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WAYNESVILLE — Waynesville's big annual event is called the Ohio Sauerkraut Festival, but another attraction there is actually the bigger draw.

That would be the crafts, said Dawn Schroeder, one of the organizers of the festival, which will pack Waynesville Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 11 and 12.

Consider: There will be 58 food booths run by 30 nonprofits offering a variety of kraut dishes. However, there will be nearly 500 craft booths.

Vendors there come from as far away as Hawaii, which brings vendor Amy Bowman, who will be selling hand-crafted glass from Maui.

"Word builds and goes around the circuit," said Schroeder. "We have a lot of jewelry sold over the weekend, and a lot of woodcraft. People are shopping for Halloween and Christmas."

That doesn't mean that the food has to be left out in the cold. In fact, the Ohio Sauerkraut festival is probably the only place where you can get a hot sundae.

Not a hot fudge sundae, but a hot sundae, made out of potatoes, sour cream, olives, and, of course, sauerkraut.

And that's on top of other kraut-laden food like cabbage rolls, brownies, reuben sandwiches and pizza.

All told, the festival attracts more than 300,000 people to Waynesville - quite a spurt from the 1,500 that came the first year, in 1970.

"It's just grown every year to one of the largest handcrafted juried shows in the country," Schroeder said.

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how to go

WHAT: Ohio Sauerkraut Festival

WHERE: Waynesville, off Ohio 73

WHEN: 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Oct. 11, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 12

COST: Admission free

MORE INFO: (513) 897-8855