Mantua’s Art on the Hill & Wine Tasting Too returns July 12 to the village’s downtown, with art, local wine and children’s activities.
The festival will run 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and about 70 artists and five wineries are expected to line East Prospect Street in Mantua.
The 17th annual festival also will include a photo contest, silent auction, wine vendors and children’s crafts. Food and live music also will be part of the festivities.
Susan Steinberg, publicity chair for the Art on the Hill committee, said two Portage County wineries − Salvage Winery from Shalersville and West Main Winery in Ravenna − will be on hand, along with LaLeure Vinyards from Middlefield, Lincoln Way Vinyards from Wooster, and CLE of Cleveland Heights.
Festival wine glasses and tasting tickets will be sold at the entry at the bottom of the Prospect Street hill and at the Main Tent by the old Livery Building, across from the Granary Building. Wine glass lanyards will be available for sale.
Between 60 to 70 artisans, selling pottery, jewelry, soaps, honey, garden décor and sewn items, are expected, along with merchant booths. Local community groups also are expected.
The Art and Craft Raffle Auction will be in the main Art on the Hill tent. Every booth was asked to donate an item for the raffle. Local shops will be open to welcome visitors during the festival.
The popular photo contest is returning to the festival. Photos can be entered under categories such as people, portraits, landscapes, nature, places, events, animals, pets or other art, art photos and photo journalism. Photographers can download an entry form on the website for the Downtown Mantua Revitalization Corporation or pick up a form at Mantua businesses, including Jake’s, Crooked River, Bibury, Next Door General Store, Restoration 44 or Mantua Drug Store. Photos will be on display by the Five Five Studio in the Granary building.
For the third year, festival-goers of all ages can decorate a wooden puzzle piece to be part of a community mural. Other kid-oriented activities include crafts, games and a “balloon man” who will make balloon creatures for the crowd. The Mantua Rotary Club plans to make its booth kid-oriented, with a duck pond game and a chance for kids to do their own “tasting” with juice.
Food trucks that will be available will include Crestwood Lion’s Club, The Double BBQ, Dr. Hibachi and Dr. Boba. Additional foods that will be available include salted nuts, kettle corn, lemonade and donuts. Volunteers can provide directions to restaurants that will be open.
The festival committee promoted the event by leaving Art on the Hill sparkly ducks in the region. Each duck has a tag. When patrons bring the tag to the Main Tent, they can exchange it for a free ticket for the Art and Craft Raffle Auction. A special “Lucky Duck” raffle also is planned just for duck-finders.
Free, dedicated parking is available at 4707 Mill St., across the street from McDonald’s, and parking will be available in the Compass Packaging lot. On-street parking will be limited.
The event is a fundraiser for the Downtown Mantua Revitalization Corp., which uses the funding to match grants for various projects.
Reporter Diane Smith can be reached at dsmith@recordpub.com.
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Art on the Hill, wine tasting will be in Mantua on July 12
Reporting by Diane Smith, Ravenna Record-Courier / Record-Courier
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