might be a good place to start. Filling in for Amanda (who was out of town for a friend's wedding) on this "trip" was another redhead, my brother Patrick.
For the last thirty years the Dayton Liederkranz-Turner German Club has held a "Germanfest picnic," and this year was their 31st. One of the earlier festivals in the festival season, this was one I'd never attended, usually opting instead for the Oktoberfest, which is also a great time. I'm glad I went though, and there's a lot of great food, music, and festivities to enjoy. The festival takes place at Carillon Park. The video below has a number of highlights and is worth watching to get a sense of the mood. It also serves as a good barometer for whether or not you'll enjoy the music, as yes, there is a lot of polka. But there's also a German beard contest, so how can you not enjoy that?
Food
Food is one of the primary draws, of course. For dinner I got a mett sausage, sauerkraut, and potato salad, which are really fried potatoes. They were delicious, although I kind of wish they had been a little more generous on the portion sizes given the price, which was $9 for everything (not including the beer). Still, it was good, and I was more happy to have enough room for snacks.
Potato salad, sauerkraut, and a mett sausage
After grabbing some dinner we strolled around looking for more food, which is not in short supply. You definitely have to stop by one of the pretzel booths. These pretzels were salty and very light - almost puffy. I'd never had one that tasted quite like them, but they were so good I went back for another. They have the more traditional ones that I'm used to also, but I would always choose this kind if given the choice. The sausages to the right were great too; spicy and like really, really good summer sausage.
Some amazing German pretzels and sausages
The food tent is always busy
And the sausage is cooked nearby
No shortage of food tents either, although if you skip the German food for this then shame on you!
I do like homemade ice cream though... I stayed strong though and saved all the room I had for pretzels
Drink
Germany is also synonymous with beer, of course, and there's no shortage of it here. The prices were reasonable, but if you want a craft beer from a local brewery like Warped Wing or Toxic Brew you'll be paying around $6, while the really good German beers are only $5. Of course, given that the Dayton Sister City was celebrating 50 years of partnership with Augsburg, Germany, it seemed appropriate to celebrate something both cities have in common: great beer.
The main beer tent, where you can find microbrews and German beers
Local microbrews had a respectable showing and celebrated Dayton's burgeoning microbrewery market
Beer just brings people closer together
Seating was actually not a problem, it's a laid-back festival where you can relax and enjoy good company
Fun for all ages!
Entertainment
Kids and adults both have ample opportunities to be entertained here. Whether it's the kids' play area, the merchant and antique booths, or the music stage, you're sure to find something to do.
Just one of the things for the kids... and I'm pretty sure I saw a few adults enjoying it as well
There are also plenty of inflatables to wear the kids out before heading home
Patrick checking out one of the antique booths, which actually had some really cool stuff, mostly books, posters, and magazines
Even Ronald Reagan made an appearance
Plenty of stuff to browse in between food and beer samplings
And, of course, there are beer steins...
As well as other vendors
German food that you could probably only get at Jungle Jims
And a really out of place nutcracker
That's right, lederhosen for the little one
While not normally my thing, polka sounds better when you listen to it while eating sausage and sauerkraut
Many of the tables cleared out so people could get up and dance
And if you can't get enough polka while you're there, you can always take some home with you...
All in all, this is a fun-filled festival with a relaxed environment, good food, great beer, and something to do for everyone. This is definitely one that I'll be going back to next year, and after going I was sad that I had neglected it for so long. Don't make the same mistake I did!
