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Each June, downtown Yellow Springs transforms into one of the most vibrant scenes in the Miami Valley. The Yellow Springs Street Fair draws tens of thousands of visitors into the heart of the village where streets fill with music, food, color, and the creative energy of hundreds of visiting artisans and makers.
But just beyond the pop-up tents and bustling food stalls something else is waiting to be discovered, year-round local businesses that are often hidden in plain sight during the festival rush.
This year, the Yellow Springs Chamber of Commerce is helping visitors slow down and look closer with the launch of the Yellow Springs Street Fair ONLY LOCALS Guide, a compact, street-by-street companion designed to reveal the shops, studios, and restaurants that define the village long after the festival ends.
Think of it less as a map and more as an invitation.
Inside its pages, visitors are encouraged to wander just a little further and step off the main drag to discover what makes Yellow Springs feel like nowhere else in Ohio.
There are so many unique, handmade visiting vendors, and it’s exciting to see a guide that highlights the shops, restaurants, and businesses that make Yellow Springs so unique every day.
Flip through the guide below.
Trouble accessing? Click here
or download the interactive PDF.Â
 You might start with a stop at Miami Valley Pottery’s downtown pop-up shop, where handcrafted ceramics bring a grounded, tactile calm to an otherwise fast-moving festival day. A few blocks away, the scent of waffle cones and summer sweetness pulls crowds toward Corner Cone Dairy Bar, a nostalgic favorite serving up ice cream and treats that feel like a reward after hours of exploring.
For those drawn to adventure and exploration, Lark Overland offers a different kind of discovery, gear, inspiration, and the spirit of the open road tucked right into the village. And then there’s Funky Flamingo, a burst of color and personality that captures the playful, eclectic energy Yellow Springs is known for.
And that’s only the beginning.
The guide continues street by street, weaving together a portrait of downtown that often gets missed in the excitement of festival day. It highlights the boutiques, cafés, and creative spaces that locals return to all year long, places where the pace is slower, the conversations are longer, and the sense of community is unmistakable.
With approximately 2,500 printed copies circulating through the festival footprint, the guide becomes something more than a directory. It becomes a moment of pause, a reminder that while Street Fair weekend brings the world to Yellow Springs, the village itself is always open, always creating, and always worth exploring.
Take a look inside, follow the streets a little deeper, and you will find that the real treasure is not just what arrives for the weekend but what has been here all along.
