We visited the Palo Alto Festival of the Arts this past Sunday, and had a wonderful time exploring…read morethe many activities and vendors along University Avenue, a row of seemingly endless booths. Food, art, and merchandise  galore, to be viewed and/or purchased. Fascinating art displays caught my eye at every corner, so unique and simply remarkable. The Italian Street Painting Expo featured pastel paintings by chalk artists (my fave was the Sleeping Beauty piece... cuz how could I not love the rabbits in the boots!). Chopin & Chandeliers was an interactive piano with a "play me" sign just calling for musicians among the crowd to showcase their talents and entertain attendees under a shaded tent decorated with chandeliers sculpted from upcycling materials (ie. plastic bottles). The live entertainment was amazing and enjoyable, getting the crowd on its feet and in the mood for this joyous event. The rhythmic sounds of the violin and keyboard, by Tom Rigney & John R Burr, was a treat for my ears. And the late afternoon band on the Waverley Stage, The Cook 'n Fenny Combo, kept the good vibes going, heavy on the harmonica, tambourine, and guitar, performing hits like Joan Osborne's One Of Us. This was a great festival with free admission, lots to see and do, well organized, welcoming atmosphere, friendly people, and easy street parking less than a block away in the afternoon.

First time here to this upscale art festival as after all the toney, well heeled folks in this area…read morehave disposable money. I really enjoyed this festival and unlike other festivals in the Bay Area there were not as many food vendors which was fine as University Ave has a plethora of great restaurants to choose from.

Love all Los Altos festivals and fairs. The more the merrier. Arts & Wine, seasonal, Earth Day,…read moreFine Art in the Park, Pet Parade, Third Street Green, First Fridays, Farmers Market weekly, too many to list but not nearly enough fun. It's all good. The 25th Annual Los Altos Fall Festival took place on Saturday and Sunday, October 1-2, 2016 in downtown Los Altos. I visited both days. The Classic Car Show was a highlight. Amazing antique and vintage sportsters, sedans, and trucks. Also, Little Explorers Petting Zoo. Absolutely adorable little pig the size of a rabbit. Your usual arts and crafts booths, live entertainment, fine wines and micro-breweries, food, children's corner with games and activities, all of it present. This one is a lower key event. The antique and vintage cars on display are much fun to check out, perhaps to chat with the owners. My wife was smitten by the 1967 Porsche Slate Grey 912 (pun intended). TheSlateGrey (Der Graue Fuchs) was ordered by its original owner, George, in the summer of '67 at a cost of $4.5K, and arrived from Germany to San Francisco on the Madam Butterfly - a ship used for Porsches only. 49 years is no joke, all of it happily lived in the Bay Area, has never been restored. All the original parts and interior, paint and engine, can you imagine! The Grey Fox is as good as new and very handsome.

Our friends turned us on to this event and it was so darn cute! It will probably make our go-to…read morelist next year! One end cap seemed to be where the bulk of the handmade vendors were, which I appreciated. I'm usually not a big food or Win A Vacation tent goer, so having all the things I was there for at one end was marvelous! We loved the bow vendor Min, who had fabulous prices at $1 for the smaller non-matched bows. Super cute! Another favorite was the beautiful die cut card vendor. I purchased one for my mother and the honey one just for our living room! Topping off the awesome vendors were the handmade coasters at $5 each and Macarons A Go Go with their Yoda themed tasties, a favorite of mine when I lived back in the South Bay! This was a great way to start out or Craft Fair season! Yay Los Altos Fall Festival!

It was really good this year! I am noticing a trend of more artists less "cheap factory-made" stuff…read moreand I couldn't be happier. Great pottery/ceramics, jewelry makers, painters, photographers, and more. I enjoyed leisurely strolling along, taking my time and enjoying chatting with some of the vendors. I grabbed a virgin Pina Colada which was very tasty and chock full of real blended pineapple. By the time 2:00pm rolled around, I realized I was hungry and noticed a booth selling BBQ'd oysters, these things were huge! And looked amazing. 3 giants oysters for $10. They had garlic, parsley and as he put them on the plate, the guy scooped pure melted butter and poured on top of them, with a wedge of lemon! Wow, I have to say those things were insanely delicious, and worth the money. Just a fine treat. Believe me, I was tempted to go back and get 3 more!!

Festival is nice with food kid activities. Food was very pricy for the quality and super greasy…read more There are a bunch of good freebies (Creators Chicago Mix anyone?) There's also a bunch of people trying to sell you stuff like time shares. Overall a nice way to spend an hour or two particularly given no admission fee but it is overpriced on the stuff that counts. Crab roll - decent amount of crab on a tasty buttery bun. Life cilantro calamari - oily, greasy and gummy - "don't recommend Corn - the kind you pay $0.40 for at the store only $4 instead.

This is one of several U-Pick + fresh farmstand concepts in the area. I tried a couple of the…read morestrawberries in the field to decide if I wanted to commit to picking a full basket. I don't know if I came too early in the season or if their strawberries were just not good because the strawberries were definitely on the watery/sour end and did not taste that good overall. I don't think I would return especially when there are better and more proven options just down the coastline.

We recently went strawberry picking with our two-year-old and had a fantastic time. The farm has a…read morehuge patch where you can pick as many strawberries as you like, and the price is very reasonable. Beyond the strawberries, they also offer other organic vegetables and snacks. Just be aware that they only have portable restrooms.

i attended this year's edition of menlo park's annual summer street festival and was not…read moredisappointed...it just seems to get better and better each year! parking was a bit tricky, not surprisingly, and i had to park about 1/2 mile away from santa cruz ave, but it was such a beautiful day that i didn't mind the extra walking. the usual art, jewelry, craft, clothing, and gift vendors were present, as were several local food trucks. there were also some rides for children, and i saw members of the fire and police dept representing! there were some free samples from local vendors, and lots of local menlo park businesses to ask questions and learn from. i really enjoyed seeing many of the newer businesses at this event, to see how menlo park is changing and evolving. although i came alone, this fair is definitely suitable for families and children and i highly recommend visiting this annual summer festival if you are a menlo park resident, or visiting the peninsula for the day!

Have been attending this event since it began... under a different name- we would attend both days…read more Attended this year as well unfortunately it has really lost a lot of lustre Perhaps it has run it's course- now 33 years later- ??? It used to be fun with interesting vendor booths & delicious food and music - Not many attendees for Saturday- quite empty actually for this annual event- At least a few of food vendors did tell us that it was NOT busy for them : ( Did noticed a new food booths that may have replaced the other favorites we look forward to- The end on the el camino side -was empty/ no one dancing - the music was so loud, difficult to enjoy it ... or order food at the near by food booths In past years there was a stage on the el camino side that was fun and entertaining- sadly not this year A little later in the day we went back only to find that some of the food booths were out of food- not good considering lack of crowd - constitutes poor planning Not any of the chefs or other interesting participants in this years event The vendor booths were much of the same with slight variation - The music in the park was okay ... better in the 6 o'clock stage - A new food vendor in particular was a nice addition - the mobile wood fire pizza... hope that returns (yes even on a warm day) We usually attend both days... although not this year for lack of interest Feel for the vendors that put so much time, expense and effort for not much return --- Oh well... maybe the planning committee will take a closer look and see how to fix this for next year's event in 2020 - otherwise it will be more of the same -

Loved this very small winery atmosphere. We were greeted by the owner/winemaker, Len, and treated…read moreto a tasting outdoors in a shady area with a communal picnic table. Most of the grapes are grown nearby and all of the wine was made by Len. This was a thoroughly enjoyable experience laced with philosophy and stories of the winemaker community in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Not to mention Bruno, the dog, who was eager to play and slightly demanding, but very sweet. Dessert wine (white port) was very unique. Portola holds Jazz concerts on Sunday evenings in the summer. I would recommend trying to buy tickets for these. Looks like a treat!

We come here every year for their jazz in the Grove series. It is such a great event. I highly…read morerecommend taking advantage of this. Where else can you grab a chair, sit out in the woods and listen to some jazz for an hour and a half while sipping wine?

First time to this Festival and initially felt a little claustrophobic walking the first two blocks…read morewhen we arrived around 12:15 pm on a Saturday. However, after walking the first two blocks and for whatever reason there seemed to be more space to walk without bumping into other folks. Weather temperature was perfect and it's nice that Castro street is lined on either side of the street with trees which shaded the sun. I actually ended up buying a piece of sale cloth stainless steel bracelet from one of the vendors.

This is one of the premier outdoor festivals in the bay area, every year it gets bigger. Love that…read morethey added more food vendors. It seemed like they had a better variety of food. This year they advertised over 400 vendors. I think that some vendors were a bit expensive,but I'm sure that it's to cover the cost of renting a spot. I guess that you have to pick and choose who you want to support. I try to support the small shop owners as much as possible. Not everything needs to be purchased from Amazon. I think that events like this help not only local merchant's,but the local restaurant along the streets. Most of the restaurants were crowded. Can't wait till next year

I always enjoyed myself here. They always have something to do for all ages…read more Love seeing some of the interesting vendors. On the other side of the park you can see some koi fish. Going inside the building near the koi fish area they have some activities and art even a stage with a show. Outside they have a big stage with different shows. My favorite show is the Taiko Drums. The restrooms are very clean. Parking in De Anza College garage is less hectic and more space if you want to park away from people.

Another great yearly event. This is one of the events that starts out the spring season. It's…read moremainly for the Japanese culture,but it's also a time to raise money for local non profits. There's plenty of free parking across the street at DeAnza college. There's also a huge section for kids, plenty of jumpers and crafts. I like how they have a food truck area and a separate area for food vendors. The crowds were smaller than usual due to the weather.

Whether it is cold, wet, or nice, we have been enjoying this with or children, and now, our grand…read morechildren too, for years and years. Grabbing a spot on the curb is difficult. Parking is a bear. The parade moves quickly, the bands are always good, the floats are fun.

Totally charming and a fairly impressive undertaking for a small(ish) town. Lots of floats…read moresponsored by local businesses and organizations, and marching bands from nearby high schools, all lit up like a gentler version of Disney's Main Street Electric Parade. We came with our 1yo daughter and didn't even arrive until after 6pm, but were able to catch the parade at the very end of the route. Cute and creative floats, low on tackiness, great for kids, and everyone participating seemed to be having a great time. Would go again!

I wouldn't recommend going to Moreland Pumpkin Patch if you're planning on doing the family walk…read more It was quite expensive at $15 per person, even for my 2yo. We lined up at our 730pm check-in time and waited 35 minutes in the cold and were only halfway through the line. We left because it would have been another 25-35 more minutes to get through the line. However, the staff was great and the carnival games were fun. Nice to have all of the thoughtful decorations as well, our child loved playing with all of the pumpkins.

This patch is cute…read more The haunted trail costs $15 per person and there are scheduled appointment times to go in, however the line backs up and you have to wait at least 30 minutes past your appointment time before entering. We did not enter the trail until 720pm, and that is after getting in line at 640pm. Just be aware. Which is fine, my family had fun and the actors inside are funny and well rehearsed. However, since we waited so long, we got out of the trail around 750pm. My kid wanted to play the carnival games, which close at 8pm, so we bought some tickets to play, and were out to the carnival by 752pm, they had already taken everything down and had only a few simple games still up. My kid was bummed, but I figured since there were no refunds, I could go back and get a snack instead with my tickets. I was denied and told to come back next week to redeem the tickets. I know this is all for a good cause and it really isn't too big of a deal, but it is silly that I literally bought the tickets within a minute and then walked back after the carnival being closed and then denied to even use the tickets on anything else and then told to come back next week. They were told not to sell any tickets since they were closing up the carnival early, but I guess it wasn't communicated well. I guess we will be back to use up the tickets next weekend...?