Courtesy Local First
More than 30 local food and beverage vendors will be on hand at a food festival in town this week.
The eighth-annual Local First Fork Fest, presented by Brewery Vivant, will be held this Friday from 5-9 p.m. at Romence Gardens and Greenhouses in Grand Rapids, at 265 Lakeside Dr. NE.
The event will feature live music, butchering and cocktail-making demonstrations, an artists market and dozens of local food and beverage producers, growers, grocers and restaurateurs.
“Eating local is one of the best ways to shift your dollars to local businesses,” said Elissa Sangalli Hillary, president, Local First. “Fork Fest helps introduce our community to new and long-standing entrepreneurs and the deliciousness they create.”
Tickets
Tickets, $15-$45, are available online and at the door.
All food samples, one drink ticket, non-alcoholic beverages and entertainment are included in admission.
Event details
Wayfinding signage and a large print map will help orient guests and help people with specific dietary needs.
New this year, Local First and Lions & Rabbits have organized an artists market that will feature 20 local makers selling clothing, leather goods, jewelry, ceramics, woodwork and more.
Louise Earl Butcher and Long Road Distillers will demonstrate their skills in butchering and cocktail-making.
Live music will be provided by Fork Fest veteran and local bluegrass band Fauxgrass.
The event will also provide waste-sorting stations, staffed by the West Michigan Sustainable Business Form, in the hopes to again make Fork Fest a zero-waste event.
Proceeds will go toward the Local First Educational Foundation.
Food vendors
Ada Pour House
Beacon Hill
Brewery Vivant
Byron Center Meats
CitySēn Lounge
Daddy’s Dough
The Green Well
Field & Fire
Gravity Taphouse Grille
Heffron Farms
Irie Kitchen
Koeze
Lindo Mexico
Long Road Distillers
Louise Earl Butcher
Love’s Ice Cream
Madcap Coffee Company
MeXo
Old World Olive Co.
Schuler’s Chapbook Café
Slow Food West Michigan
The Søvengård
Supermercado Mexico
TerraGR
Thousand Oaks Golf Club
Twisted Rooster
Uccello’s Ristorante
Zoko 822
Beverage vendors
Brewery Vivant
Long Road Distillery
Fenn Valley Vineyards
Pux Cider