1. Donauschwaben Oktoberfest
While not the largest Oktoberfest in the area, Donauschwaben Oktoberfest is the most authentic. The family-friendly festival features a Kinderplatz area with games, activities and a playground for kids, live music, dancing, log sawing contests, a car show and plenty of hearty food and drinks. There are over 30 imported and domestic beers on draft – including favorites such as Hofbrauhaus, Warsteiner and Paulaner – pit-roasted Bavarian pig and chicken, homemade German sausage, stuffed cabbage, goulash with spatzle, homemade pastries and more.
The festival officially kicks off Saturday afternoon with an opening ceremony showcasing a "Trachten Parade" with over 150 participants dressed in authentic German costumes. There's onsite parking and convenient shuttle parking from ABC Daycare and St. John Dry Ridge School. Donauschwaben Oktoberfest runs from 6 p.m.-midnight Friday (car show from 10 a.m.-3 p.m.), 1 p.m.-midnight Saturday, and 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday at 4290 Dry Ridge Road, Colerain Township. Admission is $5 per person. cincydonau.com.
2. Mindful Joy: A Music and Art Collaborative
Baker Hunt Art and Cultural Center (620 Greenup St., Covington) hosts a socially distant indoor and outdoor art opening showcasing new paintings by acclaimed Cincinnati artist Cedric Michael Cox. The exhibit's title is a reference to the contemplative inner peace the artist experiences when creating art, and the works themselves embody a feeling of separating from negativity and celebrating the enduring positive spirit of humanity through passionate color. Only 50 people can enter the Baker Hunt ballroom at a time, so guests are invited to enjoy refreshments, appetizers and the music of modern master violinist Preston Charles III while touring the campus gardens.
The reception runs from 5:30-8:30 p.m. Friday and the exhibition will be on view through Oct. 31. While the reception is free, due to safety guidelines, visitors need to call ahead to reserve their time slot for the opening. Call 859-431-0020 or visit bakerhunt.org.
3. Hueston Woods Apple Butter Festival
"Double, double, toil and trouble, fire burn and cauldron bubble" may be a rhyming couplet from Shakespeare's "Macbeth," but it's also a fairly accurate description for the process of making apple butter. Those of us with roots in Appalachia can probably recall the "toil and trouble" of picking, peeling and chopping up mountains of apples in preparation, but we also know the end result – a deliciously thick and buttery caramelized apple spread – is worth the time and effort.
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