Saturday, June 24, 10am-5pm, Westgate Park, 455 S. Westgate Ave.

The Hilltop Bean Dinner is an 80-year-old tradition that is held every June in Columbus’ Westgate Park. Despite the name, we don’t sit around a table eating beans! The event is a family-friendly festival that remembers the history that made the Columbus west side.

During the Civil War, the area now known as Westgate Park had been a Civil War prison camp called “Camp Chase.” While Westgate is now a gorgeous neighborhood, it used to be a much-feared place by the Confederate soldiers. The soldiers were fed a ration of beans twice a day. While we remember a nation divided during the Civil War, the Hilltop Bean Dinner unites people from all around Columbus in one day of music, a variety of food (including the famous beans), arts and craft vendors, and an antique car show.