Corn is no longer just for eating. You’ve got your choice of a pair of area corn mazes to test your directional sense without Google Maps to help. The Liberty Corn Maze opened last weekend and has two side benefits: a beer garden and open fire s’mores. The Louisburg Cider Mill opens its pumpkin patch and corn maze this weekend. This one is all about cider slushes and cider donuts.
Grab your lederhosen, it’s Oktoberfest season. KC Oktoberfest kicks off tonight from 6 to 11 p.m. and runs through Sunday at Union Station. Get in the spirit with pretzels, schnitzel sandwiches, German beer, and an oompah band. Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door.
The 24th annual Waldo Fall Festival is Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 75th Street and Wornall Road. This is a fest geared toward families with food trucks, face painting, a bounce house and live music. The event is free.
The Festival of the Lost Township beer fest at 62nd Street and Raytown Road in Raytown is Saturday from 1 to 5 p.m. Check out the debut of two new products: Craft Beer Jerky and Crane Brewing Company’s Beet Weiss. Crane is the host of the festival. [Disclosure: KCPT partner Recommended Daily is a sponsor of the Festival of the Lost Township.]
Eat your way through Leawood at A Taste of Leawood on Saturday from 7 to 10:30 p.m. The food festival at Town Center Plaza (5000 W. 119th St., Leawood, Kansas) features more than 30 restaurants (801 Chophouse, Rye and Sullivan’s Steakhouse, among them). Tickets are $55. Just a note: it’s rain or shine.
They should call this one the Kansas City special. At the KC Blues Brews and BBQ Festival, you can have a plate of ribs and a blues act on stage. The fest is from 3 to 10 p.m. at BB’s Lawnside BBQ (1205 E. 85th St.) and benefits Gillis. Admission is $10.
Sip wine. Walk. Repeat. The Village West WineFest at Schlitterbahn Waterpark (9400 State Ave., Kansas City, Kansas) is Saturday from 6 to 9 p.m., with fireworks at 9 p.m. It includes more than 200 wines, along with food from more than 30 area restaurants. You can also pop in the beer garden if you need a wine chaser. Tickets are $75.
Celebrate the farm and feast at the 5th annual Dig In, KC — a benefit for Cultivate Kansas City — at the City Market. The Sunday dinner kicks off at 6:30 p.m. with a wine and beer reception. After that, it’s a meal prepared by The Rieger’s Howard Hanna and Craig Howard of Howard’s, among others. Tickets are $125.
— Jonathan Bender writes about food trends and is the author of “Cookies & Beer” and “Stock, Broth & Bowl.” Follow him on Twitter @jonathanbender.
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