I always liked f Fiesta del Sol event when I lived in SD…read moreyears back and since I moved back 4 years ago I have been attending regularly. Always so alive, so many people of all ages enjoying this free 2 day event filled with concerts, shows, food, drinks, new thinks to try out and beautiful people. Oh, and the sunset at Fletcher Cove. I love Solana Beach and this festival, thanks to the organizers to have a civilized party town for a couple days.

A significant cut above the typical street fair, and my spidey sense (or really just common sense)…read moretells me that Belly Up's involvement is the reason why. The lineup was primarily a bunch of fun party bands playing popular music that everyone knows and (mostly) loves, especially the older crowd, which seemed to be a sizable chunk of the attendees. The location, sandwiched right between the 101 and Fletcher Cove beach is prime. The selection of vendors, food, and drink is vast. And the freebies were an especially nice touch -- in my first half hour there, I had already collected free tickets to shows at the Music Box and Belly Up and to the races at Del Mar. Not too shabby! Yes, the food is expensive and parking seemed to be insanely difficult. (One woman's friend was a last minute no-show after she couldn't find parking. Pro tip: The 101 bus drops you off right at the festival's doorstep, so take that or the virtually just as convenient Coaster.) But since the festival and all of the live music that comes with it are free, the other costs and hassles are still a pretty damn good trade off. I look forward to next year's edition.

EATING MY WAY THRU ENCINITAS (5 stars)…read more - EVENT: awesome; worth it - FOOD: variety - VIBES: mainly 45+ (in age)... Encinitas crowd What a chill and delicious event. I found this event well put together. The Main Street office opened up all day for people to get their tickets to avoid the line around 5 which helps the decluttering of people and that cutting into the 3hrs to enjoy food and drinks. Staff of event, residence, and restaurant staff of Encinitas are SO KIND. Every person I've engaged with were welcoming and open. I've been to many of these "Taste of..." in different cities and states and by far this one was very much liked. This event had Mexican, Filipino, Italian, American, Pizza, desserts. Variety! :: PRE-EVENT :: The day the tickets went on sale I secured the goods as I heard this always gets sold out. Months in advance. The map is also your ticket that you wear around your neck for shops to cross off you visited. Also received a small cup with 10 tickets for 10 sips. Don't have to one at each stop, can use all 10 at one stop if you like. I used one drink ticket and ended up giving my tickets away to others - because I don't really drink-drink. :: WALKING ON A HWY :: 33 stops. Food at the restaurant stops and shops serving the sips. Plan strategically to where you park! Started out at the furthest restaurant (PINA) and worked all the way to the most southern restaurant (UNION), head back north to the center and tackled all the other places. Most people would reverse this order - so it was nice to avoid people clutter. :: EATS :: Can't list them all but will try to sun it up. I love how there was a mix of restaurants and a variety of foods. Unlike Taste of Leucadia there were 3 restaurants serving pasta. This event only one Italian restaurant on the list and the only one serving pasta. This event was serving Mexican, Filipino, Italian, American, Pizza, desserts. :: FAVORITES :: CARIN DI RIA - serving pancit, lumpia, adobo, rice. Of course I'm Filipino and I've ate here many times and it's my favorite Filipino restaurant in SD. The amount of "non-Filipino" walking away saying "this is really delicious" "so good I never had Filipino food before" made my heart happy. PINA - serving street taco + churro waffle. I've ate here before when the restaurant opened up and it wasn't great. They def improved! Came back and was blown away. Staff here were SO FRIENDLY and I've enjoyed out conversations at the bar before the event even started. The good they served for the event was AMAZING. That street taco was so flavorful and so good it was one of my favorite bites of the night. The churro waffle was also very taste. Who is this chef? Compliments to the Chef! BROAD STREET DOUGH - serving mini donuts. Many flavors to choose from only 2 can be picked. These donuts were delicious af. I went for blue berry and Oreo. Longest line but worth the long wait. :: LEAST FAVORITE :: THE FISH SHOP - serving grilled shrimp. Not sure what ingredients they used but it was not as good sounded. Their bite was 3 shrimps. But 1 would have been decent or plenty enough. 3 sounds nice only if the taste was good but it really wasn't. I saw in the trash near by so many people were throwing their shrimps away. How sad, I didn't even take a picture of it. :: MISSED :: It is always my goal to complete all but either I'm full or things ran out. I did well! - ECHALE WINE BAR AND KITCHEN: long line and slow. A lot of people passed this up. - THE NASA SHOP/LOCAL SCOOP: 1hr left of 3hr event and there was nothing to serve (how weak!) JABA APPROVED. Until the next review...

This was good fun even after showing up around 6 instead of right at 5:30. It would be much easier…read moreif you didn't have to physically check in on 101 to get your tickets, as the line took a while, but it was a fun mix of old favorites like Trattoria Trulli, Qero and Lobster Shack, and some new venues we didn't know existed. The organizers should demand that participating establishments plan for enough food to last until 8:30 - at 7:45 the tequila place (DXT?) was all out and none too friendly about it. All in all I am not sure we got $50 worth of food and drinks - we wound up having dinner at Qero, whereas when you go to for ex Taste of North Park you feel stuffed to the gills!

Awesome times! They have a beautiful church, and you can take a tour while learning about the…read moreancient faith of orthodoxy. All the workers are very kind and family oriented. Grab a gyro, Greek coffee and a box of pastries. They have an awesome book store, along with face painting and events for the children. Really nice Greek dancing that they perform as well. Will be coming back again next year The pricing of everything is not insane at all, the food is decently priced, a long with the items at their bookstore. Really enjoy this event. $4 to get in at the door, but active duty, veterans and a few other special titles will get you in for free.

I simply love attending cultural events and this is one of them. My family has a little Greek in…read morethe DNA so we've been exploring parts of our culture as of late. We'd usually go to the Brazilian Independence Day that was held in PB and this would fall on the same exact weekend. This Greek family fun festival is held for two days at the Orthodox Church campus. It's right next to MCC San Elijo and the college opens part of is parking lot during this event. It's fun to run into our Greek friends, eat gyros, drink authentic refreshments, take Photo Booth selfies, and shop with the vendors. You get to hear authentic music and you can even get a lesson on their dance moves. They have a stage and entire area for the dances and entertainment. At the end of our visit we got Greek coffee and some desserts to have there and some to bring home for later. I'm a sucker for the almond cookies and the baklava was good too! ONLY reason for one star to be missing is that they ran out of some key things that we wanted to have. It is understandable because this event brought in a pretty big crowd. It's a very nice event and I'm grateful they had more seating areas than previous times. OPA!

I used to come to this street fair more often but now gravitate towards the Oside one on Thursday…read more Omgah, it's Thursday lol. But back to the review, please take time to go on the first week of May! There was around 500 vendors, I might be wrong but it was about six blocks full of fun things to be found. They do need some more things for men but then again, women are more in to shopping as a collective. If you love jewelry, small business finds, and food, it's definitely something I will be coming back for. I can't wait to go next year and replenish my earring collection. Recently started to collect them! We also had the most amazing freakin cake!!!! OMGAH!!!! I promise, if you like a cake that isn't dry, even a coffee cake that isn't dry, this company is worth ordering from! I am going to be ordering some yummy gifts for people in the future. It's called Dolce Monachelli's they do have a website and it's the best Bundt cake you will ever have. They have a cute sampler you can always get as a gift bc I will be gifting with these cakes! I think this is the best cake I've ever had! Sorry I don't have picks of the cake lol it was just too good and I forgot.

Did ya'll know that one of the largest street fairs in the United States is the Carlsbad Village…read moreStreet Faire? Well, ya'll know now! This FREE event is sooo popular it not only attracts local people but also people from other States. There are over 750 unique vendors for arts & crafts, antiques, jewelry, hand-made or vintage clothing, games, live entertainment and much more. It's a FUN Sunday full of shopping, food and festivities. So come on Yelp Community don't miss this biannual event!

Found this festival my accident when we were visiting Oceanside on a whim. It's basically a giant…read morestreet fair on the water. Tons of booths of various artists and companies, a ton of swag, and an entire area for just food! Parking is a bit of a pain if you show up later in the day, but there is a bus that will take you for the far reaches of the area, which is where we ended up parking. It was a nice day though, so we did enjoy the long walk. One of the things i enjoy about these types of festivals is meeting new people. There usually aren't enough tables for everyone to eat so sharing a table is very common. You almost always meet someone with a great story or life to share, or they might think you're that person with the great story or life to share. So don't be afraid to have someone join you and start up a conversation. It's all part of the fun.

Perfect day for for bicycle riding and harbor days. Excellent event. We'll organized and plenty…read moreof food venues and merchants Good amount of vendors and we'll placed locations

I love the botanical gardens. We have a family membership and have gone at least 5 times. One day,…read morethey had a tour. The tour was lovely and lasted about an hour. We had always walked through and explored on our own, but the tour gave us great information and my 7th year old son was engaged and excited to ask questions. This last time we went we explored a new place, the children's garden which also has a train that runs occasionally. Unfortunately we missed the train but they had a little house that had a kitchen and my son enjoyed playing in it. All in all, this place is a great place to come and explore nature. Highly recommended!

I want to live here!…read more We came to visit here on a Friday before Christmas. It was not too busy and a beautiful stroll through all the plants from around the world. I dont even know how many times the words " OMG I want that plant" came from my mouth but I would guesstimate about 1,000 There is a gift shop on campus; but I showed a lot of restraint in not purchasing anything. Lots of parking. Around christmas time they also light it up with christmas lights for mile or so- will def come back to view it at night.

I spent a good portion of my Sunday at this festival. The festival ran from 9 in the morning to 4…read morePM. The festival had had hundreds of vendors, not including all the business that were open along Coast Boulevard. The festival had two stages for live music and other forms of entertainment. I was surprised when I saw carnival rides for those who may dare. I have to say, I really enjoyed myself. The locals were very friendly and high spirits. All the vendor were very cool, except for a few pushy ones trying to promote their products. I say many people buying clothes, sweets, and some jewelery. I focused on the food vendors. I check out the Tri-Tip being grilled. (http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/g41a-jLeOEGZISSnXQQCXg?select=E7wRcYyi36hlj2YHXvfSqQ#E7wRcYyi36hlj2YHXvfSqQ) I tried a very good hot dog with bacon and spicy ketchup and Bitchin Burgers (http://www.yelp.com/biz_photos/g41a-jLeOEGZISSnXQQCXg?select=E7wRcYyi36hlj2YHXvfSqQ#Pr8AXRXUMr2v3xhZZVxvLA), and finally grabbed some kettle corn and lemonade. I had a good time, but I have to say, for such a large Fall Festival, I was surprise there was not as many food vendor. Other than that, good times.