Such a fun little town. Hung out on the square at the local fair. Live music. Great food. A bit of…read morerich history. Fun rides. We ranged from 2-62 and everyone of us had a fun time!

Nice hometown festival. Food, drinks, live music, rides. Good times, of course it can't have 5…read morestars b/c our Chi neighborhood festivals are on a different level...sorry Liberty-thrill! But at least I started this post so you can flourish :)

Five stars solely for the food!…read more First off, it's called rib fest, so expect ribs. Second, ribs are known as BBQ food, so expect a lot of barbecue. There are a couple other options, such as corn dogs and corn on the cob; there are even one or two nachos options, kettle corn and a few dessert foods. But you come here for the barbecue! Beer, and hard cider are available for $6, while soda is $3 and water is $2. There are platters and meals. I would classify a platter as a true sampling of the place's BBQ. It usually consists of ribs, brisket, some pulled pork and chicken, and some sides (corn bread, beans, coleslaw, or potato salad). A meal would be akin to a sandwich or one meat dish with some sides. Some places offer additional BBQ foods like greens and chili. 12-13 vendors square off in the court of public opinion for the People's Choice award, and also in a judged competition for best ribs, brisket, etc. People's choice is about best overall. There are other vendors here, of the street fair type, sellings various goods such as yard art, games, toys, pet supplies, and foods such as fudge and Georgia peaches. There is a small area for the kids which includes rides and fair games, and also henna tattoos. Not far off, in a quieter area, are pony rides. There is a huge tent which, in addition to providing some much needed shade, offers live music and some seating for eating. In another area, there is seating with table umbrellas and another stage. IMHO, this is not a fest you're going to spend an entire day at. There isn't much to do unless you're into (predominantly) country music. You'll fill up on good food and need a rest before you try another vendor. We ate at two places and picked up a third meal to take home. We didn't spend more than 3-4 hours there. The best thing is that parking and admission is free, so you don't feel guilty about not staying. I can't say that this is a fest I would insist people go to, but it definitely is worth checking out, if for nothing else than to expand one's BBQ horizons! 28/2018

Better than I thought it would be! Admission is free and so is parking. Bring cash if you're…read moredrinking. Many of the BBQ vendors accept Credit, but have cash on hand for those that dont. ATM's are available. It's only another 10 miles SE of East Troy (about 30 miles SE of Milwaukee county). Not a lot to do here other than eat, drink, and listen to live music. There's shopping of the street fair variety and some foods that are not BBQ. And there's rides for the kiddos. It's family friendly with beer. The event is limited to 12 vendors from around the country, 4 of them are local to the area. Professional judges do the judging for the rib fest winner, while the public votes for the people's choice awards. Great opportunity to try some of the best BBQ vendors in one place.

Really fun time at Oktoberfest. Plenty of food, music, and libations. The town and surrounding…read morearea were very full of celebration goers! Businesses were getting business, and parking was limited (but eventually you could find a spot). Crafters, and other distributors on premises. Pumpkin decorating was fun! German dancers were outstanding! Free admission a plus!

Big disappointment. Other than the beer, you wouldn't have known you were at an Oktoberfest. No…read moreGerman music but a DJ playing dance music both days. It was basically a craft show with food trucks selling non-German food. Lesson leaned...

Waited in line for food for 30 minutes only to be told, they only except cash or Venmo what are we…read moredrug dealers? Left it don't need it not coming back again

This was really a lot of fun. We got to hear two bands - the first "Wedding Band", was a pretty…read moregood cover band. They all wore t-shirt tuxedos (a little tacky), but their music was good. At 10 pm the headliner came out - they were called the "Cherry Poppin' Daddies" out of Oregon somewhere. The name put us off a little (no- a lot). Their music was what I would call "suggestive" but their style could be classified as swing. This was not what a Saturday night crowd of several thousands wanted to hear. Not sure why Palatine chose them and not a rock band. Needless to say, a lot of people left during their performance. Now, the festival itself was great - Palatine festivals always get a great turn out. There were the regular information booths from insurers, politicians and window replacement companies. The food tents represented the best of Palatine - I had Pad Thai from Siri Thai and a hamburger from Heybeck's. Both were outstanding. Finally, the beer garden was packed. We set up chairs by the stage, but trans-versed the crowds to get beer several times. All I can say is there was no way to get to the beer tent easily. Oh, it was a straight shot. But there were so many people and the music was so loud, in many cases you had to push your way through. The craziest thing was the way they cordoned off the beer garden. The main entry was about a 30 foot long metal plank on the south of the area. There was one other entry point to the east. The porta- potties were set up to the northwest of the beer garden which I think makes sense. But, there was no entry between the two. In order to go from one section to the other, you had to leave the beer garden from either the south or the east, then walk all of the way around until you got there. It was not convenient. But, overall, it was a really good street fest which I will definitely go to again next years. My hope is that the people who put it together take these two points into consideration. If they corrected these, it would be a 5 star experience.

So much fun, unforgettable memories with family, there is music and many food trunks.read more

The Lights Fest is an annual gathering where a bunch of people light up paper lanterns into the…read moresky. The Lights Fest Chicago is ironically located in Wisconsin, as you do need an open field to launch a bunch of lanterns safely; you can't just light em up in the city itself. But it's in Twin Lakes, which is only about an hour away. The place/venue may vary from year-to-year, so check http://www.thelightsfest.com for specifics. This review is specifically for the fest in 2018 at Twin Lakes. Parking starts at 3pm and closes around 6. When you arrive, staffers direct you on where to park in the grassy field. Poor grass, all trampled on. Once you are parked, please take note where you parked, as after the event, we've seen numerous people trying to set off their car alarms as a way of remembering where their car's at. Once parked, there's really only one direction to go. Go to one of the check-in booths and grab a lantern kit and marker. Check-in was easy-peasy. Then, find a spot and make yourself cozy. Definitely bring some foldable chairs, but if you forgot yours, the Lights Fest sells one of those inflatable couches, which aren't the most comfortable things, but is cozier than sitting on the grass. While waiting for sunset, to launch the lanterns, several bands take the stage playing some decent music. There's also several food trucks, including Mexican, bbq, pizza, and a dessert booth. After the bands play, they'll make an announcement that its about showtime. They do a demostration of how the lanterns work on stage. Even though on opposite ends of the stage there are projection screens, they did not display the demo on said screens. Instead, you can somewhat make out what they are saying and demonstrating. There are tiki torches lined up, I would estimate, every 30-feet or so. With this year's crowd, I would say there were plenty of torches for people. Maybe 3-4 people per torch, which isn't too bad. The thing is, lighting your lantern takes about 10-15seconds... not too long. But here's the thing; after an evening of waiting for this moment, 10-15seconds to light your lantern is a big deal. After an entire evening of the MC warning us to not light our lanterns yet, and that releasing the lanterns at the same time will be "worth the wait", it's pretty anti-climatic when the MC told us it was time to light the lanterns. And then in less than 20-seconds of announcing that, the MC says, "OK! Time to release your lantern in 5..4..3.." Umm, I still have 2 other people struggling/trying to light their lantern, in which lanterns are already releasing. Music is played in the background as the lanterns were released, which was pretty cool. Pro-tip: It's probably best to have someone hold the top of the lantern while you're trying to light the cardboard that is located at the bottom/base of it, as I tried to do it myself and I guess I didn't hold the lantern completely straight, and the flame burned a hole on the side of my lantern. Release... and plop. It floated less than 4 feet away from me. How sad. After that, a mad dash to the parking lot. With over 100 cars funneling through an exit that fits one car at a time, it took over 45-minutes for us to get out of the parking lot. Rows of cars lined-up and we just slowly killed the grassy field with our cars bellowing carbon monoxide. Left the event at 7:50PM, didn't get out of the parking lot until well past 8:30PM. Will I go again? Not sure. I think it would have been a lot more fun if you go with a large group of friends and know how the lanterns work. More than half the time I spent alone because either I was waiting for the bathroom or waiting 45-minutes on a slow moving food truck line. I just felt it was a lot of waiting, just for a 5-minute "climatic" event. It reminds me of puberty and high school XD I get waiting before is part of the fun, but waiting to get out of the parking lot was the killer of the event. Not sure really if there's much that can be done. I know this venue also hosts "Country Thunder" and other events... curious to know how they go. But that's not the scope of the review. BATHROOM REVIEW: Plenty of port-a-pottie are lined-up at the opposite end of the entrance/exit. There are several hand washing stations outside of the port-a-potties. Sit or squat? Dude, its a port-a-potty. Squat.

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.

Cornfest is a 5 star event. Let me explain why.... Every year, this beautiful "All-American"…read morefestival is a free event sponsored by Birdseye Foods. The kids love the rides. $20 and they ride all weekend. The roasted corn is free. I can usually kill two pieces. Then I spend $6 and buy a huge paper bag full of corn to take home to share with family, friends, and neighbors. All I see around me is families from all walks of life having barrels of fun with their kids and siblings. There is a huge playground here and you can also bring a cooler to picnic on the many picnic tables. Everyone is having so much fun. Check out the vendors too. Homemade ice cream is to die for. The food here is soo good. The bands, the families, the kids, best parade I've seen in a long time, the ambiance is all 5 stars and best of all, the kids are excited about coming here. Come on down, you won't be disappointed!!

Free corn! Announce that and they will come running... who you ask? Oh the townsfolk of Darien,…read moreWI. It was like the zoo, only with corn kernels scattered about everywhere you went. I personally, wasn't interested in any food due to the previous nights drinking fest. So officially, I have to say cornfest was a success for the small town it was held in. And I did see a lot of smiling faces as well as dirty ones but as for me, I just wished there was more places to sit and take naps at. And no, I didn't stay for the tractor pulling...

Stade's is such a fun place to visit with family and friends. We went for raspberry and apple…read morepicking and had an amazing time - it's such a great experience being out in the fields. They offer so many other fruits and vegetables to pick from too, so there's always something new to enjoy each season! The staff are friendly and helpful, and the prices are very reasonable considering how fresh and high-quality the produce is. Everything we picked tasted incredible - you can tell it's straight from the farm. We've made it a tradition to go every year, and it never disappoints. It's a wholesome, fun outing that's 100% worth it!

Came here on a Saturday morning for berry and veggie picking and left with bags full of produce…read more They had rows and rows of blueberries and raspberries, plus a crazy variety of vegetables--peppers, onions, peas, potatoes, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kohlrabi (yes, really), beets, zucchini, cucumbers... we were blown away by how much there was. It was actually a ton of fun pulling veggies straight out of the ground and hunting for the best berries. Felt super satisfying and kinda meditative. Definitely a good way to spend a few hours outdoors. Pro tip: there's no shade at all in the fields, so wear long pants, long sleeves, a hat, and sunglasses unless you want to roast. We didn't bother with water bottles because sampling the fruit as we went kept us hydrated. Highly recommend doing that--those berries are perfect.

First time here. A friend told us about it, so we decided to drop in and check it out. It's a…read morecharming spot, surrounded by beautiful fields of apple trees, heavy with this year's crop. We spent most of our time browsing the gift shop and bakery. From the "Happy Camper" coffee trailer out front, we grabbed hot beverages along with a couple of delicious bakery items -- a pumpkin cream muffin and a pumpkin scone. We took these to the enclosed patio out front and enjoyed them while listening to a musician playing guitar and singing. It made for a lovely afternoon. I would definitely return, and next time I'd make sure to try the wine tasting.

Everything about the Apple Barn is so special. The baked goods (delicious) the apple cider made…read morefrom their apple orchard on site, just wonderful. Our favorite place to visit in southwest Wisconsin.