Summertime Strawberries at the Troy Strawberry Festival

724
Hugging berries

Photos courtesy Trow Strawberry Festival

Just north of Dayton, the city of Troy, Ohio, has been filled with strawberries every year since 1977, when the first Strawberry Festival took over the town. This June, Troy will be packed once again with strawberry vendors, live music performances, and artisan booths. The events kick off on Friday, June 5 on Troy’s Great Miami River Levee with an evening of food, free entertainment, and a children’s parade at 6 p.m., before two full days of fun throughout the weekend (June 6 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., and June 7 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.).

More than 70 vendors will market a myriad of strawberry-based foods, from strawberry donuts to barbecue sauce to salsa. Munch on some chocolate-covered strawberries while checking out the 200-plus booths by local creatives and craftsmen selling their handmade goods before stopping by the Levee Center Stage on Saturday at 1 p.m. for a pint-sized pageant for Little Miss and Mr. Strawberry, featuring children ages 4 to 6 dressed in costumes that correlate with this year’s festival theme: “Bowling for Berries.”

Sunday morning will begin bright and early with registration at 8 a.m. for a car cruise through town and registration for the bike tour—with 25K, 50K, and 100K routes available—starting at 7 a.m. At noon, the 13-months and under crowd can get in on the action with a Diaper Derby, during which the infants will crawl across a carpeted track to the finish line for the chance at a prize for fastest baby or best costume. The Super Kids races will send children in age groups ranging from 3 to 10 years old running through obstacle courses starting at 11 a.m., and those 18 and older can participate in Ohio’s great pastime—a cornhole tournament—at 1 p.m. Spend the final hours walking the historic streets of Troy and pick up some strawberry jam to go for the car ride home.

Troy Strawberry Festival, gostrawberries.com

Facebook Comments