The Middlefield Swiss Cheese Festival is back for the first time since 1991, drawing crowds to celebrate the village's Swiss heritage and remarkable growth over the past three decades.
The weekend festival features a Swiss cheese eating contest — where competitors take on a half-pound block of cheese and a bottle of water — alongside a four-man buggy race, a drone show, and an Amish and Yankee tug of war.
"Which we hope to be our annual Swiss cheese eating contest," an organizer said.
When asked whether the Yankees stand a chance in the tug of war, the answer was blunt.
"Not at all," one attendee said, laughing.
The festival is organized by what participants call the cheese board, a group that has watched Middlefield transform over the last 30 years, doubling its population. The village now employs 10,000 people and has become an economic force in Geauga County.
Recent growth includes a 1.2-million-square-foot campus for garden and decor company Growscape, along with new retail and new homes.
Middlefield Mayor Ben Garlich said the development reflects strong demand for housing in the area.
"We have a new housing development going in with 208 homes. They just finished up with 400 homes, so it's a place where people want to live," Garlich said.
Jason Roskelly, an organizer, said the transformation has been dramatic.
"There was nothing here – like 20-30 years ago. It was barely anything and it's just boomed," Roskelly said.
For longtime resident Sue Byler, the festival is both a celebration of the present and a connection to the past.
"Brings back memories from way back when I was much younger and what Middlefield used to be with the Rothenbuehlers bringing the Swiss cheese recipe from Switzerland and opening a co-op here for Amish farmers," Byler said.
The Swiss Cheese Festival runs through Sunday.
Clay LePard is the Ashtabula, Geauga and Portage counties reporter at News 5 Cleveland. Follow him on X @ClayLePard, on Facebook ClayLePardTV or email him at Clay.LePard@wews.com.
