I love music festivals. I love them even more when you have perfect weather like we had on…read moreSaturday. Thanks Mother Nature. So, I am giving 4 stars instead of 5 simply because there was a lack of signage/information regarding where to park and where to enter Canterbury as well as food/drinks and wristbands. We ended up wandering a bit, but eventually found our way. So quick tips for newbies to save you some time and frustration next year: 1. Park anywhere you can find a spot, VIP parking is separate and gated off 2. Enter the main gate 3. Get your 21+ wristband immediately to your left when you enter 4. Drinks and food are inside, food trucks are just outside, and even more food/drink on the festival grounds 5. Drinks and food outside of the main building are ticketed, and yes you will have to buy more tickets than you need or have extra tickets leftover after you get what you want 6. Check out all the food/drink vendors before you make a decision on how many tickets to buy 7. Check out the non-food/drink vendors, some pretty cool stuff 8. VIP has some pretty sweet digs, I recommend getting it if you can spend the extra money 9. Bring cash 10. Backpacks and towels/blankets to sit on are allowed in the venue Even if you don't know the acts it is quite easy to be sucked into the fun everyone else is having, so if you are wavering, just go! Perhaps you will have some fun nature happenings like we did...the amazing pink/orange sunset during Dr. Dog and the flock of geese the flew directly overhead the sage just as they ended a song (and the crowd erupted into cheers, it was so hilarious and wonderful). The people watching is wonderful, young and old alike having a great time together. Everyone is there for the same reason, a love of music and fun, and it was awesome to watch the small children dance it out along with their parents (and everyone else). Shout out to Blue Goose Photo Booth, a cool photo booth with props that is in an old van. So. Awesome. They were offering free photos (4 on a strip) for everyone at the festival. It even printed two copies. The booth with the cigar box guitars was pretty rad, too. If I had more disposable income I would've purchased one to hang on the wall (because I can't play guitar). Side note - If anyone can remember the name of the vendor with the "Hooray" MN shirts, please let me know, I want to get one. So, all-in-all, a great festival that I would totally go back to year after year.

For the record, I am a HUGE Trampled by Turtles fan. Trampled is my favorite band. I go to pretty…read moremuch any show I can get to and travel routinely just to see them play. So obviously, a Trampled by Turtles-organized festival less than an hour from home is a no-brainer for me. So, while it may be tough for me to be completely objective, I shall try my best. This was year two for Festival Palomino, and I've attended both years, so I guess I have an educated opinion at this point. Here's what I liked: -The music. Duh. Not only did my favorite fellas headline, closing the night with bagpipes on the stage, but the lineup of other acts kept the action moving and introduced me to some new music, which is always a good thing. -The side-by-side stage setup. Last year, there were two stages, but they were situated opposite each other. The dual stages allowed for music to continue throughout the day without much break between sets for breaking down and setting up of gear. But last year, you had to do a kind of sprint to the opposite stage for the next act. This time around, the side-by-side setup allowed you to either migrate more leisurely or just pick a prime spot further back with a view of both stages and stay put. -The branding. Maybe it's the communications professional in me, but I thought the branding was much better this year. The Palomino banners on top of the stages and of course the Palomino sign were good visual cues that this is going to become a big branded event over the next few iterations. Plus dammit, I love the Palomino owl and think it should be on more stuff. -The inclusion of more merchants. Was delighted to see the Duluth Pack folks this year and hope to see this area of the festival grow. -The people: Not only great people watching but also just a general relaxed and positive vibe all day despite being packed on a field with 9,000 of your closest friends. -The festival T-shirt. Props to whoever designed it! -The VIP bathroom. Gift from heaven. To the girl who clearly dropped an entire pack of smokes in the toilet: Damn, that sucks, dude. Here's what I didn't like: -The food. There was more food than last year. That was good. It was more logically centralized on the field than last year. That was good too. Several of my friends and my husband and I all ate from the Mexican stand. The food did not taste good and we ALL got ill after the show. Like a few of my friends left in the middle of the Trampled set because they weren't going to make it through. We're pretty sure it was the burritos. Food safety, people! Taco mix should not be served cold, like ever. -The ticket system for food and beverage. I'm not sure why but both years now, you've had to purchase tickets in sets of 10 for $1 apiece and then use those to buy drinks and food. Seems like an extra step and extra work to get beer and food. Also, I hate that you can't buy anything other than 10 tickets at a time. You always end up with extra tickets you paid for but didn't use, or you wind up wanting one more beer but not willing to pay for a new set of $10 tickets. Why can't the stands just take cash??? -The prices. I have to say... $7 for a 12 oz beer seemed a bit much. And I know there was a deal with Summit, but the beer options were underwhelming both years. -Speaking of... This is a really cash-intensive festival. My husband and I were only there for half the day and dropped a good amount of money on just food and drink. If you are coming for the full day, come packing some real cash. Things to know: -Yeah, it's at a racetrack so the layout can be kind of confusing. When you park, come in the entrance and then immediately turn to the left to get wristbanded. Then you walk right through the building and out to the racetrack. -Wear comfortable shoes suitable for tromping around in a field. Ladies, I'd leave cute heels and wedges at home. Maybe flipflops or sandals but more practically? Sneakers or hikers wouldn't be out of place. -There are also options inside the casino for food and drink. We discovered that the draft beers in the casino were bigger and better-priced. Also a good place for refuge if it rains, as we learned in year one. -The VIP tickets were $140. If you have the cash, it would be a nice perk. There are exclusive beer stands = no waiting. The bathrooms, as mentioned above. You get drink tickets and some other swag and access to the VIP area, which was pretty cool. If you can afford it, splurge. So here's where I get all biased again... I think this was an incredibly adventurous project and one that only a few bands could have pulled off this well in just two years. I was encouraged that this year there were many improvements made and good thoughtful changes. I am confident this event will continue to grow and improve each year. Looking forward to year three and maintaining my perfect attendance record!

Gasthof Zur Gemütlichkeit (the restaurant) is now closed permanently. Fulton Brewery has stepped…read moreup at moved the Oktoberfest to the Fulton NE (2540 NE 2nd St) location! The Oktoberfest tent was so fun! Lots of portapotties, so not too much of a line! Great German foods and beers (both Fulton & German). Thank you Fulton! Great live music and dancing and entertainment! Stein holding contests! Remember, the fest is open until 10pm-so get there early! Free entry, street parking, bring your id if you want to drink, no dogs.

Attending Gastof's Oktoberfest tent is a yearly ritual we love doing. This year, we lucked out and…read morethe weather was tropical for the first weekend (September 21st). We like to bring our own beer stein (as we have purchased so many over the years and have a collection). If you don't have one, they are only the price of one token. Tokens = $6 this year and you can use them from year to year. Rumor has it, that you can use for a drink at the downstairs bar year round (if you don't use them all at the tent). Not sure. They have a wide variety of Oktoberfest style beers, local brews, a cider, cocktails and even hard sparkling water. If you get munchie... there is always food for purchase with tokens. Sadly, this year... their was only one large tent vs two. Plus they squished the outdoor area down so they could valet more cars. This made it a tight cluster of people. Can be a good thing and a bad thing. Smoking is allowed outside the tent. By 8:45pm, there was no room to stand inside or out of the tent. Get there early and attempt to find a bench in the tent... good luck this year with half the space and seating. Positive side, it's free to enter and play hammerslaggan (some game with a hammer and nails into wood... perfect for intoxicated people). Haha.

Any art fair without a cover automatically gets five stars. Plus this particular one is massive,…read more second biggest to Minnesota state fair. It's also by lake of the Isles / up town area, which one can argue is the nicest part of town. Modern art is often a minimalist canvas that I'm supposed to draw meaning- 99% of the time, I don't get it. The Art here is easier to consume. Nothing to interpret for the most part. It's less snooty. Also food truck are present here and there. The fair also has food and drink give aways - it's a great way to spend your August - folks soon enough Winter is coming!

I love art. Stopped…read moreby to check out some art & get some inspiration!!! In the past I feel like the uptown art fair was much bigger & crowded. I went on the first day (Friday) and there was a lot of empty space on Hennepin. The fair did extend down a street going closer down to the lake. Friday was gloomy & had rain in the forecast, might be the reason people didn't come out. Back to the art. Seen a lot of dope pieces by a lot of dope artist from all over the US. It was amazing to see the things people come up with. Hopefully someday I'll be able to afford a nice 2k-3k piece. This year they had a really cool vendor, Studio Ink (Hallmark) where you could pick out greeting cards, fill them out, address them & they send them out! I love writing to people. Not as popular these days. Glad they are attempting to make a comeback. Indeed brewery was the drink vendor for this years event. They had 3 or 4 options to offer. I'm not wild about wheat juice (beer) but it's uptown, bars & restaurants everywhere which is nice. They also had a few familiar food trucks like Fro Yo Soul- Yum.

What a grand idea! This place had it all. Plenty of food options and music to entertain. Not…read moresure if this is a regular event but certainly one that you should keep on your calendar. The variety was nice. The lines were long so plan to wait for your food. Mear park was full of people and parking was surprisingly plentiful despite being the weekend and a Saints game going on. Highly recommend.

This year marked my second consecutive year of attending this festival and I have to say...it gets…read morebetter every year! The variety of trucks is great (even for gluten free vegan!) And the park is beautiful. Everyone seemed to be having a blast! My only issue is that with such a popular event the lines can be quite long and the park can be very crowded. Can't be shy; push your way through and get a little rough!

While not a huge fan of live music, I accepted an invitation to go with some friends to this year's…read moreRTG at the Walker Art Center. My expectations were low, but it turned out to be a great time--Im very glad I was convinced to go. As I mentioned, Im not a music guru... But I like to think of RTG as an "event." Several local bands play, but to me, it's more about the atmosphere and comraderie. The venue is beautiful and situated in such a fashion that you can sit on the hill next to the Walker and look down on the stage--with the downtown skyline in the background. There are also a number of vendors and food trucks such as the Barrio taco truck and some of the best corn dogs Ive ever tasted. Of course, if you are a drinker you can partake in plenty of local Summit beers. So even if you arent familiar with some of the bands, I highly recommened experiencing this event at least once. The only drawback to this particular event is the price. Thankfully, my ticket was donated to me... But typically, the tickets are expensive. If you combine that with parking ($10) and food, you can expect to spend around $80 or more for the entire outing. I should also mention that the photography policy is confusing. The website is a little ambiguous about the types of cameras they allow. Thankfully, they let me in with my D3100 but they made me promise not to shoot video. Id check with security before bringing an SLR.

I have to say, this year was better than last. Better…read morelineup, better organization, more food. Some complaints if I may, and feel free to add your own opinions here. This is Yelp afterall! 1. Rules. They were conflicting. Facebook said bring a cooler. Get there and it says now outside food. What the F is the cooler for then? Make sure everybody is on the same page re: the rules before they show up for work at this event. We brought water and were told we couldn't have it. Then later, we were told we could. Too bad I had already guzzled it and had to piss. Same applies for the umbrella rule. It was 90 degrees and no shade. We are pale ass minnesotans. let us have an umbrella to block the shade. Makes me angry when I see other people were allowed in with an umbrella. 2. Food. Can I just say that Vincent must have the best burger in town if the burger at RTG was any indication? Wicked good. Seriously. I was happy to see Holy Land in the lineup this year. I was upset to see that there were two lines. One to order (shorter) and one to pickup (much much longer). No receipt, so when you go to pick up, dude asks you what you had. Seriously? I just waited 45 minutes for a fucking gyro (what else is there to do really?) and you have no idea what I ordered, so I have to tell you again. How many people stood in the pickup line w/o paying and just said give me one of everything and got it? Silly Silly Silly. Once I got my Gyro, I was tempted to stand in line for the bathroom because by the time you get to the front, you would be ready to shit it out. You can still hear the music and chat with your neighbors while in line, which makes it moderately ok. Conversation ranged from how stupid Holy Land is for not being able to manage with one line to how stupid Holy Land is for not being able to manage with one line. That and how there will never be peace in the Middle East with such a lack of logic...) I could have driven to Central ave and back and gotten my shit quicker. 3. Beverage. Just beer. Really? Oh wait, there was water for a buck (not a bad deal, actually. No hidden prices there) and watery lemonade for $6. I waited in line for what turned out to be a $6 lemonade. The sign said Lemonade $3. Refills any size. I ordered, thinking it was 3 bucks. Dude said: "That'll be six bucks to break the ice." I said: "Hard work breaking that ice, huh?" but paid anyway, because the lady needed something to drink since beer doesn't sit with her. Bourbon yes, vodka yes. Beer no. RTG, can you please allow better selections for drinks, better preparedness on message, and better vendor organization for a better experience next year?

There now is a fee for General Admission and the cost is $20 ...but it's so worth since the MUSIC…read moreand IRISH DANCING are the bomb! Awesome crowds, music, Irish dancers, band and bagpipes...! Vendors sell kilts and shirt and Irish hats and there lot kinds and lot good food and Irish Beer and whiskey wine. The music and dancing are plentiful and varied. The food is very tasty, and there is a variety of food vendors which make it easy to find something delicious at all prices. Now they accept cash and credit cards, no more tokens...hoorah! .

You don't have to be Irish to visit Irish Fair...but now you do have to pay the price of admission…read more The admission fees vary from a VIP experience to a daily general admission. The stages have been reoriented, which I'm sorry to say leaves most of the day performances on the main Dublin Stage in the full sun for the audience. I appreciate that they wanted to try something new, but full August sun & heat were oppressive for me. Close parking is a premium, so bike or ride share or bus in from the St. Paul Depot to save your cash for the more important things at IFM: Guinness beers, Celtic artwork and kilts, Anchor fish & chips. Don't forget to bring your lawn chair & SUNSCREEN if you do not buy the VIP passes. One very last and important thing: The MUSIC and IRISH DANCING are the best here!

Came out to Twin Cities Oktoberfest to celebrate a friend's birthday and wasn't totally sure what…read moreto expect, but figured it would be a bit more of a party since it's at the State Fairgrounds. It ended up being smaller than I thought, but still a good time! They had some fun activities going on, such as stein-holding, hammerschlagen, and axe throwing. The only downside was that most of the activities cost extra, and the Stein-holding contest was super early in the day. Honestly, wish they had saved that for later, for when the crowd was a bit more warmed up. Still, it made for a fun afternoon hangout, just maybe not an all-day activity. Worth checking out once, but there are certainly other Oktoberfests around the Twin Cities that offer more and require less pay to play.

The event was fun! Only down side is you have to pay for everything even the activities like…read morehammerslaugin. Drinks are $11 each ticket to get in was $11 games range from $5-$15. I probably won't come back

As far as I can remember, I have loved street festivals. Growing up in NYC I recall always being…read morepleasantly surprised while walking down a street with no specific intention to check out a street fair but would love the pleasant surprise of bumping into one. I loved the array of food, clothes, music, people. and whatever else would be available at these fairs because I always have fond memories of walking for blocks and blocks of city streets just taking it all in. As I got older I began to seek them out on my own. The NYC Bastille Fair was one of my favorites. Now that I am in Minnesota, I checked out the Bastille Day Block Party and although the size was limited they sure packed a lot into this block! Live performances, fries, ice cream, beer galore, food trucks, wine tasting vendors and more. I came curious and left happier and full. It is definitely a nice summer event to check out if you have the time! -After all, it's only once a year.