The festival is back with live music, dancers, art, a chain saw carver and much more

Clifton Gorge in Greene County, Ohio, is a go-to spot for enjoying the outdoors and a long hike. This year, it will become much more than that with the annual Clifton Gorge Music & Arts Festival. After taking a year off, the festival is back and hopes to be bigger and better than ever.

The festival will begin at 4 p.m. on Friday, August 27, with the “cruise-in.” There will be music, food, a beer garden, art and vendors.

“We have a small-town feel,” Sue Chasnov, festival committee member, said. “We’ve been told we’re very friendly here. People get along, and we have a beautiful area with the Clifton Gorge nearby.”

In addition to art, vendors and food, there will be a variety of live music acts at the festival, including Comin’ Home Jazz, Pinnacle Ridge, Nasty Bingo, One More Time Swing Band, The Temps, A Band Called Dreamland, Blue Notes, The Hoppers and Ohio Brass & Electric. All musical acts are local and will be playing in one- to two-hour intervals.

Dance troupes will also attend the festival, with the Dayton Celtic Academy, Troupe Roja, The Sayaw FilipinOH and Cardinal Squares performing. 

One of the biggest draws of the festival is the chainsaw carver and the Aurora Fire Dancers.

“Everyone really loves the fire dancers,” Chasnov said. “People also like the chainsaw carver. He does an interesting event where he does demonstrations of carving things out of a box with a chainsaw. A pumpkin, a mushroom — my neighbor has a bear.”

More than 50 arts and crafts vendors will set up shop at the festival, as well, with about 10 food vendors.  

After taking 2020 off for the first time in over 30 years of the festival, Chasnov has high hopes for 2021.

“It feels like people are anxious to get back,” Chasnov said. “We have a lot of vendors coming. I’m hoping that means that the patrons will also be anxious to get back and we’ll have good crowds.”