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Inaugural We Are Walnut Hills Festival to Take Place This Saturday at Firehouse Row

A brand new festival will take place in Walnut Hills this Saturday, and event organizers are hoping it capitalizes on and celebrates the community engagement and activism now defining the neighborhood.

Those engaged in what is happening in the city are undoubtedly familiar with the positive energy that abounds at the numerous Walnut Hills community events. Community Council meetings are packed with a diverse, engaged group of residents on a regular basis.

This is exactly what the upcoming We Are Walnut Hills Festival on May 17 will celebrate. Event organizers say it will be an opportunity to harness the energy of anyone who lives, works or worships in Walnut Hills for a celebration of community.

Recent events there have drawn attendees from the entire city, including, most notably, the Walnut Hills Street Food Festival, which is now planning for its third year. Last year it was estimated to have attracted more than 5,000 people.

Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation (WHRF) community engagement specialist, DJ Greene, says that the We Are Walnut Hills Festival will seek to look inward toward the neighborhood’s roughly 6,500 Walnut Hills residents.

“The festival is really an opportunity for neighborhood people to learn about each other and engage each other,” Greene explained.

The event will take place this Saturday at Firehouse Row, the open green space in the 700 block of McMillan Street, and Five Points Alley, where there will be special activities for kids, art, games and a grill out. And Greene says that local businesses and organizations will be allowed to set up booths for free.

The festival’s location will help show off Five Points Alley’s remarkable transformation. Through the efforts of volunteers, the junction of urban alleyways was turned from a derelict, litter-strewn area into a community gathering space and home to the popular Five Points Pop-Up Biergarten. Building on last year’s inaugural success, beer garden socials will become weekend-long events on the third weekend of every month.

The We Are Walnut Hills Festival will take place from 12pm to 4pm on Saturday, May 17. Anyone interested in volunteering should contact Sarah Dotter at SarahDotter@walnuthillsrf.org. And, of course, you can track all things happening in the neighborhood on social media at #WeAreWalnutHills.