Fresh Fest enters its sixth year as one of Cleveland's fast-growing cultural events.

Why it matters: The festival shines a light on the often-overlooked arts community in Cleveland's predominantly Black, historical Kinsman neighborhood.

Driving the news: This year's Fresh Fest is tomorrow 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."

Cleveland City Councilman Kerry McCormack will resign next month to take a job with Flock Safety, a security technology company known mainly for its license plate readers.

State of play: McCormack announced earlier this year that he wouldn't seek reelection and has been hunting for a new job ever since.

• He'll lead public affairs work for Flock in the eastern U.S. and will continue to live in Cleveland, per a council press release.
• McCormack says he plans to nominate Lauren Welch, interim communications director for Say Yes Cleveland and a trustee on the RTA board, to fill his Ward 3 seat.

What he's saying: "Ensuring that we continue to build safe and thriving neighborhoods remains my professional passion," McCormack said in a statement.

Zoom in: More than 400 police departments in Ohio, including Rocky River and Mentor, have invested in Flock products, News 5 reported last year.

• The company drew controversy earlier this year for the methods and sources of its data acquisition.

What's next: Council will vote on Welch's appointment at its Oct. 6 regular meeting, but she would only serve for the remainder of the year if approved.

• Much of McCormack's current Ward 3 — Ohio City, Tremont, downtown — will become the new Ward 7 in 2026.
• Candidates Austin Davis and Mohammad Faraj recently advanced in the primary election there.

Charlie Kirk, who was shot and killed Wednesday in Utah, was scheduled to speak later this month at the Center for Christian Virtue's Gala in Cleveland. (CCV)

✍🏽 The in-person portion of the free Inkubator Writing Conference takes place today and tomorrow at the Cleveland Public Library downtown. (Literary Cleveland)

🗳️ Sandra Morgan, who was appointed interim mayor of East Cleveland during former Mayor Brandon King's criminal trial, won Tuesday's primary election in a landslide.

• She'll face current Mayor Lateek Shabazz in the November general. (Ideastream)

Expect Ohioans to be glued to how "Only Murders in the Building" and "The White Lotus" perform at the Primetime Emmy Awards on Sunday.

State of play: Those were the most-searched titles among Roku users in Ohio in the Best Comedy Series and Best Drama Series categories, according to the streaming platform.

• "The Penguin," a spinoff of the 2022 film "The Batman," was the top-searched show in the Best Limited Series category in all 50 states.

💭 Troy's thought bubble: I'm hoping "The Pitt" gets some love. The HBO Max hospital drama gave me anxiety ... in a good way.

💭 Sam's thought bubble: I'm always 12-18 months behind the zeitgeist when it comes to streaming TV, but I'm digging the second seasons of both "Severance" (Apple TV+) and "Andor" (Disney+).

Zoom in: "The White Lotus" star Carrie Coon was born and raised in Copley, near Akron, and went to the University of Mount Union.

• She's nominated for outstanding supporting actress in a drama.

🎥 And Kathryn Hahn, nominated for outstanding supporting actress in a comedy for "The Studio," grew up in Cleveland Heights.

• She got her first acting job on a local children's puppet show on Cleveland's WKYC-TV.

What's next: The Primetime Emmy Awards, hosted by comedian Nate Bargatze, air on CBS and Paramount+.

👋 Sam here. I read a piece in the New York Times last month that documented 25 of the city's greatest trees.

Why it matters: It got me curious about the cream of Cleveland's arboreal crop.

Zoom in: Maybe you're familiar with the Moses Cleaveland trees — 150 trees identified during Cleveland's sesquicentennial in 1946 as being at least 150 years old.

• More were added to a countywide inventory through 1986, and as of 2021, about 70 remained.

Yes, but: These aren't the only special trees in Cleveland.

• For example, there's also the famously picturesque Weeping Willow at Edgewater Park.

🌲 Reply to this email with your favorite local trees.

• Let us know why you love them and provide specific locations if possible so I can go snap some pictures for a future story!