Wow, such an awesome event! A friend gave my fiancé and I some VIP tickets to the Bourbon Boxcar…read moretasting event this weekend and we both had a great time! The event was at Tenk on the west bank of the Flats and I think it was the perfect venue for it. The general admission line to get in was long and slow, but the VIP line moved pretty quickly! Lucky us. :D It started with a few displays showing water in a cave, wood and grains, along with a guide and prerecorded narrations on how bourbon is made..kinda cheesy and lame. Then we got our drink tokens and VIP wrist bands before boarding a replica boxcar where a cool guy gave an introduction for the event. Four companies were there: Jim Beam, Maker's Mark, Knob Creek, and Basil Hayden's. Each person was given a token for a sample at each bourbon and two tokens for a bar drink. Samples and drinks were great and the place was packed! They also had a caterer serving up pulled pork sliders and biscuits with assorted spreads and toppings. Yumm! We had great night in the CLE! Thanks, Michelle!

Stopped by Scene's first ever Pig and Whiskey fest in downtown Willoughby on Saturday afternoon. We…read moregot there pretty early and there wasn't much of a crowd although some people were hanging around the Browns tent for meet and greets with some of the players. I think these sessions were $50 apiece, you couldn't just walk in and get an autograph. Bands took the stage later on -- Uncle Kracker was the big draw but that wasn't until Sunday . I like the idea of this festival, but overall there are some kinks to work out. On the food side, they had a solid offering of BBQ vendors - Smoke Ring, Old Carolina, The Proper Pig, Over the Moon. I was very excited about the Smoked Mac & Cheese from Smoke Ring but disappointed in the portion size. It was basically a large handful's worth of food for $5. The bacon on a stick from the Proper Pig was definitely the highlight - also $5, but it was the thickest, juiciest slice of bacon I've ever had the pleasure of devouring. That is one food truck I would definitely chase down if I happen to spot them on the road. The main problem, then, was the booze. Drink tickets were 5 for $5. I believe all the beers were 5 tickets apiece, but there was a serious lack of local beers. When we were there they had a few different brews from Goose Island and Shock Top on tap. Considering Willoughby Brewing was literally right next door it seemed like they could have made more of an effort to get Cleveland beers here - it's not like we've got a beer shortage in this city. "Whiskey Row" was the center of the confusion, however. Each vendor had a menu displaying what kinds of liquor they were offering and they number of tickets each costs. They ranged from 5 to 11 tickets (there might have been a 12 ticket whiskey, I can't quite remember) and you basically got a shot's worth. Or maybe a little more. Every tent had different sized serving cups, so we really had no idea what we were supposed to be getting. Now, why would someone who isn't familiar with a whiskey (or any whiskies, which I think was probably the case with a lot of guests) want to pay $11 for a glass of something they aren't sure if they like? I know entrance was free, but how much money did they think people were going to drop on whiskey? The point of going to food/drink festivals is being able to sample a bunch of stuff you wouldn't normally be exposed to, or want to pay full price for in a restaurant/bar. That was not the case here. At a few of the tents, we asked to pay less for a smaller amount - like 2 or 3 tickets for a smaller taste. A lot of the volunteers weren't really sure what the policy was, so we got a way with a few, and then others refused. So that needs to be clarified, and hopefully next year they'll do sample pours. Obviously a pour of 10-year aged whiskey is worth more than a pour of Bacardi (um, why bother, btw?) but it just made deciding on what to a drink a hassle when every single thing was priced differently. If people want full-size pours, fine, but just make everything the same number of tickets so people don't have to mill around trying to figure out what's what. Also, most of the whiskey offered was bourbon, which is cool because yay America - but the even among the bourbon selections there were only a handful I hadn't seen before. People can walk into any bar and try Jim Beam if they wanted to. It would've been nice to see a few more small-batch brands and international whiskies. But the pig was fabulous!

Love this festival! The food is so good, awesome drinks including Greek wine, and amazing desserts!…read moreThey have live music and dancing, so fun! It's a must for us every Memorial Day weekend. Be prepared to eat a lot!

It is hard to call this event an establishment, but you can and should go for it every Memorial Day…read moreWeekend, including this year, running from Friday to Monday, from 11AM to 10PM. This is a must-go, the most delicious, genuine, and crazy quality/price ratio you will find in the area - I'd just wish this festival would be extended from like... January 1st to December 31st? This is a work of love from the local Church community and the Greek American community, depending on volunteers. The lines are long, but worth it, but it gives you a one in the year (four, I guess, to be exact) chance to really enjoy a lot of great food, music, and crafts. Their saganaki is opa!-certified, the lamb shank is to die for - recommend to pair with the orzo or lemon roasted potatoes - and their desserts are out of this world - someone needs to drag me away from the galatkoboureko tray or I think I could eat it all. Please go, support the community, you will see you will keep coming back!

Fun Festival in Twinsburg, Ohio. Beautiful park setting. Great characters. People come in costumes…read more Band performed music, they were great. Fun activities. Artist at Heart Paint parties. Art Classes with Wizard of Oz themes and characters.

My first Oktoberfest! It was fun tried all kinds of food / alligator bites - and jumbo cream puff -…read more- pretzel wrapped bratswurst with beer cheese sauce - very nice event ! I had a wonderful time :) lovely summer fair !!

I am addicted to this festival! So much fun to spend a few days at!…read more First of all, you must go with other people to really enjoy it....invite your family, friends, coworkers. Second, get crazy - wear some lederhosen or a drindl. Buy a hat or a flower headband. Buy a fun Oktoberfest tshirt to wear. Get in the spirit! Third, if you love beer, try it all! There's also wine and spirits around the festival for purchase, but beer is really what everyone drinks. Not only are there Oktoberfest beers, such as Paulaner and Hacker Pschorr, but many local craft beers. Fourth, go early and have a Bahama Mama from Schmidt's in Columbus for lunch. If you're still hungry, have a giant cream puff or strudel for dessert. Fifth, watch the Weiner races, enjoy some traditional dancers, walk through the vendors area of crafts and German imports, watch a sand sculpture being made right in front of your eyes, get a picture taken with Krampus and crew, watch the Strongman competition. Sixth, go to the Glockenspiel as many times as you can and dance & sing your heart out! Seventh, grab some Authentic German grub for dinner and park yourself in a bier tent to watch some great entertainment. I highly suggest a plate from Das Schnitzel Haus, some pierogi's from the Pierogi Lady, sauerkraut balls from Hey Hey or a pretzel-wrapped bratwurst. Eighth, make sure you're still drinking beer and take some sips of water in between - you'll appreciate that in the morning. Ninth, grab a partner and get on the dance floor for the chicken dance and some polka! It doesn't matter if you don't know how to polka, you'll pick it quickly or someone will teach you. The Chardon Polka Band, Alex Meixner and Klabetheads are all my favorites! Tenth, take lots of pictures to memorialize this great event! And lastly, get an Uber or have a designated driver to take you home!

I wanted to go to this last year (found out about this at a Yelp event).... and I missed it and had…read moreto wait a full year. It was worth the wait as this was an amazing night of humor, person positivity, and great talent. So, I feel like different days may have different feel. I was there on Saturday which was the gala. To start... Beachland is an interesting building... it gave me Grease High school dance vibes. I loved that the dancers mingled throughout the crowd, in fact one helped me get noticed to get a drink. So for me (a plus size lady), I am all for body positivity. I loved that there were women dancing who "looked like me". I also love that there was representation of multiple races, gender identities, sexual orientation, ethniticies, etc.... I feel like mostly everyone (I would hate to generalize) had someone they could identify with. This is why I love burlesque as a culture..... it includes everyone. My only complaint (and I dont think that they can do anything about it) is the chairs were super uncomfortable. Also another tip is to get there early. You will want a good seat.

I love the Ohio Burlesque Festival! It's ran by a totally rad Mexican immigrant that pours her…read moreheart and soul into this beautiful weekend event. I honestly can't believe I haven't reviewed this before. You can always count on the OBF to be a fun time. The OBF strives to show burlesque as the classic vibrant art form that it is and they do a great job curating all types of inclusive performers. If you've never experienced modern burlesque before, this is a great place to do it, because I guarantee it will be so much different than what you expect. The festival is typically at the Beachland Ballroom and the performers are always so cool! I love all the different types of performers you get to experience here, whether they are from Cleveland or beyond. You'll laugh, have an amazing time and be mesmerized by awesome talent!

Horrible long lines. Very few ribers. And for the beer festival a total lie only one type of beer…read moreand it was ok. I would not recommend going and I will probably never go back

Another year of the Berea Rib Festival has me in a BBQ Coma . My favorite this years was Porky…read moreChick's BBQ from Arkansas. Although the meat is a little tougher (not fall off the bone) the seasoning and taste were spot on perfection. A little peppery heat but not HOT at all. That's what I look for in BBQ. I don't buy into macho-hotter than hell to prove who a man is. That's childish, I just want a little sweet heat to let my mouth know that it's alive. Cover charge was reasonable, there was also pierogi, chicken paprikash, roasted corn, fried foods and sweets vendors as well.

Very nice for those who enjoy garlic is a awesome display of all things garlic. The variety of…read moredishes and merchandise is just perfect.

Garlic. If you love it like we do, then you had to go to The Cleveland Garlic Festival at The North…read moreUnion Farmers Market September 10-11. The festival is in its second year and is located on Shaker Square. Despite a little rain, plenty of people were there. We roamed the tents on both sides, sampling lots of garlic goodness, and buying items that wowed us. There were also cooking demonstrations using, of course, GARLIC, as well as live music on two stages. Here are a few of our favorites: * Sergio's Sarava's Garlic Shrimp: Sergio's really took the theme to heart and made a savory shrimp with big garlic flavor and presented it on a bed of garlic rice to boot! This one really hit the mark on celebrating garlic. Loved it! * Most interesting - Garlic Ice Cream by Mitchell's: we had to try it... everyone should try it... it actually did work! As a side note, they also had the most unbelievable caramel and salt ice cream. Just go try it, your jaw will drop. * Roasted Garlic Salsa from Blaze Gourmet (so big and flavorful - one of the best salsas out there, and it's local!) * Garlic Expressions Salad Dressing (yep, it's local too - we've been buying this for years.) * The Olive and the Grape's many Garlic Olive Oils, Cooking Oils, and spice packets. The spices they incorporate are not the basic stuff, these delightful blends are carefully scrutinized with a passion for the highest quality, healthiest ingredients from all over the world. * Whole Foods' extremely pungent, spicy garlic hummus. That says it all. Whoa. Our only criticism is that there were some who showcased their regular fare without doing something creative with garlic. We expected everything to be garlic something. Hence, Garlic Festival. One of those things that's basically implied, if you don't love garlic, then don't come. So we challenge participants next year to bring out the garlic. Show us and amaze us with what you can do with it... I'm sure we garlic lovers will applaud the effort!