We attended the Fremont Fair today and had a lovely time. The weather was beautiful and we arrived…read moreearly before the crowds, but made sure to stay for the parade in the afternoon. Between all the amazing vendors, the incredible food options, live music and street performers, the Art Cars and everything else to see and do, the time just flew right by. This is definitely one of the better festivals we have attended. It's dog friendly and family friendly and completely free. Parking is probably the only negative thing and if you don't mind the walk, you should be able to find some parking in a neighboring residential area. We definitely got our 10,000 steps in today and I would absolutely come back again and again.

I have been coming to the Fremont Fair for decades. It is still one of my favorite fairs to visit…read moreevery year. My agenda is likely different from many folks. I don't come on Saturday anymore since everyone is there for the Solstice parade. It is borderline insane for those who drive there and need to find parking. My routine: - I arrive midday on Sunday, typically about 3pm. This gives me three hours at the fair. Many folks are beginning to leave by then. Parking is slightly easier to find even if we need to loop a time or two. - Visit the art cars. This is my absolute favorite at the Fremont Fair. They are insanely fun. My favorite is from 10+ years ago. A sedan is fully covered with Big Mouth Billy Bass with lobsters on top that are synced up to sing Bohemian Rhapsody. I am sure I have a video somewhere. - Stroll the many blocks of the fair, exploring the booths. I go to many fairs. I recognize most vendors going to the same fairs. Fremont Fair is still able to surprise me with new-to-me booths. It is why I return year after year. - Look for free swags. Many community booths give free swags. I look for the cute items that a child might like so I can give those swags to teachers as classroom rewards. - Free food sampling - We enjoy buying new-to-us foods. - Skip the food booths, mostly. Once upon a time, food booths were the source to find unusual eats or to have a small bite. We stop eating from food booths when they became more expensive than going to a restaurant. Sorry, not sorry. We support the local restaurants in the neighborhood instead. We still look, but it is uncommon for us to find something we don't already know. - When all is done, take a stroll along ship canal. It is both peaceful (for us) and chaotic (for the vendors packing up and/or taking down their booths). It is part entertainment seeing the staff direct traffic. For this year's fair, the highlight is once again the art cars with the spaceship car. Inter Milan gave away blue ice cream, while a Raspados Del Sur gave away their excess fruits after the fair ended. It was awesome! Of course, I bought items and enjoyed music from the stages, too.

A two-day festival that coincided with the Sunday farmers market made for a full and fun day!…read more Parking and driving in the area were busy, but once there, there were blocks of produce, cookies, crafts and foods to enjoy. Not to mention bounce houses (overpriced) and a free arcade booth from West Seattle Arcade!

This weekend has been one full of festival happenings around town. One of these being the West…read moreSeattle Summer Fest. I have going to this festival for several years now. It has similar appeal for me to the Ballard SeafoodFest, which interestingly moved their event up to the same weekend this year. It is a neighborhood celebration. Like Ballard, the businesses in the Junction all seem to embrace the festival. Many of businesses tend to hold sidewalk sales. The one I am most fond of is the Easy Street Records used CD sale. Three CDs for $5! It is a treasure hunt finding a treasure in a sea of crap. I think this is the only place I could justify buying say, a Jessica Simpson CD, if I wanted to. There is the usual vendor and food booths that you expect to see at other festivals which are okay. I kind of prefer Ballard in this regard. As it is held at the height of summer, it can get pretty scorching so be prepared to hydrate when perusing. Live music is also a component of the festival. There are two stages and the bands playing here are of pretty decent quality for a neighborhood festival. Nothing like Capitol Hill Block Party, but this is a free event. What do you expect? U2. Uh uh. All in all, Summer Fest is a pretty decent event. If you have not visited West Seattle recently, this is one of the best times to go and revisit this quaint neighborhood.

Checked this place out with my girls ages 2.5 and 5 years old. They had a blast! Bigger kids get a…read morelittle rowdy, but easily handled with a simple verbal reminder "watch out big kids, there's a little playing too". It is as loud as you would expect an indoor. If the noise bothers, make sure you bring your headphones. Basically, is a place for kids to have fun. If you judge it by that it is nothing but a fantastic events. This is one of the fun things to do with the family. Great fun, Great weather!!! Gotta love the WHIRLIGIG! My recommendation, catch the light rail/bus to Westlake and walk to Westlake Center's monorail platform on the third floor.  Ride the monorail over to Seattle Center - Center House is right next to the exit for the monorail! Whirligig is open daily 11am-6pm!  Cost: $8: All Day Main Floor Pass $4.50: All Day Toddler Zone Pass $1.50: Single Ride Ticket FREE on Thursdays!

Whirligig is a yearly celebration of all that is inflatable. Basically, you bring your kids here,…read morepurchase tickets or a wristband, then send them on their way. Often, screaming, laughing, crying, or any combination of the three can be heard from the little ones. TIP #1 - Come during the week before Spring Break (for Seattle Public Schools). It's always filled with kids but believe it or not, sometimes there are less kids. TIP #2 - Make enough time for your kids to run around and buy a wristband. Believe me, it will be the best $7.50 you will ever spend. The tickets only make sense if you are literally going to be there for only 15 minutes (which is rarely the case with kids). TIP #3 - Stay out of the way. Set up a spot where your child can find you and develop a safety protocol for all situations. Depending on when you are there, you will feel like you're on a NY subway, what with all the bumping, stepping, pushing and shoving. While my child is running and jumping around with friends, I am catching up with my friends or grabbing a bite to eat. The Armory has decent food now, but if you're trying to save a few bucks, you can bring your own food. Parking is always an issue around Seattle Center. Most street spots, if you find them are either metered or have 2 hour limits. TIP #4 - If you're going to eat at The Armory anyway, the food vendors will validate 2 hours parking in the Seattle Center garages. Remember, Whirligig typically runs for around 2 weeks or so. Make an event of it and plan a huge play date. Your kid will love it. The only downside is they won't let grownups ride (trust me, I've tried).

This year's event was in the Lumen Field Stadium :)…read more 200+ wineries and 50+ restaurants to try from - I would definitely recommend the 2-day so you can try everything without being insanely stuffed! It was so fun to try all the interesting bites from Seattle restaurants!

I purchased two day VIP tickets. We waited in line well past our 1 pm entrance time due to clearly…read moremismanaged ticketing and check-in/entrance personnel. Our apple wallet tickets were scanned yet we were given a one day VIP pass and wrist band. They said that was all they were given. After we get in, the show was cool, pretty much what was expected. The next day seemed things to be a little bit more in order but when I pulled up my apple wallet 2day VIP ticket I had purchased, it said the ticket had expired. They then tell me there's nothing they can do about it. I told them they were going to do something about it and they argued with me in front of everyone. I clearly had a two day VIP pass. They had to get a "manager" to finally acknowledge that they and the system had made a mistake. You think! Still a cool show just very disorganized and mismanaged event with not enough staff to handle the crowd including coat check. Hopefully they make changes next year.

The Chinatown International District Block Party is a fairly new festival that tends to be around…read morethe time of the Mid-Autumn Festival. It has steadily grown to be a fun filled though still modest four blocks party in a plus shape, with a stage in the commonly empty parking lot near the Chinatown Gate. Filled with food trucks, food booths, people from all over the area come in troves to fill these vibrant four blocks for a night of food, entertainment, and minor shopping of cute and adorable items. Locals who live in the area and those with kids tend to come earlier when it opens at 4. McDonald's is the major sponsor, funding the entertainment on stage, and the swag giveaways. Almost always, they are giving away free food too. This year (2019) is chicken nuggets. The food booths lean towards Asian foods, but plenty of others represent, including Cajun and pizza. My favorite dessert is Mike's Shaved Ice; the texture of their shaved ice is closest to Hawaiian style. Parking is challenging. Primarily street parking and a few adjacent paid lots.

This is an annual festival held in August at Renton Uwajimaya. Although it is called a Polynesian…read morefestival, it is essentially a mini version of the Hawaiian festival held at Seattle Center in September. And it coincides with the Hawaiian week promotions that the store offers. Most of the festivities are outside in the parking lot. There are a handful of vendors and an entertainment stage. The store also does some Hawaiian product promos inside. It is a modest size festival that I go to every few years when I am looking for a taste of home.

One of the most interesting, fun and beautiful cultures in the world. The performers were awesome…read more It was good to hear the Island Style music. And to see the dancers. You don't have to be Polynesian to attend, the festival is open to everyone. Good shows, good peeps, good grub... good times. The event is free to attend! The line for the shaved hawaiian ice is always long! Although I do wish they had more vendors and the lines aren't so long for the food. I'm always hoping to one day see Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson there lol or like Troy Polamalu... sweet! If you've ever been to Hawaii you know there are some very great quality Hawaii brands (such as Island Heritage) that you can only get over in Hawaii, or ship with steep shipping charges. I bought beautiful towels, lunch totes and jewelry. Hearing the Hawaiian music as you stroll into the festival and seeing all the dances really makes you feel like you're at the best luau in Honolulu. All in all a good time to be had!

Came here with friends and had a lot of fun. The husky game and mariners playoff games were both…read moreon, so there was a good sized crowd watching the games. You purchase token coins which you use to redeem for food and drinks at the various vendor stands. If you don't use all your tokens, you can return them later and they will buy them back. The credit card token line tends to be much longer than the cash token line, so I recommend bringing cash if you have it to speed things up. I think their website suggests that you get about $40 worth of tokens per person to have a full experience. This seemed like a lot, and in actuality we ended up spending a lot more. So, it was more expensive than I thought it would be, but some of the food/drink deals are actually pretty good ($6 beer/wine - very healthy pours on the wine, no tax). Highly recommend trying their gyro. The hot entree options also sounded very good and seemed reasonably priced. The problem is you want to try so many things that you're going to need a lot of tokens :) There is live music, dancing, and also a separate section with a market where you can buy some pantry goods and cheese. They offer tours of the church as well. Overall, had a really fun time, ate lunch and dinner here, and left full (but with much lighter pockets :P)

St Demetrios Fest. Is a fun Greek Food event. They have lamb sandwiches, greek fries, pastries,…read morecalamari, casseroles, roasted chicken, soup, falafel, meatballs and rice. Greek coffee. Beer, wine, greek juices. There's kids games too. I bought 3 earrings for $6 total in their rummage sale area. I seem to find something every year at their sale. A convent also sales candles and soaps. There's a huge outdoor tent . The volunteers are really friendly. It will get extremely crowded on Sat snd Sun. Street Parking is limited. They will accept credit cards in exchange for tokens. Bring cash to speed up the lines.

Ukrainian food is in short supply so I look forward to this yearly festival. This festival is…read morerelatively new as this year will be its fourth year. It takes place in late August/early September. The next one being this weekend (Saturday). While this event is for the Ukrainian community, all are welcome. The event take up a good chunk of Crossroads Park where it is held annually. Dancing, music and family activities are some of the offerings. For me though I come here for the food. There are a bunch of vendors with similar menus, so choose the one that looks the most appealing to you. My particular favorite is to get some pork kebabs with either some plov or salad. They also have a baked goods table if you want dessert. If you are looking for something to do this weekend on the Eastside, this is a decent festival to check out. Particularly for their food offerings.

The Festival was great this year and very professionaly organized. Especially I want to express my…read moreappreciation for parking guys who worked so tirelessly and helped me to find spot to park my car whe it seems impossible. Thank you!