The Kroger Wellness Festival has “evolved” into a “Wellness Tour,” the supermarket giant says on its website – but so far one stop that’s not listed is its hometown, which has hosted the event since 2018.
Touted last year as “the nation’s largest health and wellness event,” the free weekend festival attracted an estimated 200,000 visitors in September who swarmed to see celebrity-dotted expert panels, cooking demonstrations and musical performances by the All-American Rejects and Third Eye Blind. The event also featured generous free samplings and products.
‘Evolved,’ Kroger unveils tour instead of festival
But Kroger said this year the event will be hitting the road.
“The Kroger Wellness Festival has evolved into the Kroger Wellness Tour,” the grocer said on the event’s webpage. “In 2026, Kroger is expanding wellness experiences beyond a single location and bringing them to stores and communities across the country.”
Cincinnati so far not among ‘premium locations’
So far, four cities are listed as “premium wellness celebration locations:”
The grocer promised additional “event details and participating store locations” would be shared soon.
Kroger said in a statement the premium cities would see “mini-festivals” at local stores “creating opportunities to connect directly with customers.” The grocer added “other divisions including Cincinnati will have in-store activations in select stores throughout the month of September.” The company did not elaborate on how the festivities would differ between premium and other divisions.
Event features celebrities, still being sued by singer Jewel
Originally dubbed the “Wellness Your Way Festival,” the event also featured a number of celebrity appearances. Among them: John Cena, Cameron Diaz, Chrissy Teigen, Peyton Manning, Venus Williams and Rob Lowe.
An early celebrity partner in organizing the original festivals was Grammy-nominated singer Jewel. The singer sued Kroger for dropping her from the event after Kroger renamed the festival after the company in 2022, claiming the grocer “unilaterally terminated the partnership.”
Kroger operates nearly 2,700 stores in 35 states and the District of Columbia, including 77 in Greater Cincinnati. The company employs 403,000 workers, including nearly 20,000 in the Greater Cincinnati region.
The retailer operates stores under the Kroger banner name as well as Fred Meyer, Ralphs, Harris Teeter, Pick ‘n Save, Dillons, King Soopers, Mariano’s, Fry’s, QFC and others.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Kroger Wellness Festival morphs into tour. Will it include Cincinnati?
Reporting by Alexander Coolidge, Cincinnati Enquirer / Cincinnati Enquirer
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
