VOUCHER VEXATION The…read moreTaste of Bolingbrook is a great way to enjoy local businesses, but they need to revisit their ticketing scheme for 2026. This annual event is free to the public and takes place at the Bolingbrook Promenade towards the end of May. There's a decent variety of vendors although some are repeats (places serving the same thing) and some are ripoffs. I didn't see any public bathrooms, so we just used Macy's. The food & drink tickets themselves were a GIGANTIC 4" x 8". Who designed these, held the stack of proofs and honestly thought it was a reasonable size?? Bear in mind, a typical "keep this stub" raffle ticket measures 1" x 2", so what they gave people were SIXTEEN TIMES bigger than necessary. There were a handful of non-food vendors, like Ivy Hall (spin the wheel for bonus loyalty points), a 3D printing shop, Bolingbrook Garden Club, and several home remodeling companies. We really appreciated the sensory oasis, which gave our little guy an opportunity to color and relax for a bit. The lumpia (tiny crispy egg rolls, 4 for $4) from Riceby were tasty, as were the onigiri (we got pork belly adobo and beef bulgogi for $7/ea). I settled for mediocre sliders from Star Cinema Grill (2 for $9), no way I was waiting half an hour for Uncle Booker's BBQ or street tacos. A lot of people were confused that vendors were ticket only; naturally, lines to buy tickets stretched two dozen deep. My wife waited 20 minutes for a lobster roll from the Maine Lobster food truck, and it wasn't all that delicious, nor did it come with chips or a side (plus it was $25 fu%!#g dollars!) Beer was disappointing. A Miller Lite was $7 and we assumed we'd be getting 16oz tallboys......nope, 12oz cans. I rarely drink just one beer but at that size and price (coupled with the fact I didn't want to burn up precious tickets) it was a one-and-done brewski for me. * TL;DR * This was an otherwise nice event hampered by long lines, questionable prices and oddly oversized tickets. Don't get me wrong, this is a solid way to kill a few hours on a Saturday in early summer, I just wish food & drink were a little more affordable and the vouchers a little more ergonomic. I also disliked that food and alcohol shared the same tickets, so at some point it came down to "do I spend my last 7 tickets on a shitty beer or an undercooked slider?" Long waits at nearly every vendor discouraged me from trying things I wanted to sample. The tickets were FAR too large to fit into pockets, so unless you brought a backpack you were awkwardly holding onto them the entire time. The live music was nice, though. Unless things change for the better, we might pass on next year's Taste of Bolingbrook.

Decent little festival held at the Bolingbrook promenade. Kinda annoying that you have to get…read moretickets. Cash is king as card charges a convenience fee. (And I heard from a friend that attended later in the day it changed to cash only). I sampled some sliders from Ted's and ice cream nachos from the creamery. The vendors and food are spread out. Bathrooms in decent shape for a crowded event!

Overall a decent fest. I recommend parking near the train station. (Or if you live near a BNSF…read morestop, convenient to take train to). Free admission. I have come multiple times to see a cover band. If you want to try some of the local restaurants, they have booths. It is a decent amount of walking. You can bring in your own chair to watch the bands or stand. They accept both cash and card at the beer tent. However, if you pay with card there is a fee. Vendors and crafts are same junk you see everywhere. Every year there is someone trying to sell me home improvements.

Taste of Westmont is an annual event located in the Downtown area on N Cass Ave. It offers a mix of…read morecarnival rides & games, (2) stages for live music, vendor tents, a beer tent, and food vendor area. There is no admission charge and street parking isn't too difficult to find. This is my second time attending the event and loved the atmosphere in the mid afternoon. There were about 8-10 food tents or trucks offering samples of their best items. All food venders were local to the Westmont area which I love. Most of the vendor tents this year were home remodeling companies or community organizations. While this is nice, I missed some of the mom & pop vendors offering decor, candies, artisan goods, etc. Overall, this is a great family-friendly event. It may not be the biggest festival but it's enough. It's never been too crowded when I've come and I always enjoy the sense of community!

I have been going to the fest for a long time, mostly to see cover bands. They usually get a good…read moreoffering of bands. You do pay a cover to see the bands. Parking can be tight. Check the deck first. Local businesses sponsor the event and money raised goes towards scholarships.

First timer at an ale fest, and it was a fun date night (even though my husband doesn't drink beer…read moreand ended up walking around with me and/or sitting by the band all night). The drink ticket price seems pretty reasonable, considering it gets you 20 samples. But the cost for a designated driver pass is a little steep in my opinion ($19). What is that $19 for exactly?? The band? Because it didn't include free soda. They did have free boxed water - but that was for everyone, which was nice. There were a few food vendors, which were just okay. It did the job. Our favorite was Nothing Bundt Cakes. For $20, you got 4 small cakes and a zippered cooler case. They give you a lanyard with a punchcard, and a 4 oz (or 3 oz??) sample glass to take home as a keepsake. You go to each tent, pick your beer, and they fill your glass. Most vendors will mark off one of the 20 spots on your card, to keep track, but a few vendors just gave samples to me without marking my card. They have chairs set up in front of the band, so you can relax in between samples. The country singer did a nice job - he had a few folks out there dancing along. There was a large wooden block "Jenga" game set up for people to play in between sampling. The lines to the port-o-pottys weren't bad. Usually just 1 or 2 people in front of you. Just don't forget to lock the door behind you! Too many people were forgetting and having the doors opened on them (myself included...). :-O There was a pretty large selection of local beers and a few classics (Sam Adams, Guinness, etc.). I tend to lean towards wheat ales, but I didn't find any of those. Unfortunately I don't like IPAs, but I'm starting to like stouts, so it was nice to try a few of those. I'm not sure we'll be back next year. It was just something to try out once. I recommend anyone who likes beer to check it out though!

All in all the Ale Feat was fantastic this year. This is our second year in a row and we are very…read morepleased with the expansion. I would like to see a few more food booths and a better way to display the art so it was more of an event I know they're working on it and they did a really good job transitioning from year to year. We will be back next year!

So disappointed in this place. They're Farmers Market on Thursdays used to be great because they…read morewould have a live band which would attract hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people and then people would come to the farmer's market and buy food and handcrafted items and things like that. They have decided to stop the music and the people stopped coming and now there's very few vendors. Bad decision you guys. And what makes it even worse is they are still advertising live music. You see people walking around with lawn chairs asking where the band is playing. Horrible.

A few good vendors as far as the fresh produce goes. However, we would consider this more to be a…read morefestival than a farmers' market, or a merger of both. On the plus side: local farmers, local businesses, live band, kids' activities, on the premises of The Promenade Bolingbrook mall - so plenty of parking plus if you need to shop at the mall you can do both. Lots of people, which is great! On the not negative side: in our eyes, a farmers' market should promote local, family-owned, small businesses, not huge corporate chains. We were disappointed to see there were a lot of chain restaurants in their own booths, promoting/serving their food. Yes, there should be hot food served at the farmers' market, but it should come from local restaurants. We probably won't come back. We decided to stop in and check it out mostly because we saw the signs coming out of IKEA. Overall, not a bad experience, but not fabulous either.

This was my first time attending Veggie Fest. This festival is free to attend and offers free food…read moresamples,music,speakers and meditation seminars as well as food for purchase . Parking is free . This was a fun festival to attend and have a delicious experience.

It's official, Veggie Fest trumps Vegandale! After being a day-one fest goer of Vegandale, I…read morefinally gave up on the festival after last year, and made room in my schedule to scope out Veggie Fest. This family friendly event offers free parking and free entry. There were PLENTY of decently sized samples in the first section of the fest, along with merch and healthier living tents. The food is purchase by food tickets only (no refunds on unused tickets). One tent is for cash, one tent is for card. Very quick process. I purchased 25 tickets ($1 = 1 ticket) and was able to get veggie kebabs, a lemonade, water and a smoothie, which was PLENTY after all of the sampling we did. There were plenty of vegan options as well, not just vegetarian! We spent about 3 hours here, 45 minutes of that was spent listening to a lecture which was very informative. I loved all of the guest speaker options, live music, children's area, yoga and meditation tents. I purchased some chili oil, veggie snacks and dip on my way out (all pre sampled) and in all, I spent $68 and my tummy was happy, whereas I typically would spend $200 at Vegandale pre alcohol purchases, and I would have spent 4 hours in lines being miserable. No alcohol here, but I preferred the chill vibes and appreciated the ample parking, seating, and quick lines. All of the Veggie Fest staff was friendly and helpful and the vendors were SO KIND. Highly recommend if you're getting tired of the hot mess that Vegandale has become.

The Morton Arboretum is a great place to visit year-round. It is very family friendly with trails…read moreaccessible via stroller. Some of our favorite trails are on the east side, but we have so much more the explore! They have a variety of events that are included with admission as well as events that require an additional purchase. There is a small café that sells drinks and small bites. I have tried a few different lattes and they were good. They also have a restaurant and their food always smells delicious, but I have yet to try anything from there. The restaurant itself has a beautiful view of their lake. I definitely recommend a membership if you live nearby and plan to visit multiple times a year. Another great benefit of the membership is the reciprocity to other gardens throughout the country. A great value!

This is the second time I've gone to the Morton Arboretum for their Illumination event, and it's…read morebeen fantastic both times. Despite the fact it was cold outside, we enjoyed the various light installations, especially with the freshly fallen snow to set the mood. I didn't take as many pictures this time, I was too busy enjoying the lights - the lantern section this year was my favorite! They do a great job with making sure the path is cleared and there are places you can step off of it so you're out of the way if you want to take pictures or just want to be by an installation for a while. You can't get lost, they have signs and people posted to help make sure foot traffic keeps moving in one direction. I think the cost is fair, if you're a member it's a bit cheaper, but we are not. Giving it 4/5 stars for this last experience because there were supposed to be fire pits along the path but there were none this time, just one heated tent that was packed, so we didn't have another way to warm up a bit during the mile long walk. I do look forward to going again next year!

Look for parking ... Took a half hour…read more Walk to the festival took 15 minutes Stand in line to buy tickets Stand in line to go through security Stand in line at ATM Stand in line for beer tickets Stand in line for beer Stand in line for food Stand in line for bathroom Stand in line for beer Standing sucks ... Let's go home! 15 minute walk back to the car.

We came solely to see the hot air balloons. They did mini rides for people but it's not what I…read moreexpected. They never really left the ground. It was a big fest with a carnival, two stages ( Rock and country), and lots of food and vendors. The short fire works show at 945 was nice too. The area was huge with a pond and little bridge. The food we got was Super nasty. The $15 chicken kabob was all fat and the $9 turkey leg was hard and almost raw. NASTY! !!. We wasted money and threw the food out. Not worth it coming from Chicago. I rather go to a different fest.