Fresh Fest returns with food, art and MC Lyte

Driving the news: This year's Fresh Fest is Saturday from 1-9pm with hip-hop legend MC Lyte headlining a day's worth of performances.

The intrigue: Fresh Fest takes place at Rid-All Farm and Otter Park, a previously vacant area once dubbed "the forgotten triangle" on Cleveland's east side.

• The land was cleaned up in 2011 and is now home to Rid-All Green Partnership, a 15-acre urban agricultural center and community education hub.

Zoom in: Fresh Fest, which launched in 2019, features arts and food vendors associated with health and wellness.

• The event has doubled its attendance each year, culminating in about 12,000 people in 2024, says Environmental Health Watch CEO Kim Foreman.

What they're saying: "The first year, I wasn't really sure what would happen," Foreman tells Axios.

• "We intended to have this be a festival of scale, to be regional and have people come from all over, which is what we've seen."

State of play: This year's event will showcase more than 80 vendors, over a dozen food trucks and nine musical acts.

• Visitors can also enjoy a farmers market, art installations, educational workshops and kids zone.

The bottom line: Foreman says no matter how big Fresh Fest gets, it will "never, ever, ever" leave its home in Kinsman.

• "The place for this is very important," she says. "It's about shifting mindsets, and enjoying culture in this space and community, instead of regurgitating old narratives and stereotypes."