I go just about every year and really enjoy all the people who come dressed up in costumes. This…read moreyear was the 56th year that they have had the festival. The weather was prefect, warm enough for just a light jacket but a bit of a hazy fog which made it feel more like London. There is a guy who brings raptors and does demonstrations. He had an African owl and hawk as well as a peregrine falcon. There are always actors portraying Queen Victoria and Prince Albert as well as Beefeater guards, Bobbies and characters from Oliver Twist and A Christmas Story. I like to get there at 10 am when the gates open and stay until just after the big parade that goes down The Strand. There are private events but they all cost more than the basic ticket to the event on The Strand.

This was our very first time attending this year, so we don't have any previous experience to…read morecompare this one too... But, it was extremely disappointing and underwhelming. Boring, honestly. Hardly any interesting vendors, street performers were few & those we saw lacked enthusiasm. Just seemed like an excuse to dress up and crowd the Strand district, but it didn't feel authentic. Not a festival we would recommend or make an effort to attend again. Not worth the paid parking.

My husband and I primarily attended Brewmasters' opening event night (Friday), which was titled…read moreNach-Yo Ordinary Tequila Tasting. As you can guess, it was an event centered around tequila and mezcal, my two favorite liquors. Each attendee was handed a tasting card featuring 12 "limes", each redeemable for 0.25 oz of tequila or mezcal. For those with a high tolerance, additional cards were available for $10 each at the front desk. Even so, most tequila vendors were very generous with their tasting portions and the one card we each had was more than enough for us. Inside the Moody Convention Center's Flower Hall, about a dozen or so vendors were spread across the room, each exhibitor ready to introduce attendees to their tequila selection: silver, reposado, anejo, mezcal, etc. Since we were interested in broadening our knowledge of tequila and mezcal, we asked each exhibitor what made their brand unique, and most were able to provide a fairly detailed answer, displaying a level of preparedness we appreciated. Some exhibitors (I'm looking at you, Se Busca Mezcal) came extra prepared and even donated gifts to attendees such as traditional mezcal cups and small cooking torches (butane not included, of course.) This event exceeded my expectations. We won our tickets through Yelp so I went there with somewhat low expectations (I've heard and read enough stories about poorly organized events occurring around Austin lately that I was prepared for the worst) but Brewmasters was legit and we would have been very pleased by our experience even if we had paid for our tickets (which I might, if they hold another one next year!) It was fun, the nacho bar was very tasty and fresh, the tequila selection was pretty good, and we got to taste some exclusive and rare samples that are purportedly not even available for sale in Texas just yet. Score! Had we not drank so much, we would have attended the rest of the event. But we had such a great time... sometimes you just know your limits. Anyhow, thanks Yelp for introducing us to Brewmasters! We loved it.

Disclaimer: I received 2 complimentary weekend passes to the 2019 festival from Yelp Austin…read more This made for a great pick-up-and-go Memorial day getaway to the island with the family. There were 3 events total: Friday night was the Nach-Yo Ordinary Tequila Tasting, Saturday was the BrewHaHa Grand Tasting and Sunday was the Brew-B-Que. All of the events were hosted in the Moody Gardens ballrooms. The Nach-Yo Ordinary Tequila Tasting was easily my favorite event of the weekend. I completed my punch card with 12 0.25 oz tequila tastings, and enjoyed a free tequila class featuring 5 additional tastings by Chamucos Tequila. Needless to say, this was just about the proper amount of tequila to make it a great night! I really enjoyed watching my wife pucker every time she tasted a new tequila. Luckily for her, there were also many vendors showcasing their tequilas in margaritas. There was also a nacho bar with all the fixings. The Saturday BrewHaHa Grand Tasting event was much much bigger than I anticipated, the space was like 10 times larger than the tequila tasting event and there were over 400 beers to sample. This was considered the main event of the weekend. Sunday's Beer-B-Que was smaller, with only a couple beer vendors and a wine vendor. I had the pulled pork BBQ plate, which was excellent. All of the events were awesome, and I would gladly pay for entire weekend of events in the future. Many thanks to Electrolit for keeping us hydrated all weekend.

While visiting Galveston, there are days when you need a break from the beach or from the rain, and…read moreMoody Gardens is the perfect diversion because it is an inside, air conditioned 5-7 hour adventure walk through exhibits which have something for everyone. My favorite exhibit was the chance to touch the stingrays. Parking is easy, and there is a food court plus a restaurant on-site.

I think Moody Gardens is worth it for children and only children. It is ridiculously overpriced. I…read morenever came here as a child, so this is coming from my current perspective. The concept of the three pyramids is cool, and the aquarium and rainforest pyramids were alright. They were still very small though, and did not showcase many interesting animals. The discovery pyramid was baffling as there is only a movie showing on the first floor and an extremely juvenile educational exhibit on the second floor. I can't believe there's an admission fee to enter just the discovery pyramid. We also saw the Dinos Alive exhibit, which was probably the most lame dinosaur exhibit I've seen. The 4D movie was catered to very young children. We got the after 4pm pass for $50 each, which includes access to all the attractions. We were done within two hours, even though we tried to stretch it out. We didn't do the ropes course/zipline or the waterpark though, but we saw that the waterpark is very small.

If you are looking for a big Rennisonse (sorry, can't spell it) type of Oktoberfest, then this is…read morenot for you. We are locals and go every year. Proceeds go to the church. There is omp pa pa music, dancers, cake walk, beer booths, blow up kid activities, auction, strudel booth, cash money raffle, and inside the church, vendors selling many things. I don't understand the post about tickets being charged to their bank card as there is no admission fee. You do have to buy tickets for the food and beer. We go just to make a donation to a local event. Usually never there longer than an hour, but, we live mere blocks away. And we don't have kids, lots for them to do. I wouldn't advise someone that has to travel any distance to waste their time. It's just a local kid friendly event.

As far as Oktoberfest goes, this was probably one of the worst we've been to...... not many options…read morefor German food. We won't be back.

I'm not sure what the cost is for this alone but I had the pass for everything. This wasn't like a…read moreshort walk, it was actually fairly decent. You see a lot of lights and there are plenty of photo opportunities. There is a place that you can stop and eat. There were multiple tents for food so you didn't have to go to just one. If you're at Moody Gardens or Galveston area, I would recommend going. There are a plentiful amount of lights to see and it's not all the same.

I visited the Festival of Lights at Moody Gardens on a weekend. It was very crowded, and everyone…read morewas pushing and shoving to get their family photos taken. It wasn't a great experience, and I would not recommend going on a weekend. If you want to go, I recommend going on a weekday. Also, there were too many people wearing reindeer headbands and Santa hats, which made it difficult to see the light displays. They should have a rule saying no family photography and no reindeer antlers or Santa hats! Other than that, it wasn't that disappointing.

Today I had the pleasure attending Galveston Island Food & Wine Festival and was pleasantly…read moresurprised!!! There was an exquisite selection of Wines, Bubbly, and Food!!!!!! All Sommelier were very warm and enthusiastic. I'm definitely coming back next year and bringing friends.

Very disappointed. The tasting started at 6:00. By 6:30, they were running out of food. By 7:00 we…read morewere back home. It appears they tried to maximize their profits by over selling tickets.

Your mans is a budding food truck connoisseur so imagine my excitement when I found out about this…read moreplace. I pass by it every week when I head to my teaching internship, and I occasionally get Facebook posts about its events. I visited Three Acres for the first time last Friday. The venue hosted an event honoring teachers and nurses (both received 10% off their orders with their ID badges). Expectations met. The vibe here is that of church picnic, outdoor festival, and family get-together. About five or six food trucks set up shop so deciding what to eat was a good problem to have. I intend to come back when the park hosts its first-ever karaoke night this coming weekend. It's in my Filipino heritage to pick up a mic.

My first visit was a day that was "Dog Day" and a lot of dog adoptions and pet-friendly snacks and…read morea wellness clinic on site. The wellness clinic was offering vet services at a discounted cost, which is absolutely amazing. There were multiple food trucks present, and everything smelled great. They have a concession stand with a pretty good variety of beverages, most had alcohol (just an FYI). I was confused by the website, as I read it that the picnic tables needed to be reserved, but you could bring your own pop-up chair. When we got there the reservations of the picnic tables was not the case. Perhaps that is only for special events? I did see that some of the events had an event fee, so those reservation requirements may only fall on those dates. A lot of picnic tables. A lot of space to put down a picnic blanket or have chairs available. There is a small playground for children, and there were a lot of play toys (balls of all sorts - basketball, soccer, volleyball, etc.). I am not sure if those belong to the site or if people brought their own. There is a little stage where a musician was playing live music. There are highball tables up by the concession stand area. The parking lot of very large, gravel. There was a little plastic pool that was filled up with water and ice for pups. I am not sure if that belongs to the site, but after the dog adoption people left the pool stayed. The only negative was that there is only one women's bathroom at the time that I visited. Luckily it wasn't too busy when I went, but I could imagine that would be a nightmare. All in all - it is a very cute place. They are active on their Facebook site and their website and they have some YouTube clips. Nice concept.

It's more of a public square than a park. The name comes from a biennial singing contest that…read moreGalveston hosted in April of 1881. There's a historical marker that tells the story. It's where you can find the "Greetings from Galveston" mural as well as a cool looking mosaic of George P. Mitchell (the "Son of Galveston"). It's a nice tribute to the Mitchell's who started up the project to create this area of celebration. It's currently the place where free movie and music events occur every summer. We were there just before Christmas time. There was a huge Christmas tree with a Santa's chair in front of it. A great photo op for family pictures. But, it was the Galveston mural that really brought us here. My husband was born on the island (B.O.I.), but moved to Tampa when he was 2 years old. It was his first time seeing Galveston since that time. The picture of him with the Galveston mural made this visit special. It will always be memorable for us.

This is a small paved area that could be a park, located next to a pair of restaurants. The paving…read moreis quite nice and includes a "raised" area that could be a stage. Music performances take place here, on top of the usual buskers on the corner. You'll find the "Greetings from Galveston" mural and the London-style phone booth, either of which is always good for a selfie. The park takes its name from Saengerfest, a biennial singing contest sponsored by German immigrant choral societies around the State of Texas in the 19th century. [Review 880 of 2024 - 635 in Texas - 21909 overall]

It's taken a long time for me to write a review for Aura Systems, but here I am. I'm a DJ that…read moreworks multiple events each month and my work with Miguel has been top notch. I mostly reach out to Miguel and Aura systems when it comes to speakers. As a DJ who has a tight budget, Aura Systems is a great go-to for all your speaker needs and they've been very helpful when it comes renting them. From delivery and pickup, to getting suggestions on what equipment I need, Miguel is always there every step of the way. His communication is impeccable, especially during the last three kpop events that I had to DJ for. If you're looking for speaker rentals with affordable prices and quality customer service in Houston, look no further.

We had a contract with Aura systems and the venue we rented for my daughter's wedding needed proof…read moreof insurance from Aura Systems. We tried contacting them for months through phone calls, emails, social media, texts and Miguel never responded. Needless to say, my daughter was not able to have cold sparklers at her wedding because Miguel never responded nor showed up.

So many cute shops!! Everyone is so welcoming and such a variety of items to shop fromread more

It was the "Wallstreet of the Southwest" prior to the 1900 Storm. A financial district in a booming…read moreport city that was thriving due to the cotton industry and port location. The restored Victorian style buildings along The Strand still keep that memory alive. Unfortunately, it was all built close to sea level which had devastating consequences when the hurricane hit. It took the city over a decade to recover. All the buildings that survived were raised 17-20 feet higher. At the time, it was considered a feat of ingenuity along with the construction of the massive seawall. The Strand went through a period of disrepair up until about the 1970s. That's when many of the buildings that you see today were restored and given a historical landmark status. It started with the Old Strand Emporium. The King family opened up La King's Confectionery around the same time that the Mitchell's were revitalizing the Blum Building. This would eventually become the rebirth of the Tremont House Hotel. I mean, this is just a summary of events that made this district what it is today. There's really a lot more that went into all of this. Let's just say it was a very interesting visit full of charm. There's so many attractions to see in this part of town. There are many touristy shops mixed in with boutique shops and restaurants. I swear there's a bar on every corner, and some in between. The pier is nearby where you can get fresh fish. Some of the cruise ship terminals are within walking distance from here. There's at least 4 different museums including a railroad station and an oil rig. I think our favorite stop was La King's Confectionery. If that's not enough, then go there during one of their festivals. They have one for Mardis Gras, FeatherFest, Juneteenth, Shrimp Festival, Lone Star Rally and the Dickens at The Strand. It was an enjoyable visit!