Another fun year at TosaFest. It was busier than I expected on a Friday…read more They had a lot of good and beverage vendors but still plenty of other vendors to check out. Same pushy vendors for home needs chasing people down. Some were more respectful than others. Excellent music this year! Really loved Valley Fox. They also had a lot of options for ticketed events like dinners if you wanted a more involved experience. Appreciate this free festival in the village.

Okay festival in the Village. My son and I came here on a Saturday night to see my friend's band…read moreplay. There's a good mix of kids' activities, food looked better than standard fest fare, and there was craft beer and wine, although I hate having to buy tickets for drinks, and the beer workers were pretty unorganized, and also ran out of a few kinds of beer fairly early. Then I saw that we could just have bought good beers from Cafés Hollander and Bavaria for cash! (Not from the Festival, itself). The headlining music acts were good, although the two main stages seemed miles apart, especially in 50-degree weather. We probably parked too far away down the Menomonee Parkway, it's a pretty popular festival, and nice "for the area", would come back for a music act I really liked.

Fun first time at the Elm Grove Oktoberfest!…read more Plenty of parking if you get there close to start time. Went on Friday and it definitely filled up by 6-6:30. They had a number of good truck options to choose from. Even some sweets and snacks from Nothing Bundt Cakes and Pop's Kettle Corn. We opted for the brats and bierocks along with some Oktoberfest beers and it was all great! You do have to purchase tickets for alcohol and pretzels but the lines weren't too bad. They did pre-pour the beers which most events have been doing lately. Hate getting a stale and slightly warm beer, especially for $7. They also did some community outreach with the first responders in the area and were offering tours of the ambulances and showing the rigs and stuff. Last but certainly not least, the live music was great. They did a mix of German with some modern songs.

The Milwaukee Night Market is one of my favorite events in the summer/fall in MKE. The music,…read morepeople, variety of food, crafts & clothing booths make it so easy worth while. I love that you can park in the Avenue parking structure for $3 for 3 hours! Such a steal when trying to figure out where do that downtown. Everyone who works the event is so friendly, it's extremely clean and well organized. You need to check this out! Only a few nights a summer!

This is a cool little thing that I'm glad we have, as long as people don't make trouble. They block…read moreoff several blocks of Wisconsin Ave with tons of vendors, giving it a farmers' market type vibe. Having traveled throughout Southeast Asia, I'm glad we have something comparable to the fun, safe experiences I've had over there. I just wish we could gather in large numbers as peacefully as they do over there.

I've been to China Lights on a couple of occasions and have always found it delightful…read more China Lights tansforms Boerner Botanical Gardens to a glittering display. You can wander at look at the lights and there's also occasional classic Chinese arts performances to enjoy. We didn't try any of the food but near the performance area there were several vendors offering a variety of food to purchase and dining tables where you can sit and enjoy (very much food court style vibe). One thing I will note: where we were directed to part required traversing very uneven ground. Not a problem for my husband and I but was glad my parents opted to stay home as I think they would have found it difficult. If that's the case for you as well, my suggestion would be to inquire about any sort of accessible parking. Beyond that, a wonderful time. We don't go every single year but when we do go, we so enjoy! Get to it!

A good cultural and visual experience for the entire family. There are vendors with food and…read morebeverages at the event. I wish I had known that there were vendors at the site. Neither the website nor the reminders sent to me indicated so. My friend from China was especially excited about the food. She even asked for a card. Parking is very well organized. Bundle up and have make it a full cultural experience!

I haven't been to a lot of state fairs (California, Idaho, and now Wisconsin) but the Wisconsin…read moreState Fair is hands down my favorite. There's all the usual fair features: farm animals, carnival games, rides, exhibitions, and, of course, all the decadent fair food! Getting cream puffs is of course an absolute must but exploring the many food options is a delight as well. Every year they have a food contest called the Sporkies and a drink contest called the Drinkies that help guide you to the best bites and sips for that year. They have a SkyGlider that goes from one end of the fairgrounds to the other. You can take it as a sort of low key transportation from one end to the other or round trip to enjoy the views. We like to take it at the beginning to scope out what we want to check out. They have bars and full blown restaurants (not something the Idaho State Fair has!) which also offers a little reprieve from all the walking. And, of course there's live music as well. Add all that goodness to the fact that it's usually not 100+ degrees like it often is at the Idaho State Fair and the California State Fair and you have yourself an amazing fair experience. Get to it!

Salto Gymnastics hosted their 2026 meet at the Fairgrounds as they do every year…read more Huge facility and perfect for a gymnastics meet. They split the area to have two meets at one time. Great use of space. Parking is relatively close and easy to get in and out. Paying is kind of a long process as it doesn't go very fast. They had a raffle as well. I won one. Woot woot. All around great event!

Dan Jansen Family Fest occurs annually on Memorial Day weekend (Friday night, Saturday, and…read moreSunday). It's the official, unofficial beginning to festival season, I'm told. We drove by on Friday evening and noticed the lights, music, carnival rides, and overall merriment and decided to head back with the kiddo in tow later in the weekend. If you arrive between noon-4pm (Fri-Sat-Sun), you can enjoy their $20 unlimited ride wristband special, which is a pretty sweet deal. We, unfortunately, arrived on Sunday evening, so spent $25 on 30 ride tickets (which was plenty for our family to enjoy as many rides as we really cared to over the course of 2+ hours or so). They have your typical carnival rides (bumper cars, the zipper, etc) as well as typical carnival activities (fun house, house of mirrors) and games (darts, basketball, goldfish). They also have food vendors slinging typical fair-like food (corndogs, hot dogs, funnel cakes, ice cream, donuts). They also offer nightly entertainment. They have a different band playing each night as well as a family movie night on Saturday. The festival offers free entry, which is nice. I mean, obviously, you spend plenty on food and fun but it's nice to not have the extra entry fee on top of it all. The proceeds from the festival (100%) go to fund projects for the City of Greenfield Parks Department (in past years it's funded fountain projects, updated park signage, etc). Awesome perk to have a little fun while at the same time know the money spent is going to support local green spaces! Definitely a fun way to start the summer!

One of the best festivals I've ever been to. I go to this festival every year and I've been going…read moresince the 2016 spring season. The prices can be pretty expensive but it is totally worth it with what you get out of it. You can bring kids with you as well because they have kids rides. The food is great and a little pricey but once again, totally worth it. The only thing that isn't the best feature is that if you leave past 9, you cannot re-enter which I hope that changes in the upcoming years.

Love Germanfest. They have the best food, the best beer and the best music of all the summer…read morefestivals. Tip-if you have military id, you and a family member can in for free any day or time during the festival.

We attended German Fest last weekend and had a great time!…read moreWe got to see the opening tapping of the Fest Keg and listened to many speeches before the keg was tapped. There was even a short play about waking up who appeared to be the village idiot by people wearing green fur capes with hats with really long feathers in them!! Lots of food and music and what was most relaxing of all, was finding a picnic table in the shade, overlooking Lake Michigan, with a delicious cup of Fest Bier. I love these grounds which also are home to the famous Summerfest. It's nice to be able to take a break and find a table to just sit at and watch the lake after a busy day of stage-hopping and eating and drinking the featured victuals. This is a great fest to explore German food and culture. The only bummer was no one actually played all the Alpine Horns I saw being carted around!

We had a great experience at Greek Fest this year…read more We didn't know what to expect as this was our first time but they did a great job with posting offerings, prices and locations of each beforehand on their site. The portions were generous. The lamb dinner came with delicious rice, salad and plenty of lamb. The gyros were also stacked and the souvlaki was perfect. We also started with the saganaki- perfectly crispy and salty cheese. The drinks were offered by the same company that handles State Fair so you can get cans of beer for $8-9, glasses of wine or they had some frozen cocktails. My only gripe was that they didn't post which gate to enter from. There are so many and when we walked to the pedestrian gate from 2024, we were told we couldn't walk through the grounds to greek fest. The staff helping with food and drinks were great - cooking and bringing up food as quick as they could. Friendly, too! Wish the music would've started sooner but we opted to head out since it was mostly food, games/rides for kids or a small area for greek shopping. However, food was worth it! Definitely check it out!

Ok,this is the 2nd year the chicken was so tough like rub and way over seasoned!…read moreA waste of $15 for one whole chicken. The salad not very good, only 2 olives and 1 piece of cheese 2 cherrie tomatoes, one small dressing,piece of bread,such tint olives for $10 was definitely not worth it. I though I could get filled up on the rice but it was literally crunchy and hard! No easy access for people with disabilities. Had to have my mom walk in for the food to take home because drive through was already closed. Such a waste of money for 3 bites of rubbery smokey over seasoned chicken,lame salad and crunch rice made me decide to not go back for a 3rd time. They are rushing the cooking and not tasting b4 selling to make huge profits. That's stealing people's money. Wauwatosa Greek Fest chicken was horrible last year however, nice and tender this year,great salad,olives,cheese,rice,bread,gyro and portions were worth the price! Please stop rushing the cooking time and taste test b4 selling...I mean how can you mess up rice!?

Great atmosphere, nice selection of beers but unfortunately the food is definitely not as good as…read moreseveral years ago. The $25 half chicken was overcooked and dry, and since last year the $30 pork wasn't so good we didn't even try it. However, the entertainment was nice and overall very enjoyable.

It's been a long time since I've been to this Oktoberfest. Finally made a return over the weekend…read moreand totally forgot what a big, electric crowd it brings! Parking was a wild time, as they were directing people to an entirely different lot down the way, so it was a bit of hike to get to the entrance. Once we parked, we waited in like for 10 minutes or to get through the gates. I was tipped off the downland the Bavarian's app ahead of time, which got me $5 off my entry (and it was free from my little kiddo in tow). If you're looking for all the great German beer, German music, and German cuisine, this is your place! It's so fun to see how many attendees dress to theme in their lederhosens, dirndls, and hats. Some of the staff dress up as well, and of course those preforming on stage! We came to find out this isn't the greatest fest to take young kids, as the crowds are big, the lines are long, and the music (be it so fun and festive), is really loud. I'm sure we would have stayed longer if it was an adult-only trip. In any case, the food and drink are fare price. I'm now regretting not ordering the traditional pretzel and sausage options, but splitting a tasty platter of tenders and fries with my son hit the spot. Being pregnant, I'm not drinking, but friends we were with has nothing but great things to say about their German pints. The beer steins are of course an option which is a fun touch. Hot tip: if you can book a table reservation ahead of time, do so! That's what we did and it was a good call since this place is poppin. Happy official Fall! Enjoy!

Great little community festival! Free event put on by City of Brookfield and the Brookfield Village…read moreassociation. There were bounce houses and rock climbing along with booths with activities for kids. My 2 year old was more interested in the existing playground equipment on site but enjoyed the music, mascots, popcorn and frozen yogurt. Worth a look!