Hi YoTown Friends! 👋
This is the weekend to make your festival dreams come true!! We’ve got the full scoop on the festival festivities!!! Start planning Youngstown!
This Week's Edition
🎆 Festival Season is Here!!!
🐾 Good Dog Roll Call: Who Needs a Festival Pal?
🍽️ Local Eats Spotlight: Valley Kitchen
🌟 Editor’s Picks: Festival Edition
✨ Look Festival Ready
🧘 Your Festival Reset
🛡️ Focus on Festivals & Fun Stuff
🧹 Festival Season = Messy Homes
🔧 Keep More of Your Festival Money
🏡 Fun Festival Neighborhoods
🚴 Celebrate on Two Wheels
📲 More Scoop Between Issues
📣 Want Your Business in the Scoop?
📅 The Ultimate Festival Guide
🌟 P.S.
🎆 Editor’s Pick for Festival Season
Festival season is here. Church lawns and fairgrounds lit up across the Valley. Music drifting down Main Street. The smell of gyros, cavatelli, and funnel cake in the air from Youngstown to Canfield to Columbiana.
This is our season, YoTown. Let's get out there and enjoy it. ✨
The Valley comes alive this time of year. Festivals every weekend, food you wait all year for, and neighbors packed shoulder to shoulder on the church lawn. From Youngstown to Canfield to Columbiana, summer's just getting started.
Nobody does a festival like YoTown.
Local Pick: Greater Youngstown Italian Fest
(July 31–August 2, Downtown Youngstown)
The big one. Thirty-plus restaurants, two stages, and a morra tournament take over Central Square, plus pageants, wine judging, and a pepper contest. About five bucks at the gate buys a whole weekend of the Valley's best Italian food.
Worth the Drive: Picklesburgh
(July 16–19, Pittsburgh)
The giant Heinz pickle balloon floats back over downtown for the country's top-ranked specialty food festival. Four days of briny everything — pickle pierogies, pickle juice, pickle-inspired cocktails — plus live music and vendors along the bridge. Free to wander. Worth every mile.
🐾 Good Dog Roll Call: Who Needs a Festival Pal?
Everyone needs a festival side kick — and every dog deserves a loving home.
These two sweeties are ready to have some summer fun in a home that loves them.
Adoptable dogs from Mahoning County Dog Warden
Local Eats Spotlight: Valley Kitchen
Whether you're craving a hearty breakfast, a laid-back brunch, or a satisfying lunch, Valley Kitchen delivers fresh flavors, generous portions, and hometown hospitality in every bite. Grab your friends, bring your appetite, and see why locals keep coming back! Visit them at
1393 Boardman-Canfield Rd., Boardman,
Call (234) 338-9191
Explore the menu at valleykitchen.toast.site
✨ Look Festival Ready
Summer festivals are great for memories but not always great for your skin. Heat, sweat, sunscreen, makeup, and long days outside can leave your skin feeling dull or congested. Skin Solution Medspa can help you refresh, reset, and keep your summer glow looking intentional.
Summer damage and wrinkles CAN be reversed, naturally. No fillers, no injections, just a YOUNGER you!
Your Festival
Youngstown Head Spa
Festival season is fun, but it is not exactly relaxing. The heat, crowds, noise, errands, and packed weekends catch up fast. Youngstown Head Spa is your quiet reset — warm water, scalp cleansing, massage, and one peaceful hour where nobody needs anything from you. Book you appointment here. Youngstownheadspa.com
Focus on Festivals & Fun Stuff
Festivals, fireworks, cookouts, road trips, golf carts, backyard chaos…
Summer is fun. It’s also a great reminder to make sure your insurance actually makes sense.
Call Preston Moore with Moore Family Insurance and get the boring-but-important stuff handled.
Festival Season = Messy Homes
Festival season is here, which means full weekends, muddy shoes, sticky floors, and a house that somehow gets messy even when you’re barely home.
Because of their attention to detail and friendly staff, All Spruced Up Cleaning Co is booking a few weeks out, so now is the time to get your deep clean or routine cleaning on the calendar before summer fully takes over.
All Spruced Up Cleaning Company
🔧 How to Keep More of Your Festival Money
Between summer heat, house guests, cookouts, and busy bathrooms, your plumbing and AC are working overtime this festival season. If something starts backing up, leaking, or refusing to cool, call 1-800 Plumber + Air Youngstown before it turns into the main event.
🏡 Fun Festival Neighborhoods
Hailey Ditullio Has the Keys…
Festival season has a way of reminding us what we love about where we live — the neighborhoods, the people, the parks, the traditions.
If you’re thinking about buying or selling in the Mahoning Valley, Hailey Ditullio Realtor can help you find a home that fits the life you’re actually building here.
🚴 Festival Weekend, But Make It an Adventure
Between the music, food, and festival fun, take a break and explore another side of the Valley.
Cruise through Mill Creek Park on an e-bike from Cruise the Creek E-Bikes and enjoy the park in full summer bloom—without worrying about the hills. Whether you're riding with the kids, bringing Grandpa along, or convincing that friend who swears they "don't bike," everyone can keep up and enjoy the journey.
Perfect before the festival, after the festival, or anytime you just want to trade the crowds for fresh air. This long weekend, make a little adventure part of the celebration.
📲 More Scoop Between Issues
The newsletter hits Thursdays. The Facebook group? That's where the magic happens all week long — last-minute event adds, reader tips, breaking good news, and the best kind of YoTown conversation.
🔗 YoTown Scoop on Facebook ·
🔗 yotownscoop.comLocal festivals bring people out — but YoTown Scoop helps local businesses stay in front of them all week long. If you want Mahoning Valley locals to know who you are, what you do, and why they should choose you, newsletter sponsorship is a simple way to show up where the community is already paying attention.
Come Shop the Downtown
Youngstown Farmers Market — Today, July 9
Join us at the Public Library of Youngstown (305 Wick Avenue) from 4:00–7:30 p.m. for fresh produce, eggs, bread, baked goods, and more. Full details on vendors and payment options are attached.
Most importantly, today we're signing eligible families up for Produce Perks Midwest Fruit & Vegetable Vouchers. Qualifying families receive $140 in vouchers to spend on local, fresh fruits and veggies — good through December 31. Eligibility requirements are attached; stop by the Produce Perks tent to sign up while supplies last.
There's plenty happening all evening: OH WOW will be on site with children's activities, Akron Children's Hospital is handing out kids' books and hygiene kits, WIC Mahoning County is hosting a fresh fruit demo, and IC Tunes will be spinning music.
It's going to be a fun night — come shop with us! 🍓
July 9th
4-7:30 PM
305 Wick Avenue @ the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County
🎪 Your Summer Festival Guide
40 reasons to get off the couch this summer, Valley. From church-lawn Italian feasts to the biggest county fair in Ohio, here's everything worth circling on the calendar between now and Labor Day. We're going local first — because that's how we do it around here — then a few that are worth the drive.
Dates and details were current at press time; it never hurts to check the event page before you load up the car.
☀️ Right Here at Home
July
St. Nicholas Greek Summerfest — July 10–13 Lamb, chicken and fish dinners, homemade pastries, live music and folk dancing on the church grounds downtown. Free admission. 220 N. Walnut St., Youngstown.
Y-Live — July 10–11 The Valley's biggest concert weekend takes over Stambaugh Stadium — Jason Aldean and Travis Tritt on Friday, Eric Church and ERNEST on Saturday. Ticketed. YSU campus.
St. Maron Fun Fest — July 11–12 Lebanese food done right — stuffed grape leaves, lamb, hummus — plus bounce houses, carnival games and a $3,000 raffle. Free admission and parking. St. Maron Church, Youngstown.
YSU Summer Festival of the Arts — July 11–12 80-plus juried artists, live music, an ethnic fair and a 5K, all spread across Wean Park. Free — and free parking in the Wick Ave. deck. Downtown Youngstown.
Trumbull County Fair — July 14–19 Truck and tractor pulls, a rodeo, racing pigs, a demolition derby and all the fair food you can carry. Paid admission. 899 Everett Hull Rd., Cortland.
Warren Greek Fest — July 22–26 Five days of gyros, pastries, music and dancing. Free admission. Warren.
Holy Trinity Serbian Day Picnic — July 26 The 93rd annual — Serbian food, live music from Orkestar Pobeda, and raffles all afternoon. Free admission. Youngstown.
Greater Youngstown Italian Fest — July 31–August 2 The big one: 30-plus restaurants, two stages, pageants, wine and pepper contests and a morra tournament on Central Square. About $5 at the gate. Downtown Youngstown.
August
Shaker Woods Festival — August 8–9, 15–16 & 22–23 Three weekends of 200-plus period-dressed craftspeople in a shady wooded village. A Columbiana classic. Paid admission. 44337 County Line Rd., Columbiana.
Brier Hill Italian Fest — August 13–16 Live music, bocce and the neighborhood's legendary Brier Hill pizza. Free admission. Brier Hill, Youngstown.
Mahoning Valley Irish Festival — August 15–16 Irish food, music and culture at St. Luke's. Free-spirited and family-friendly. 5235 South Ave., Boardman.
Glendi – St. John's Greek Festival — August 20–23 Lamb, gyros, grape leaves and homemade pastries with Greek music and dancing. Free admission. 4955 Glenwood Ave., Boardman.
Panerathon — August 23 The Valley's beloved 10K and 2-mile walk-run from the Covelli Centre, benefiting the Joanie Abdu Comprehensive Breast Care Center. Registration required. Downtown Youngstown.
Early September
Canfield Fair — September 2–7 Ohio's largest county fair, all Labor Day weekend long: midway rides, grandstand concerts, livestock and more fair food than you can finish. Paid admission. 7265 Columbiana-Canfield Rd., Canfield.
🚗 Worth the Drive
A little farther out, but big enough to build a day around.
July
Anthrocon — July 2–5 · Pittsburgh One of the world's largest furry conventions, complete with a free public block party and the famous Fursuit Parade on the 4th.
Picklesburgh — July 16–19 · Pittsburgh The giant Heinz pickle balloon floats back over downtown for the country's top-ranked specialty food festival. Free.
Taste of Akron — July 23 · Akron A one-night tour of the area's best restaurants.
Tequila Fest Cleveland — July 25 · Cleveland Fifty-plus tequilas to sample on the lakefront at Voinovich Park. 21 and up.
Akron Arts Expo — July 25–26 · Akron 150-plus artists, kids' activities and live music at Hardesty Park. Free.
Serbian Festival — July 25–26 · Akron Serbian food, pastries, folk music and dancing.
August
Rock, Reggae and Relief — August 8 · Pittsburgh A feel-good benefit block party downtown, with reggae greats and local rock legends.
Feast of the Assumption — August 13–16 · Cleveland The city's biggest Italian street festival, in historic Little Italy, with a procession on the 15th.
Highland Square PorchRokr — August 15 · Akron Local bands play on neighborhood porches, with art and food filling the streets. Free.
Late August & September
One World Day — August 30 · Cleveland A parade of flags and a joyful celebration of the city's diversity in the Cultural Gardens. Free.
Akron CityFest — August 30 · Akron Multiple music stages, food trucks and vendors take over downtown. Free.
Summit Fest — September 5 · Tallmadge Headline music, food trucks and vendors at the Summit County Fairgrounds arena.
All summer long: the Asian Lantern Festival lights up the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo on select weekends in July and August — hundreds of glowing lanterns after dark.
Know a festival we missed? Reply and let us know — we'll add it to the list. See you out there, Valley. 🎡
COMING UP
YOTOWN SCOOP PREPARES TO CELEBRATE ONE YEAR with the SCOOP!
🌟 P.S. 🌟
Life's short. Eat the festival food, dance a little too long, and save us a spot on the lawn.
Know something we should cover?
Hit reply. The best tips come from people paying attention.
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