This is a pretty decent-sized festival for the burbs. It has the typical carnival rides on the side…read moreand food tents setup that you usually see in suburban festival. I decided to check it out after a Northbrookian (or is it "Northbrook-ite"?) kept saying how awesome it was and that he so far went on the previous two days. Most be good, I though, eh? I have to agree that it was pretty good. The weather was perfect on Sunday and its right next to the Metra stop so there was parking that was really close by. So unlike other suburban festivals that are held in residential parks (think Arlington Heights Frontier Days) you don't have to take a tour of the neighborhood and drive around in circles looking for somewhere to park. The food there was decent and "festival priced" -- the currency there is tickets, tickets, tickets and they were selling 1-ticket for 50cents. I got the beef brisket sammich at some BBQ place called TK's which was awesome, and I shall "bookmark". This place showcased a lot of Northbrook restaurants that I shall try out in the near future. My forgetful memory entails that I'll need to lookup the names again :-/ Overall, a decent-sized festival that is worth checking out if you're in the burbs.

Rides, games, music, food, people That IS NB days fest. Located in downtown Northbrook, the village…read moregreen turns into a huge carnival area with food/game/ride vendors plus a large stage area with live music. The kids love it, big enough to have fun, small enough to still be some what contained. Rides can get expensive, they used to have a band deal but not sure what the current status of that is. This event fires up on a Wednesday in late July and soldiers on through until Sunday evening.

The Park Ridge Park District puts on an excellent October Fest the last Saturday of every…read moreSeptember. It is located in Hodges Park which is right in front of City Hall. The fest is free to enter, but there are charges for food, beer and kids activities. A wrist band for all the bouncy castles and kids games is only $5. There is plenty of parking in the neighborhood behind the event or you can try by the library. There is live music at night and plenty of activities during the day. There are a ton great food vendors including Holts, Harp and Fiddle and a few other places that serve German fare. The giant pretzels with dipping sauce were a hit and the beer list was extensive. Prices were pretty reasonable for a festival and the lines to get food/drinks were not bad at all. You could use credit cards for beer, but everything else was cash only. This is a great way to celebrate the beginning of fall and hang out in the park.

Best craft beer fest I've been to in quite some time!…read more Normally when a new beer festival gives it a go, there are some logistical issues and things that need tweaks. Well this was the first time they threw this festival, and I honestly didn't find much to fault them on. Parking was well organized. There was a free parking lot across the street and buses taking people from the parking to the fest. Demographic skewed slightly older but it's to be expected in Glenview. Glenview is my hometown and I had a strong feeling most fest goers would be a bit older than my friend and I. Awesome selection of breweries including many local favorites and others from around the nation, 35 in total. I have a feeling they could get even more breweries on board next year! They could also add some more food vendors for next year. Tickets were $35-50 depending when you purchased them and proceeds went towards supporting The Grove. The Grove was a perfect venue with vendors spread out enough so there wasn't congestion and I never had to deal with lines for beer more than a few people long. I did wish there were more rare beer offerings, but was still happy with the selection. Also, even though the fest went until 10pm, most places ran out of beer at 9pm and they ran out of the good/more rare/fancy beers just a hour in around 8pm. Other good points of the fest is they had ample seating, way more than enough. I've been to so many beer fests were they simple did not provide anywhere to sit and it was torture. The live music was really good with many solid covers being played - everyone was having fun! When it got dark out, they brought out huge lighting - they were well prepared. We actually had volunteers come up and ask us what we thought of the fest, how they could improve, etc. Never have I seen such a thing at a beer fest! Loved, loved, loved this! The Grove Craft Beer & Wine Festival was so well organized, well spread out, great music, great beers, beyond amazing staff and just was a win overall - great value for the ticket. I absolutely will be going next year.

This was the first year we attended the Grove Craft Beer & Wine Festival in Glenview, which…read morehappened this past Friday. My partner purchased a super early bird VIP ticket. The VIP ticket allowed her five extra drink samples -- in addition to the twenty you already got with general admission purchase -- early entry, as well as the ability to park closer to the venue. She bought me the Designated Driver (DD) ticket, which was considerably less expensive and allowed me free water, according to the Grove website. I understand this event is to help support the efforts at the historic Grove location, but the tickets are still exorbitant for what you get, in my opinion. When we first entered, no one bothered to even check if we did indeed have VIP tickets in order to park closer. If we didn't have the tickets, we could have just said we did and gotten in. The volunteers also weren't very good at explaining where they wanted us to go. After parking, there were no signs anywhere that should have directed us to a field across a road from the VIP parking in which we had to pick up our event passes. We had to ask a random person where they got them. At the registration table, the volunteer mistakenly gave me a VIP wristband as well as the three-ounce sampling glass, despite having a DD ticket, I guess because my partner had the VIP ticket and she put both of our tickets on the table together. I didn't quite understand what was happening until after, so didn't question it. I didn't matter as I wasn't drinking. But I essentially got an $85 pass for $20. Tents were set up in the middle of a large field, which is surrounded by woods, where each of the breweries had their samples. What is supposed to happen is that every time you get a sample, the brewery should mark off a punchcard given to you at registration. Except it got so busy that most of the breweries didn't bother with this. This means that the VIP ticket is essentially worthless unless you simply want to park closer. You can drink as much as you want. If you're a vegetarian, make sure you eat before you come. There were four food vendors, and two of them sold bratwurst (Whole Foods offered bratwurst and chicken-and-apple sausage). One had pizza, and another had chicken sliders and chips and salsa. My partner ate chips for a meal because there was nothing else she could eat. Of course, this being late July it was very, very hot. I asked two different volunteers where the DDs were supposed to be able to get free water, and one said there was a water station set up near the tents. Nope, there wasn't. Food vendors were selling water for $1. There was an air conditioned part of the building only VIPs were allowed to enter, where they had tables set up. I guess if you're prone to heat that might be worth paying for. As the sun started to go down it became more crowded. It would be better to come after the sun goes down because it's cooler, but then you have to deal with more people. Also, you REALLY need to bring bug repellent if you plan on staying after dusk. If you plan on going next year, don't bother wasting money on a VIP ticket. Buy general admission, drink as much as you want, and bring bug repellent. It was good to experience as we had never been to the Grove before, but I don't know if we'll bother next year.

This was my first visit to this nice summer festival. Without any kiddos in tow, which is not…read morereally in the job description anymore except in umm special situations, I was only interested in the free concerts. The atmosphere on a pleasant Saturday evening was crowded, festive, buoyant, well-behaved, and safe with a good visible presence by the Skokie police. This festival is really great for the area and has grown in its local renown. I actually lived in Skokie from 1982 - 1995 and this event didn't exist until 2007. We saw about half of Americana singer Micheal McDermott's performance followed by alt-rock band Vertical Horizon. For the price, t'was very enjoyable. I never heard of either and it was no biggie, but I saw that the Bash drew Foghat here at least one year, so they occasionally get some big names. I also learned I didn't need to lug around portable chairs to watch the main stage. There's fold-up chairs already set up and available and it's easy to nab a couple of seats if you're there before a performance starts. Midway through one though, it's harder at prime time, but with people coming and going, the wife and I still managed to nab a couple seats pretty close to the front. Parking can be a little challenging as it's virtually all neighborhood street parking. You just have to circle around looking for an opening and be willing to walk a little. Great festival, and a great first visit for us! Thank you Skokie!

I like the fact that I could just walk to this event from my home, no car necessary, not at all…read more Downtown Skokie is experiencing a resurgence and the Backlot Bash is part of that good feeling about living close to Oakton and Niles Center Rd. And it's a three day event (Friday - Sunday) and there's a little something for everyone - kiddie rides, funnel cake, a beer garden, car show, good food (relatively speaking), live bands and you can go during the day and at night. I really have enjoyed the bands, here's a list of who I've seen - The Wailers (without Peter, Bunny and Bob), the Fixx (One thing leads to another), Blue Oyster Cult (more cowbell please), Flock of Seagulls (actually missed them as I was in Ireland) and most recently Foghat (I just wanna make, love to you - whoops, this is a PG rated review). So that's a pretty awesome list for a free neighborhood concert. I do worry though because this event is getting bigger and bigger and bigger each year. I think they need to go West on Oakton for more space. I haven't asked the home owners though, for their opinion. I do have to say that I enjoy the folks who bring their little kids or their aging parents to watch a rock concert, that just warms my heart. Like I said, there's a little something for everyone. It's also really safe, there's always the Skokie 5-0 swat truck parked right in front. Now I just hope next years band will be even better - how about Rush, REO or Cheap Trick, The Romantics, wouldn't that be great?!?

Still a great go-to event in the suburbs of Chicago. Definitely not as crowded as the Taste of…read moreChicago, with enough food vendors to try out and spend an hour or so on. Venue is setup with lots of space and shaded seating area near the Park Ridge Metra station. There is a large stage area with entertainment on the east-side of the venue. This place sells food by the ticket, so the layer of abstraction helps with not knowing you're paying $12 worth of tickets for two chicken skewers and rice. Most food items worth trying out are around 8 to 12 tickets, with prices, as of 2023, being $10 for a strip of 8 tickets. No surcharge for cash, but if you only have plastic, they do apply a surcharge. In either case, still better than $30 for a piece of lettuce at the Taste of Chicago, wading through a large crowd, while hoping to not have your food bumped out of your hand from an unaware crowd. BATHROOM REVIEW: Plenty of port-a-potties, with mine being pleasant and clean. Not a lot of use so far when I went around 2PM on a Saturday afternoon. We'll see, as the festival goes on with drunks destroying the bathroom. But for now, sit or squat? Squat... it's still a port-a-potty.

The food was great and I enjoyed the atmosphere as it was very safe and relaxing. I will be back…read morenext year.

I know there are a few people who would disagree, but I miss Des Plaines old summer party, where it…read morewas a "taste of" and actually had tents serving DP restaurant's food! Tents, not 4 tents, but a slew of them. The Des Plaines Summer Fling, while better entertainment than we had in years past (if you're into David Cassidy), didn't hold a candle to years past! 1. $3 cover! WTH? Lucky they had a singer (David Cassidy) who drew a bunch of people (odd though, I really wasn't a big Partridge Family fan, but had a ton of friends who went just for him). 2. 4 food booths, and I do not believe any of them were DP restaurants. 3. Carnival rides, complete with carnies and a full-fledged rip-off! 20 tickets for $20, rides were 3 - 5 tickets... I've got three kids who wanted to ride stuff, if I let them ride that stuff, there, I may as well have taken them to Six Flags for the day... it was a ridiculous waste of money. 4. ONE beverage tent, right by the stage (since that was the draw, I guess if you're only going to have one, that's where you'd put it) 5. Arts and crafts... BULL @#$%! There were 4 tents with artsie-craftsie stuff, two of them (the ones on the ends, because they were all in a row) had the same stuff! See below for a brief description of what this used to be if you want, but if it's run by the same organization next year, we won't waste our time! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Years past, when a company wasn't contracted to do this, but it was done by the city: 1) our restauranteurs came out and represented with good food and great personality; 2) free bouncy houses for the kids to play on, along with arts and crafts station; 3) historical center sold fresh baked pies from the porch for $3 a slice and it was GOOD!; 4) free to get in because you spent a ton-o-cash while you were there; 5) arts and crafts: portraits, hand made jewelry; knick-knacky stuff; you name it - it was there and it was worth seeing; and 6) local bands with local flavor and local followings were showcased.

The best part about this fest was the band JAKTRIPPER. They should headline this event next year!!!read more

Art festival that is not overly crowded so you can actually enjoy yourself and see mall the amazing…read moreartwork. There's all types of art to admire. Glen or is a suburb that's very nice and safe and to enjoy it in a beautiful day makes it better. There's street parking around the festival for easy access to downtown Glencoe and if you don't drive there is a Metra station so you can sit back and relax on the way here without driving.

If they communicate better. When's the backup fireworks? I am unsure why they play guess the day…read more Better on Labor Day than Fourth of July.

Loved loved the carnival at Morton grove village it's a great place which comes only once a year at…read more4th of July had so many rides, food,fire works awesome kids had so much fun and even adults as can always ride with your kids

Wow, this was really terrible. It took 28 minutes to get from the entrance on Willow Road to the…read morebooth where you get your ticket scanned. Along that entire route are just lighted fake Christmas trees, and I was wondering if that was what we paid $40 for. You can tune your dial to 89.1 to hear some Christmas music as you drive through the place. Once you get path the ticket booth there are some more elaborate displays but they are gaudy as all get out. There was a whole weird "patriotic"-maybe MAGA-definitely weird section with a lighted Mt. Rushmore, tank shooting at a Christmas tree, Uncle Sam, Iwo Jima, a helicopter... the standard Christmas military presence I guess? Also odd is Dino World. You know how St. Nick spent Christmas with the dinosaurs and then during the ice age he just chilled (pun intended) with the elves and reindeer until modern day. And there's also the homage to winter construction with the construction cones, backhoes, and so on. The more typical winter and holiday scenes are there, but a very small fraction of the various scenes. Once we got past the ticket booth, it took us about 30 minutes to drive through. It went slow, and it was not an enjoyable ride for my 17 month old though she may have enjoyed it more if she was older. The only--and I mean ONLY--reason to subject yourself to this is if you need to visit a drive-through light display because one in the party is disabled or something. And even if that's the case, you could find some neighborhoods in the city and suburbs to drive through and probably see nicer displays and spend the $40 (plus tax) on dinner or something.

This was our first and last time going through the Willow Hill Light show. While there were some…read morenice spots along the drive, there were many lights burnt out and some of the displays were not appropriate for a holiday display.... dinosaurs, a very odd military display with a tank shooting at a Christmas tree, a theme of construction equipment? Why? No music. Long lines. They ran out of the items we had preordered. The doughnuts were exactly like the mini Hostess ones you get from a box. For $40 a car plus the snacks, the total was $80 and so absolutely not worth the cost. Would not go back and would not recommend.