After a year of planning, Akron is ready to launch the first ever National Hamburger Festival. The festival will attract hamburger connoisseurs from around the U.S. to Downtown Akron’s Canal Park, Saturday August 12 and Sunday, August 13, and is sure to entertain thousands of hamburger fans with food, music, and fun.

"This is probably the best place to stage a national tribute since Akron is the "home" of the hamburger," said Mayor Don Plusquellic. "The Menches family has long laid claim to the invention of the hamburger, and we plan to support them.” The Menches family claims their ancestors, Frank and Charles Menches, two brothers who lived and worked in Akron, invented the hamburger at the New York State Fair in 1885.

The claim of who invented the hamburger, may finally be laid to rest at this year’s event during the first-ever "Hamburger Hearings,"a mock trial that will be conducted on the main stage at Canal Park on Saturday at 3pm. It may turn out to be the Food Trial of the Century.

Seymour, Wisconsin says it was Charlie Nagreen who invented the sandwich in their town that year. New Haven, Connecticut insists it was Louis Lasser who "flipped" the first burger in 1900. Or, was it Fletcher Davis of Athens, Texas, who did it first, in 1904? Each of them will make their case during the "Hamburger Hearings", while their hometown delegations cheer them on.

The National Hamburger Festival is the brainchild of Drew Cerza, president and CEO of the RMI Promotion Group of New York, which also created the highly successful National Buffalo Wing Festival in Buffalo, NY. The 2005 "Wing Fest" drew nearly 69,000 visitors. RMI has a decade-long record of successful event management across the country. 

"Akron is the perfect place for this great national festival," said Cerza. "After all, Akron is an All America City and is home to the National Inventor’s Hall of Fame. This summer Akron will be able to brand itself as the "Hamburger Capital of the World".

Akron Children’s Hospital will benefit from revenue raised from the festival and will also provide volunteers who will work during the event. Monies raised will go to the Campaign for Kids, the largest fund-raising initiative in the hospital’s history with a $100 million goal for hospital endowment, equipment, and programs. Volunteer groups are still needed. If interested, contact

The festival will feature fifteen local and national restaurants serving their hamburger specialties to thousands of festival attendees. Over 40 different styles will be served in sample sizes with additional summer dishes and Akron food favorites available.

Participating restaurants include Big Boy, Barley House, Cheeseburger in Paradise, Hodge’s Café, Louie’s, Main Street Saloon, Menches Brothers, Panini’s, Park Avenue Grille, Skyway, Steel Trolly Diner, Sportsterz, Legend’s Sports Bar and Grille, and Horizon Burgers.

The festival will also offer live music, including Pirate Dreams - - the ultimate tribute to Jimmy Buffett. There will also be children’s activities in the Kids Zone and contests galore: the "Bobbing for Burgers" contest, the Miss Hamburger Festival contest, and the Big Boy Ohio Hamburger Eating Championship along with a Best Burger challenge for both amateurs and competing restaurants. A celebrity cook-off will be held Friday Night at the Menches Brothers restaurant located in Canal Park. as part of a pre-festival media night.

Festival hours are Saturday from noon – 9pm and Sunday from noon – 7pm. Tickets will be sold at the gate for $5.00 per person. Children 7 years old and younger are free. Food and beverages will be sold separately.                                           

Additional information is available at www.hamburgerfestival.com