The Ohio River will be a-buzz this weekend when thousands of locals on canoe and kayak come through for Paddlefest. Celebrate the mighty river Friday at the Ohio River Music & Outdoor Festival. Enjoy live roots music, boating demos, a kayak fishing tournament, gear swap and much more river-y goodness. The free fest takes over Coney Island until 11:30 p.m. The main event begins early Saturday morning, with day-of race registration from 6:30-9 a.m. Racing events include a 14-mile pro race, an 11-mile amateur race and a 5-mile stand up paddleboard race. Not into paddling? Come to watch the river fill with boats then grab some food and listen to music by Lagniappe at the Finish Line Festival until 2:30 p.m. Summer in Cincinnati means food-filled cultural festivals almost every week. Next up: Panegyri Greek Festival in Finneytown! St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church’s annual celebration features delicious, authentic food, Greek dancing lessons, cooking demos, shopping and more. Taste your way through Greece with spanakopita, gyros, salads, baklava and the best Greek gift to Cincinnati of them all: Skyline Chili. Admission is $2 and the festival is open Friday-Sunday. Go here for directions. Opa! Northside Art in the Park fills Jacob Hoffner Park with fine art, gifts and crafty goods from 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Saturday. This is the ever-eclectic Northside we’re talking about, so don’t expect your grandma’s art sale here. More than 50 vendors will be hawking funky handmade jewelry, quirky ceramics and incredible art for your home. Stop by the Taco Azul food truck, on-site for lunch or dinner and bring the kids for fun activities, a hoola hoop workshop, face-painting and more. You may not know civil engineer John Augustus Roebling, but if you’ve ever crossed the suspension bridge, you’re definitely familiar with his work. Roebling went down in history for designing wire rope suspension bridges like the one that connects Cincy to northern Kentucky and some little New York bridge. Celebrate the famous bridge designer, local architecture and all the Queen City has to offer Saturday at RoeblingFest. From 11 a.m.-11 p.m. the bridge will host a giant bash with food and drink vendors, live music and performers, raffles, exhibits and more. Learn about local architecture and public art with guided historic tours and on-site museum exhibits throughout the day. The event ends with fireworks on the river. You don’t need to go to a sketchy Brooklyn neighborhood for a killer warehouse party — at least not this weekend. Local arts organization parProjects (which introduced many to the new American Can Lofts space with 2011’s Factory Square Fine Arts Festival) presents Symphonic Stylings at The Electric Warehouse Saturday. The new creative space (located in Northside’s Bertke Electric Buildings) will come alive with interactive art installations, fashion and music. Washington D.C.'s ARTAYA and local shops NVISION and Sloane Boutique will present a fabulous fashion show set to the tunes of concert:nova and the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra. The warehouse will also feature work by artists Susan Byrnes, Rob Wolpert and Billy Colbert along with plenty of libations. Support parProjects with and get down beginning at 8 p.m. VIP tickets grant early admission, a drink and dinner by the bite. Stick around after the show or come late for a dance party 10:30 p.m.-1:30 a.m. with DJ Pillo. Slow Food Cincinnati is a local chapter of a global grassroots movement seeking to promote good, clean and fair food in the area. If you support the idea of eating food that is delicious and nutritious, beneficial to the environment and good for the people who grow and produce it, join the group for a Slow Food Dinner at Local 127 Sunday. The downtown restaurant’s Chef and Master Sommelier, Steven Geddes, will prepare a sustainable, locally-sourced meal with wine optional pairings to be served at 6 p.m. Come early to watch him butcher a whole hog at 1 p.m. It’s not as odd as it may sound — it’s good to know where our food comes from! Reserve your spot by calling Local 127 at 513-721-1345.

Napoleon Ridge Farm is hosting “Dinner on the Farm” on Friday, June 1 at their farm in Gallatin County. The fundraising dinner is part of this year’s Farmers’ Fair: Know Your Farmer, Know Your Food series. The event will raise funds for Community Farm Alliance, a 26-year-old nonprofit Kentucky grassroots organization that advocates for farms, farmers and food systems. The dinner will take place under the eaves of their large barn so rain will not be a problem. As this is a working farm, the animals will be there to say hello, and portable restrooms will be available for use as well. Chef Steven Geddes from Local 127 and Chef Justin Dean from Relish Group will be harvesting, butchering and cooking the dinner — and having enjoyed Napoleon Ridge’s delicious pork and fresh herbs that I purchased at the Covington Farmer’s Market for the last two Saturdays, I know they will be working with wonderful ingredients. Wine to compliment the food will be from StoneBrook Winery in Camp Springs, and delicious musical entertainment will be provided by Kyle Knapp and Chris Cusentino of The Turkeys. There will also be Kentucky Ale and non-alcoholic drinks available. Tickets are $100 per seat, limited to the first 50 paid seats, which includes all food, beverages including wine and beer, entertainment and a shuttle ride to the farm and back from Fountain Square — about a 70 mile round trip, so that makes it a real bargain! To make a reservation, contact Napoleon Ridge's owner, Tricia Houston, tricia@napoleonridgefarm.com or call 859-643-FARM for more information.

Greater Cincinnati Independent restaurants will present their annual Spring Restaurant Week March 12-21. Each year during this event, local eateries offer diners special deals on a sampling menu. If you've been wanting to check out some new (or classic) area restaurants, this is the perfect chance to taste lots of dishes without dropping major cash.This year's event features 27 local restaurants including Vito's Cafe, Jag's, Local 127, The Golden Lamb and The Midwest Culinary Institute's on-site restaurant, The Summit. Each spot offers a three-course tasting menu for $26.12. There will also be wine pairings from William Hill Estate Winery and cocktails by OYO Vodka, produced in Columbus using Ohio-grown ingredients.Eating local gives diners the opportunity to experience Cincinnati's own "flair," but it's more than just a great way to show "team spirit" for your hometown. Money spent at independent businesses is stretched farther and filters back into the local economy. And when restaurants like La Poste and Lavomatic cook with locally sourced ingredients, it creates a chain effect of funds remaining within the Greater Cincinnati market. Meta-local!Greater Cincinnati Independent also presents a yearly Fall Restaurant Week. Gift certificates and rewards cards are available at eatlocalcincy.com. Go here to check out all participating restaurants for March's event.