We go every year. It's not a big festival -- only a few blocks long -- but it's fun and a great…read moreplace to purchase interesting, handmade jewelry and other crafts. Good band, this year too! Some Tips: -- Arrive early to avoid a throng of people. -- Parking is somewhat difficult. The library lot fills up quickly, but if you dray around or park blocks away, you'll be okay. -- If you're there at lunchtime, check out Fusco's. Everybody knows Henry's -- which per usual had a long line waiting to get in last weekend-- but with Fusco's you'll pretty much be seated immediately. (I'm a sucker for their Mulberry Street sandwich -- every kind of unhealthy Italian coldcut .. and so delish!) -- Afterward, check out the wine bar down the street. $5 per-glass wine, and great entertainment. (The jazz singer is the best!)

I love impersonating Aaron Neville. So when I traipsed through the Acworth Art Fest and realized…read moreThe Bodyguard soundtrack blasted from an outdoor speaker, my head nearly exploded. In addition to bopping my head to "Even If My Heart Would Break," I nodded in approval of this new festival. Artists from around the Southeast set up booths with their charming wares, beckoning me to spend moolah I don't currently have. When I spotted a necklace made with an antique spool of thread covered in early 1900s sheet music, I tried it on, put it down and walked away, knowing that if I still wanted it after perusing the entire festival, it was okay to buy it. That necklace in addition to a cat yard stake that moves in the breeze, a morbid skull plate that ironically proclaims "Peace" and felt flowers one can stick inside a vase. I turned my cheek away from these seductive pieces! I thought the festival was well promoted and thoughtfully set up with clear signage leading patrons to acceptable parking lots. And the Yum Yum Cupcake truck was there...

This was my very first time coming out for the festival. It does remind me of going to Marietta…read moreSquare where there are vendors and local owned businesses. The location was cool but could be on the dangerous side due to the train still running. Not many places to park and the places you can park they were charging $10. If you plan on eating any food from the trucks make sure your prepared to spend some money. There were three different stages with many local schools performing and also dance schools. Unfortunately it rained all Sunday so we did not get to catch any of the performances.

THE KID IN ME The…read morekid in me loves a big festival in a small town. Kennesaw is the perfect backdrop for this annual festival that features a parade, musical performances, food and arts and crafts. I was determined to get to the festival regardless of the weather. As always, we arrive early, just after 8:30 so that we can get the lay of the land and take it all in. Parking was great, very close, well-staffed with attendants and only cost $5. Can't beat it! The parade usually precedes the beginning of the festivities. I did not get to see the beginning of the parade because I was distracted by one of the jewelry vendors and was too busy purchasing items. We did however get there before all was done. Every parade is unique, but audience participation is essential if you really want to have a good time. This parade is not as open as others. The streets are very narrow, so gates are used to contain the crowds. They don't throw candy from floats because they don't have them. They actually walk along the route and politely put the candy into the hands of the kids. If you yell out "Hey! I want candy too , they will give you some. If you yell out to the square dancers to "do-si-do", they will comply. The Steampunk group was one of my favorite as the fashion is just so cool and their sign read something like: Steampunk gun club and sewing circle, (interesting combination). That Harrison High School Band was the bomb! They sound so professional! After the parade, we continued to check out the various vendors. Some of my favorite vendors are the jewelry vendors that travel around with their wares. Stones to Wear is my favorite as I love sterling silver and big bold pieces. Phil and Sharon are like family and we always stop by and visit with them. The Panjo guy was unique. He took kitchen pans, (cake, brownie, heart-shaped etc) and made banjos out of them. He actually did a demonstration which was very cool. If you like dulcimer music, then you would appreciate this. I want to give a special shout-out to Superior Plumbing who provided superior toilet facilities complete with sinks and running water. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!! If you decide to go, be careful as the ground is very wet and muddy. I wore sport sandals that can be easily cleaned and are quick to dry. If you don't want to eat typical carny food, eat before you go or eat afterwards because the only healthy vendor we saw was the Smoothie vendor. We wanted something more substantial so we just ate after we left. We had a great day and it was made even more special because of the train that frequently runs right through the festival! Love it!

So disappointed this year. Because of the road closures and lack of parking it was not easy to…read morestart this event. Just a handful of actual BBQ businesses and each one of them were showing their prices higher than what you would spend in the restaurant. Williams Brothers had 2 booths at lease so in total maybe 5-6 at best of other BBQ shops. The craft booths were just about selling the same thing at each one of them. We were asked so, so,so many times if we wanted new windows in our house or insurance from vendors. "Which was more of them then crafting or spice vendors. We only found one vendor that had anything to do with peaches. we normally go to these to try and fine New and or better BBQ places to try but we won't waste our time and money again. After walking around and getting tired of hearing the same line of sales pitches, we walked over to Cheeseburger Bobby's and had dinner for 2 including drinks for what it was going to cost one of us just to try out some BBQ. Not one of the BBQ vendors had something of a sample tray or plate for free or to buy just to get a feel for the flavor of their BBQ. Only getting one star because they did have lots of jumping houses for kids to play in.

PIGS AND PEACHES BARBEQUE FESTIVAL…read more Today's festival was awesome and was well planned and organized. There was plenty of advanced information describing activities, vendors and performers. The signage directing you to the venue and parking was on point. We were able to park and walk for free, but if you wanted to get closer to the venue it would only cost $7. When we arrived, it was still cool and the walk was very reasonable. Upon entering the venue, there are several vendors selling jewelry, services, food, and more. The first stage that you see is the family stage with performances that were great for the entire family. The cloggers and dancers performed on this stage, yet it was the only one that was not shaded on this very hot day. The cloggers were great but we just could not tolerate the sun. As we moved throughout the venue, we noticed to additional stages, the adult stage and the second stage. These stages were close to the shaded areas, (large tents with tables and chairs) so that you could sit and enjoy a mile while you listen to music. The main stage was popping with the Alex Guthrie band. They were very soulful and played some great "old school" tunes and well as original music. There were several barbeque vendors and it was difficult to choose one. My husband just decided to go with the one that had the large pig roasting. I guess it looked very authentic to him and it was a very good choice. If you are looking for something active, they have a zip line, (more child appropriate) for $10 and helicopter rides for $30. In addition, there is a very large play area for the kids to bounce until they drop. I scored a cool souvenir tee, delicious apple slushy, caricature and earrings today. The barbeque was so filling that I just did not have room for anything more and I missed an opportunity to find traditional peach cobbler. Oh well, there is always next year!

The experience got better and better as the nite went on…read more We arrived around 8, and was delayed by poor management. Bottleneck problem at the parking lot and will call box. They should have had 2-3 people working the parking lot and collect payment. I prepaid my parking and had to wait in line for all the other drivers. Same with Will Call box.. had to wait for queue jumpers..ugh..rude people Upon entrance, we were first greeted by the arts and craft vendors. It was a huge letdown to just see these vendors, until I discovered the area next to the vendors. Now it got much more interesting.. yeah, there were corporate vendor stands, but they also had some of the food trucks there and large open area with picnic tables and lights strung up. Quite festive, .. think OctoberFest. We got us a few things and enjoyed out dinner under the stars and lights. The food is overpriced, but that is to be expected at any festival. We eventually found the main stage and enjoyed a few performances. It was windy out and the balloon show was delayed. We left when it was too cold to be outside. Its a lively festival and lots of folks were dressed up. Very kid friendly and tons of security folks around to prevent the drunk college kids. A well managed festival once you get inside. Pro tip : Wear Layers to stay warm. If you have kids, come earlier to hit up the stand and grab swag and candy.

Me and my family had a great time attending Owl-o-ween. Reading past reviews made us nervous but it…read morewas not that bad since we arrived at 7pm. Purchased our ticket on Groupon(big money saver). Pros: Because of past reviews on parking issues, we paid for parking upon arrival and did the walk up for $15. The lines to get in to the parking lot were long but moved pretty quickly. The walk to the field was also not bad. Upon arrival were a bunch of hot air ballowns. The event was separated into several sections. The first field had a couple of hot airballowns with different vendor stalls. The kids recieved a gift bag at the entrance and were able to trick or treat to each booth and airballoon. The treats were pretty big so we were pleased. We didn't wear costumes but many people and kids did. We saw many creative costumes around the area and they also featured a stage cat walk for everyone who bought a costume. Watching the kids were amazing. 3 different stages with musical performances. To ride the hot air balloons were $15 and the line gets long. Thatnshould be the first thing to do once you get there, its pretty awesome. They also had pumpkins near the kids stage to take home and a silent music party which i found interesting. Con: My only argument would be the food. Many food stalls don't provide straws for drinks, so it wasn't the greatest experience with my 4 year old and their were many fried options, than healthy ones, so not really kid friendly when it comes to food.

Chalktoberfest https://www.chalktoberfest.com/ is an annual weekend festival in Marietta square…read morethat features over 85 artists using various mediums including chalk. What it is...is they basically shut down the square and paint the streets! It's been going on since 2013 and every year it gets bigger and bigger. This year they're expecting well over 100,000 people over the two day weekend. It's basically a neighborhood block party with beer, food, ice cream, live music by local bands and lots of dogs! It's a family friendly event and it's free for everyone. If you're coming here I suggest you get here early. The Saturday events usually starts at 10 AM but there were people there even earlier like 7AM. There are plenty of parking spots but because this is a "special event" all the parking spots were charging $10 per vehicle which is a bit steep for Marietta. I suggest you park either at the "Lawrence St" parking deck https://goo.gl/maps/exq8BR2cFC7g7viT9 or across the street at the Cobb/Waddle Parking Deck which is attached to the court house. It's not listed on Google but if you type in 120 Cherokee St. Marietta, GA 30060 into your GPS it should take you there... This year (2019) it rained on Sunday so we were glad we went the day before so that we got to see some of the awesome work that these talented artists do. It's super crowed but people are pretty friendly and the Marietta police presence were everywhere...safety first! Cool event. Hope you can check it out next time it rolls around.

This is such a great event!!…read more It's free, you just find parking or park in paid lots. This is in the huge Marietta square and it takes up the entire thing. These artists are so talented & the completed works are so cool to behold. There's a ton to do, you'll spend all day for the whole family. Tons of businesses selling and giving things out. Lots of food options from restaurants to trucks, breweries & bars

The Taste of Smyna is an annual food festival that takes part in downtown Smyna located in between…read morethe Smyrna Public Library/Smyrna Community Center/Smyrna City Hall. When coming here I recommend parking in front of the First Baptist Smyna church. Parking is completely free. This is our second year coming here, this year was better than last here. There was a huge turn out this year as viewers can see from the pictures, the weather turned out to be completely beautiful and there was such a great selection of food. The Taste of Smyna is a free event to visit and guests can walk along Village Green Circle and try out samples from over 30 restaurants, each sample ranges anywhere from 1 to 4 dollars. They had live music from the Scott Thompson Band this year. For kids, they have plenty of activities, the Atlanta Braves had a tent setup for young kids to practice hitting a ball (3 times) and afterwards they could get their face painted by a local airbrush artist with different brave logos. They also had a great selection of blowup houses for kids to jump around, slides, rock climbing, bungee cord lift (goes about 20 feet) and they had this really cool thing where kids are put into a huge ball, it is filled with air and then they float around inside a pool like environment. Checkout the pictures so you know get a better idea. What is also cool about this festival is that the festival sponsor gives out awards to one restaurant for four categories; this includes the best Entree, Dessert, Decorated Booth and Food Presentation. There are also gift giveaways and free balloons for kids. I am very impressed with the way Jrm Management Services puts on this event, they also run the tastes of Forsyth/Kennesaw/Acworth. Even though this year was extremely crowded, there was still plenty of room to get around. This is definitely a food festival that is worth checking out and that is coming from someone who drove 50 miles one way to come to The Taste of Smyna. I highly recommend this festival. [Review #207]

Really enjoyed myself this year I went alone and met so many People. The food options were…read morereasonable but delicious. I even took some samples to go. Parking was free and I feel the organizers did a great job with the setup of everything. I will be going back next year, because I absolutely enjoyed this event

The Marietta Street fest has been going on for at least 20 years or longer. I use to go every year…read morewhen it was a smaller festival but in the past 2-3 years its been so crowed and parking has become a total nightmare. I went last year and it was a lot of fun and so I invited a couple of friends this year to go and well, we couldn't even get out of the car... This year for example we drove around from 10:15 AM until about 11:05 looking for parking. It was totally ridiculous. They have dozens of empty church parking lots just sitting there when these signs that said "private parking lot" which sucks because its a total waste of space...if I were the organizer I'd figure a way to get these churches to let the attendees park...I mean whats the harm? We found at least 3 "paid" parking lots and they were totally full. So we just gave up and went to a nearby restaurant instead...a total disappointment.

As streetfairs and festivals go, this one is one of the smaller ones. There were probably about 20…read moreor so booths selling wares (we bought yummy jarred okra and preserves) but several vendors trying to sell home improvement services. The highlight was the antique car show -- really cool camaros, vettes, and even a VW van and chevette! I'd recommend going in the morning while the farmers market is still going on and before many of the booths have left. We noticed a few (like Wellstar) that only seemed to be there until early afternoon, even though the streetfest was set to go until 5.

My very first time and .... I'll be back!!! Popped in on the farmers market and was pleasantly…read moresurprised by the variety AND the crowd. Loved seeing people out and about on a Saturday morning buying fresh flowers, veggies, herbs, honey and FOOD! I decided to grab fresh pressed juice from Go Juicy LLC out of Decatur and a raw pizza Strive Lyfe LLC out of Sandy Springs (I think ). DELICIOUS! DELICIOUS! And likely two of the places I'll add to my regular rotation when I'm here again. BUT there is so much more, including art, a few clothing items, a knife sharpening stand - random, I know. A Saturday treat for sure and definitely worth a visit .

This is located in downtown Marietta. Since we like to support local farmers, we wanted to explore…read morethis market. We walked around to see what was available. Ended up talking the owner of one of the booths and she is from Birmingham and has tasty pies. It's Vi's pies. We talked for a while. Everything is good. Look her up. Great service and a home girl. The rest of market as fine too.

This was my first Taste of Marietta! I had a wonderful time…read moresampling all the food at the many different restaurants. Now I have some kind of idea of how much fun this festival is.

I came to Taste of Marietta with my BF and family! I appreciated the sense of community, and being…read moreable to be outdoors, enjoying food festivals once again. We walked around, talked, listened to the awesome band, and of course ATE! Although there was a lot of people, the food lines moved surprisingly quickly. We definitely enjoyed all of the delicious food we tasted. My only con is that I wish the food that was advertised on the food trucks was so he food that was actually being served. Ex: empanada truck with no empanadas. Also, a lot of trucks ran out of food but still wanted to charge the same price even though the customer did not receive the full meal, example: chicken and rice meal with no rice. Overall it was a beautiful day to be outside! I enjoyed my experience, and the foodie in me was pleasantly satisfied!

Built in 1908 by the Nashville, Chattanooga & St Louis Railway Company (interestingly L&N or…read moreLouisville & Nashville Railroad Company-the company that build the train depot in the neighboring city of Woodstock, GA owned 55% of NC&StL in 1908.) The railroad tracks that the depot sits on is known as The Western & Atlantic Railroad which was built by the state of Georgia in 1836 at a reportedly cost of 5 million dollars (125 million in today's money.) It is the building of this 138 miles rail tracks that really put Atlanta on the map... If you're a Walking Dead Fan then you know about Terminus...well that was the name originally given to the city of Atlanta. Terminus means "the end point" which was what Atlanta was at the time. The "end of the line" for W&A railroad. Most historians believe that the "end point" probably is where the Georgia Railroad Freight Depot is in downtown Atlanta. (if you're feeling extra history-ish you can go see the stone marker that marked the spot of "the end" at Underground Atlanta. It's known as The Atlanta Zero Mile post.) The Kennesaw Train Depot was restored to its former glory in 2001 at a cost of $150,000 according of their website. It now is a museum and an event venue. There is also a small park next to it known as Depot Park with a small play ground, an outdoor museum narrating the great locomotive chase of the civil war and a pedestrian underpass. In front of the museum there is a tall lamp clock dedicated to city council member Jerry Worthan for his 20 years of service to the city of Kennesaw. Across the street there is the Southern Museum of Civil WAr Locomotive History Museum that houses the famous locomotive "The General". It's a great place to visit for any Civil war history buff....hope you'll check it out.

The Kennesaw Depot is a little spot to relax and unwind in an open air setting. The Kennesaw Beer &…read moreWine festival held over this weekend was my purpose for visiting the area for the first time. I had no idea what I had been missing until now. There are a few spots to visit or you could just sit and people watch while getting some good vitamin D and time in the sun. I will make it a point to take the hiking trail very soon.