Eggfest is the one event I look forward to attending every year. The food is plentiful and…read moredelicious. It can be crowded but the lines typically go fast and it allows you some time to digest. There's a dog show that happens two times during the day, cooking demonstrations and vendors tents as well. It's a bonus that All the proceeds go to cancer research. I recommend going earlier than later as some vendors run out of food. Overall, one of the best foodie events there is. I definitely recommend.

I had seen a reference to this online, but figured it was just a grill show and ignored it…read more Sweetie surprised me with tickets for my birthday, and it turned out to be more than that. Really a food festival/cooking competition. At Fortress Obetz, mainly in the shade under the bleachers, there were dozens of contestants from regional restaurants, food shops, and private teams. Tickets include free samples, so we wandered and tasted. Mainly BBQ-leaning items, but also tacos, bagels and lox, and more. The worst thing I had all morning was still pretty darn good, and some were stellar. You can vote for your favorite. The competitors were friendly and informative, proud to share and talk about their entries. Baby K wasn't much into it, she's not a carnivore, but she had some pita and a snowcone, and a cookie. There were vendors with baked goods, lemonade, grilling supplies, etc. Free bottles of water, nicely chilled on a hot day. A beer garden. Go early; it got busy quick, and there was just a conga line going from table to table for tastings. Parking at the stadium is easy. There was music throughout the day, cooking demos, and a dog skill show.

The annual Holiday Open House held along High Street on the Sunday after Thanksgiving is a fun way…read moreto kick off the holiday season! A lot of businesses offer special hours and/or deals along the way, and there are several great community events going on. This year, there were fun opportunities at the corner of High and New England Ave: free horse and carriage rides, free trackless train rides, a snowplow touch-a-truck opportunity, musical performances, an iceless ice rink, and collection of nonperishables for the Worthington Resource Pantry. The Village Green had a neat Maker's Market, food trucks and stands, and was home to the tree lighting. We really enjoyed the train ride, and the fun train whistles the sponsor kindly distributed to the line! For other activities, the map/guide was really helpful! We especially enjoyed Sew to Speak's make your own mouse candy cane ornament for a small fee, AR Workshop's tree cookie stencil ornaments for a donation to Charity Newsies, CoHatch's make your own reindeer food, Electric Sheep's characters in a quiet space for a donation to the Autism Society (Captain America, Wonder Woman, the Grinch, and Anna and Elsa), HER Realtors' amazing holiday window decorations and their fun party atmosphere (balloons, cookies, freshly popped popcorn, and coloring sheets), and picking up some nice hot burritos from the Guelaguetza Street Food truck to enjoy. Naturally, we also eagerly stopped by for a visit with Santa on the gorgeous Worthington Inn porch, with pictures by SEE Studio. What a wonderful way to start the season!

This is the nicest festival I have been to in Canal Winchester…read more Compaired to the rather small ones they usually host, this was pretty major for such a small town. The car show was cool, alot of very nice vintage cars to admire with owners willing to give you the story on them. A lot of kids, rides, snacks, games as well as live bands for adults and the usual fried foods and art/jewelry stands to browse. Also goes on the entire labor day weekend which is nice. Perfect for a stroll on a beautiful late summer day with the family.

Somehow my wife and I managed to justify not just one, but two (!) meals of fair food this weekend…read more Such is the joy/curse of living within walking distance of the annual Canal Winchester Labor Day Festival. The first go-round was understandable -- we haven't eaten the junky treats of fair food in years. So we loaded up on the first day with corn dogs and fried cheese. The next day, we found ourselves drawn back to the festivities at lunch. Ribbon fries. Elephant ears. Lemon Shake-ups. Yet more fried cheese. How are we still alive? I still feel a little sick. Along with the wonderful fair food, this 80-year-old celebration boasts the usual small town carnival stuff -- a midway with games, live music ( I heard at least three Journey covers), arts and crafts, a car show and a parade. No huge surprises, other than the fact that the small town of Canal does it up so big. It's a blast!

We try to come here every year to get a bag of apples to bake my homemade apple pies. The number…read moreone reason we drive 45 minutes to Plain City from Delaware is their delicious pumpkin donuts! They are the best pumpkin donuts I have ever had in my life! Please try one. They cost $3 because they are actually bought from another bakery and transported here. We came during the Honeycrisps Apple pick day. We bought the large bag and headed towards the orchards. The security lady marked our bag and gave us directions to the different Apple tree selections available to pick that day. We chose from Honeycrisps, John Macks, Galas and Golden Delicious apples. Our bag was filled to the max. There were so many perfect beautiful apples. There were also so many fallen fruits...I was sad for the waste. We really enjoyed the experience. In the past when the weather is bad or the trees are bare, we just buy a bag of apples from the store. It's only $25 but you don't get the fun of picking them. The place is so beautiful and we always take a picture in front of the pond.

We picked apples today! Zestar apples which I had never heard of but they are delicious! When we…read morepulled up, the place looked vacant but it wasn't, we walked to the grey shed building and there was someone in there. Great experience, this counted as our Madison County experience!

Storybook Village is an annual event in the Ohio Village. Wasn't held last year, of course, but…read moreBaby K and I went two years ago, and this weekend. It's held in conjunction with WOSU and other local educational organizations, and there are PBS Kids characters around, plus fairy tale characters, crafts, etc. Your toddler/kindergartner will love seeing Curious George, Super Why, et al. The buildings have some characters in them (the baker's wife lamenting the escape of the Gingerbread Man, for example) or toys and activities. Then there are the Shazzbots, local children's music group. Goofy and danceable songs. The store is open, with books, toys, and snacks. There was a food truck and a couple of cold drink/cold treat vendors. Throughout the day there are displays and storytelling. Free for members, and pretty cheap for the general public. Timed ticketing, but you can stay as long as you want. Can't wait for the museum to reopen, but in the meantime, check out events like this in the village.

Heard about this event going on at the Main Library this weekend, and figured Kid K would like it…read moresince she likes to draw. They have a kid's track of seminars, and I thought she might want to go to one. We went to three. And that barely scratches the surface of what this event includes. For people like us, it was free, and there was all sorts of stuff to do. A large area with authors at booths, selling and signing. Seminars and talks on various subjects. Lots of little perks and surprises. For serious participants there were animation screenings at the Wex and Gateway, a tour of the Billy Ireland cartoon museum on campus, afterparties, and more. The kid seminars were great. Authors led the kids in finishing cartoon panels, character creation, drawing with basic shapes, and more. The authors we met were super enthusiastic about sharing their art with kids, and encouraging them. Paper and pencils were provided. The event and library staff were great: helpful, organized, and seemingly everywhere. Things didn't intrude too much on regular library patrons, though of course it was a bit noisier than usual. I don't know comics really, so if some of these folks were famous I had no idea. But at least one drew a huge line outside the library, and most seminars were packed. I don't know how long this event has been going on (last year too, at least.) But I hope it happens next year. Kid K loved it, I enjoyed it, and there's a lot to explore.

It was my first time going to the Central Ohio Fire Museum and learned a lot about the the former…read morefirehouse with the history of firefighting and how to be safe from a fire. The tour guide was a firefighter himself and gave a great knowledge about fighting fires. I got to ring the bell. I would recommend going to The Central Ohio Fire Museum to learn more of the history of firefighting and staying safe from a fire.

My 4 year old LOVES all things firefighters. We stopped in on a Saturday morning when we had a…read morespare 2 hours and were met with enthusiasm from all the staff and one firefighter staff gave us a detailed tour. She made the museum exciting and engaging for our kiddo. The play area was so fun for him and we had to drag him away or he could have been there all day. He got a helmet and sticker on the way out and wore the helmet all the way home (on the airplane). Highly recommend for littles or bigs that love firefighters and history!

Baby K loves trains, so we figured we'd check this out. And it was a pretty fun event. Geared…read moremostly towards adults and older kids, with tons of vendors of standard train sets, it also had some stuff for little kids. Some vendors had play areas set up. There were two places for kids to ride trains. Assorted handouts of stickers, etc., were appreciated. Hands-on activities like driving toy trains with remote controls appealed to kids and adults. There were also clothing, accessories, Legos, signs, etc. If you like trains at all, this is worth it, though it is expensive for adults. Kids under 15 or so are free. The food court was open, and smelled good, though I did not want to pay even more for overpriced, underwhelming eats. We had fun for an hour or so, then left for lunch and more Legos. The fairgrounds/expo center hosts many events, so keep an eye on their schedule for more train shows, pet shows, animal events, etc. $5 parking and sometimes free entry for events means a reasonably-priced day for the whole family.