Second annual Grasstoberfest set for Saturday

Published 2:09 pm Thursday, September 28, 2023

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Saturday, Sept. 30, will be the last official day of the month.

In Winchester, an opportunity is available to end it with high entertainment.

The second annual Grasstoberfest takes place downtown at the Many Friends Parklet on 15 N. Main Street from 2:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.

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Adam Kidd, the project administrator at DAM Holdings, helped plan the event and said it is a way to give back to the community.

“Our company, DAM Holdings, is beyond grateful for all the community and the support we receive, and support from the city,” Kidd said “We really wanted to come up with a great way to give something back, and Grasstoberfest is what that is.”

The event, which began last year, is free of charge and open to the public.

With DAM Holdings dedicating itself to historical preservation and restoration of downtown Winchester and Kidd himself recently being named Graham Johns Volunteer of the Year by the Winchester-Clark County Chamber of Commerce, ideas and events for improving the downtown atmosphere have never been far from his mind.

“We want to show all the new businesses that moved into downtown that aren’t just our tenants, but across the board,” Kidd said. “There’s a lot of great, new stuff that’s happening here.”

While last year’s program was a success and breeds much familiarity, such as a 6:00 p.m. Chicken Dance, this year also brings some changes.

For example, more kids’ games and activities to engage others, including youth, will be showcased.

Different music acts from out of state will be playing.

Among them are the Reedy River String Band at 6:30 p.m. and the Rumpke Mountain Boys at 8:00 p.m.

While the former hail from Greenville, South Carolina, and includes much Americana and bluegrass-style music, the latter has been called Ohio’s #1 bluegrass band.

Each band’s music also touches on a few different genres.

“We didn’t do that to snub local musicians,” Kidd said. “We wanted to give the community a taste of something they may not have ever heard before.”

Several local vendors and sponsors will also be present, with much food and drink available.

DAM Holdings, which also played a crucial role in developing the art gallery space for the Winchester Art Guild that opened during Pioneer Festival weekend inside the McEldowney Building, is determined to make Grasstoberfest one of many ways the community of Winchester is served.

“We 100% try as much as we can to practice the business philosophy [that] our company’s success is directly tied to Winchester’s success”, Kidd said. “We know that if we’re going to be successful, Winchester has to be successful as well.”

While the work put into preparing Grasstoberfest may be tiring at times, there’s much to appreciate for Kidd and those working behind the scenes.

“Last year, we were able to bring down hundreds of people that I had never seen before, and as somebody who spends eighty hours a week in downtown Winchester that was our big win!” he said. “We’re going to continue to look for new ways to stimulate art and culture just as much as we’re working on repairing buildings.”

In addition to vendors opening for business at 2 p.m., live music will start at 3:00 p.m. with Highland Tiger.

Matt and Tom Fassas will perform at 4:30 p.m.