Hamilpalooza is food, fun, shopping —and your chance to win a new car

The inaugural Hamilpalooza aims to be a family-friendly event for guests to enjoy food, fun, entertainment, shopping and connecting with more than 100 local vendors.

Organized by the Greater Hamilton Chamber of Commerce, the free event take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at the Butler County Fairgrounds, 1715 Fairgrove Ave., Hamilton. Hamilpalooza features everything from gifts, crafting, home décor and new, repurposed and vintage items to restaurants, caterers, food trucks, clubs, non-profit organizations, trades and professional services, according to Dan Bates, the chamber's president and CEO.

“A lot of them are not chamber members, which was kind of the point, to give people an opportunity that don’t have a relationship with us to get exposure to the chamber and the rest of the business community,” Bates said.

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Food inside the event is free while anything that is for sale will be available via eight food trucks, Bates said. A beer garden will be offered from 10 a.m. until 3:45 p.m.

Performances by students from Butler Tech School of the Arts — including bands, soloists, dancers and more — will take place from 10:15 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. at the Music Pavilion. Performing from 1 to 3 p.m. will be band 90 Proof Twang.

The Great Miami Valley YMCA Family Fun Zone will run the duration of the entire event to keep young children occupied. Westside Lowriders will put on a mini low-riders show, and a local pedicab company will showcase its human-pedaled vehicles.

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Hamilpalooza is giving away a Kia Optima LX AT, courtesy of Auto Express on Ohio 4. The drawing will take place at 3 p.m. Saturday at the fairgrounds. The winner need not be present to win.

“There’s kind of a little bit of everything,” Bates said. “This is different for us because all of our stuff has always been business to business. This is … business to consumer.”

Parking is ample and free to the public, he said.

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