Fill up on flavorful foods at Frontier Festival

SANDUSKY — The Cedar Point Frontier Festival kicked off this past weekend and runs daily through June 30. Guests can expect a whole new array of menu options, live entertainment, local artisans, family games and craft areas.It's similar in concept of the previous Brew & BBQ, though with less of a focus on beer and with more of a family atmosphere. Everywhere from the railroad tracks after the Gemini Midway all the way to the Townhall Museum is fully decked out with sunflower decorations, in partnership with the Prayers from Maria organization to raise funds for childhood cancers.The Frontier Festival kicks off at 4 p.m. each day with food and beverage ending at 9:30 p.m. and last call for alcohol at 9:15 p.m.The entire Frontier Festival is included with admission to the Cedar Point. Food and beverage are an additional cost and done via a ticketing system, available for purchase at event booths. The good news is the tickets for the Frontier Festival can be used on any day of the event, where as the previous Brew & BBQ tickets had to be used on the day of purchase since they were color coded.Frontier Festival menuWhile the entire Frontier Town has sheds all over, there are five of them specifically for the food offerings, while the others are for the beverages and local artisans:1. Cluck Cluck Shed:• Fire-roasted chicken drums with wild flower honey barbecue or Carolina gold barbecue (1 ticket); Chicken legs are grilled on the midway, offering a subtle smokey flavor. Enjoy them with their dry rub or sample the wild flower honey barbecue sauce that features caramelized honey combined with the traditional barbecue sauce.• Sweet and sassy smoked wings; An order consists of two chicken wings that have been prepared in Cedar Point's smokers with mesquite wood and then finished over the grill. The crispy skin holds in an intense smokey flavor.Smoked wings are among one of the specialty foods offered at Cedar Point's Frontier Festival, which runs through June 30.• Southern Slaw; a traditional mayonnaise based slaw.• Toasted Sunflower Vinegar Slaw (1 ticket); A lighter vinegar-based slaw with toasted sunflower seeds.Several different variations of slows are among some of the specialty foods offered at Cedar Point's Frontier Festival, which runs through June 30.2. Smokehouse Shed• 12-hour applewood-smoke brisket with wild berry barbecue, smashed pork rind and spicy pickly relish (3 tickets); The Cedar Point brisket is usually a big hit at BackBeatQue. This is one of the menu items you will see return from previous years event, though with some new twists. The brisket is covered with a spicy relish and smashed pork rind. Enjoy as is or top it with the new signature wild berry barbecue sauce.Wildberry barbecue brisket is among one of the specialty foods offered at Cedar Point's Frontier Festival, which runs through June 30.• Roasted pork belly with mustard-peach marmalade, pickled onions and garlic toast (1 ticket); From the pork belly to the mustard-peach marmalade, this dish was one of the more anticipated among guests, and it did not disappoint. Make sure to place all the ingredients on top of the garlic toast for the best flavor combination.Pork belly is among one of the specialty foods offered at Cedar Point's Frontier Festival, which runs through June 30.• House-cured crispy pickles, red onion and sliced banana peppers (1 ticket)Pickle salad is among one of the specialty foods offered at Cedar Point's Frontier Festival, which runs through June 30.3. Chuck Wagon• Great Plains bison chili with wild berry multigrain boule (2 tickets); If you enjoy chili, you are going to love the Great Plains bison chili, offering a lean subtle flavor with wild audience appeal. The chili offers no spicy heat, perfect for all tastes.Bison chili is among one of the specialty foods offered at Cedar Point's Frontier Festival, which runs through June 30.• Two-Meat barbecue baked beans with roasted poblano peppers (1 ticket); One of last year's popular menu items was the barbecue baked beans, and many are always excited to see them make a return.• Loaded mac and cheese with pulled pork and bacon (1 tickets); The house-made macaroni and cheese at Cedar Point has really been amazing this year at the BackBeatQue. Guests will see them slow cooking a pot of the cheesy noodles over a grill, and when guests order it, the dish is topped with fresh pulled pork and bacon.4. Stockyard BBQ• Smoked whole salmon with vinegar slaw and corn tortilla (3 tickets); The smoked salmon was the surprise winner among many at the Frontier Festival. Guests will see and smell the salmon getting smoked right on the midway. It is then topped with an excellent vinegar slaw and chili spiced corn tortilla chips.Smoked whole salmon is among one of the specialty foods offered at Cedar Point's Frontier Festival, which runs through June 30.• Fire-roasted suckling pig with vinegar barbecue sauce (3 tickets)• Pulled pork slider with molasses barbecue sauce (2 tickets); The other real winner of the Frontier Festival is the pulled pork. Cedar Point is open smoking whole hogs right on the midway and serving them directly to guests. This is the real deal and either in slider form or standalone. Both sauces are made in-house.Pork sliders are among some of the specialty foods offered at Cedar Point's Frontier Festival, which runs through June 30.• Bacon White Bean Salad (1 ticket); This new white bean salad pairs nicely with the pulled pork, offering a buttery flavor from the beans with a slight saltiness of the bacon.White bean salad is among one of the specialty foods offered at Cedar Point's Frontier Festival, which runs through June 30.5. Miss Keat's Sweets• Wild strawberry short cake with fresh berries, angel food cake and whipped topping (2 tickets)• Peaches and cream with sweet cream and pralines (2 tickets)• Layered blueberry crumb cake with fresh berries, crumb cake and sweet cream (2 tickets)Layered blueberry crumb cake with fresh berries, crumb cake and sweet cream is among one of the specialty foods offered at Cedar Point's Frontier Festival, which runs through June 30.Every meal deserves a good dessert. Cedar Point has brought back two of last year's desserts plus a new added blueberry crumble cake.The Frontier Festival also offers more than 30 signature local beers, and select wines available throughout Frontier Town.Tickets can also be used to purchase hand crafted lemonades that have been mulled for 24 hours to pick up the subtle flavors of blueberries, raspberries and jalapeno mint.For a real refresher, try Cedar Point's new signature Frontier Festival drink, the Sunflower Spritz, a combination of mango nectar, Sprite, mango boba and fresh mint. It is delicious.Sunflower-Spritz is among one of the specialty drinks offered at Cedar Point's Frontier Festival, which runs through June 30.Editor's note: Justin Dietz is a Register correspondent representing CPFoodBlog.com and @CPFoodBlog on Twitter.