What is a street festival? It's a lot of things but the primary thing is another excuse to give…read moreyour kids something to do so that the adults can drink out in the streets with friends. That's fine as long as they're enjoying themselves. It might not be so bad if this wasn't in the middle of summer with little to no shade. Attend this festival if you live close so that you can eat unhealthy food. If you live an hour or more away, it might be best to pass. My friends wanted to go here after having it suggested by someone they work with. So off we went. We were bored after 30 minutes of walking around and went home. I'm sure some of the music and dancing entertainment is okay but what I heard while we were there wasn't appealing. There are also a fair amount of local churches with booths. There are carnival rides for the children but that's going to cost you... $20 for a wristband to ride an unlimited amount of times. You can buy tickets too but I'm not sure of the price. Who wants individual tickets though? Just spend the $20 and ride the rides until that brat and pretzel comes back up. The only thing we tried while there were the krautballs. They were good but four or five bucks for four balls? They are big balls so you big ball lovers will love them but for that price, you should at least get 6 balls. The other thing we tried was the ice cream shop(Olaf). It's not exactly part of the festival but it's right in the middle of downtown where the festival is. It didn't seem that busy even though it is in the thick of everything. The ice cream we had was good(not great) and the place was a nice retreat from the instant sweat we encountered because of the direct sunlight. I can't believe this festival lasts for a weekend! It would likely be better if it wasn't in the dead of summer. If you've ever wanted to go to Strassenfest, don't break your back to get there.

Jasper has rolled out the red black and yellow carpet to host Stassenfest. German music, food,…read moredancing and beer are part of the fun in downtown Jasper. Plenty of seating on day 1 of the event. Carnival games and rides later in the evening. People very friendly and inviting. No admission fee. Food prices reasonable. Brat on a pretzel roll was $5. Cold water only a buck. Pretzel roll was fabulous fresh and homemade. Best I ever had. Deserts are to die for. Try the apple strudel. Filled with hand cut apples for only $4. $20 wristbands for unlimited carnival rides. Or tickets $1.50 each and rides require 2-4 tickets. The rides have seen better days. Event goes through Sunday.

1.) We hit the weather jackpot for this year's Indiana Wine Fair…read more 2.) Story, Indiana is ridiculously charming. The Inn itself *is* the town. Half the charm of this event is the drive down from Indianapolis. 3.) We parked in a field and moseyed our way through the Inn's garden which is filled with produce they use in the on-site restaurant. 4.) 30+ Hoosier wineries offering samples (spirits this year too! -Huber Winery (Starlight) and Cardinal Spirits from Bloomington (one of my personal favorites) 5.) the setting is super laid back in a field with live music and a BYOC vibe (bring-your-own-chair) 6.) Maybe next year I'll snag a room at Story Inn and make a weekend of it? ;)

If you love wine, this is the event for you! I went with a group of girls and we had a great girls…read moreday. Bring your dog, bring your friends, bring everybody! There were even a lot of men winos too. The event can get pretty busy, so the places to sit fill up very quickly. It's a long event, so I would recommend bringing chairs, blankets, or somewhere to sit at. Standing on your feet the entire event and drinking, especially if the weather isn't ideal (90 degrees when I went, woof!) is exhausting, so having a comfy spot is ideal. Come with the attitude that you're there for a great time and will have plenty to drink! The lines can sometimes be a little long, and there were rude comments from people about others getting more than one sample per booth. We're all there for a good time, and they won't run out, so hold the negativity! The food and drink vendors are amazing! Everyone was nice, helpful, and offered recommendations. There's something for everyone -- including beer and liquor vendors. It is primarily wine but there is plenty of variety! The only thing I would recommend improvements on is the bathroom situation. There are maybe 10 portapotties with long lines and they were NOT kept up with well. Dirty, no toilet paper, and the hand washing stations weren't working. The only negative in an otherwise fabulous event. Make it a whole weekend. Brown county is beautiful. My group rented a cabin and then enjoyed the wine fair. It was perfect!

I had so much fun at the International Bar-B-Q festival in Owensboro, KY! This was my first time…read moreand I was working, but I got plenty of breaks to walk about booths and eat a lot of food and check out a lot of what else they had to offer. I had a vendor parking pass, but I saw multiple parking lots very close to the event for around $5 and you can also park on the street at meters (the 2 hour parking signs do not apply for this event). They block off a huge section of multiple roads in downtown Owensboro for the event. The first and most important thing to remember, bring cash!! I work events all the time and normally one can find an atm SOMEWHERE. I was there both days of the festival walked the booths (not all of them but most) and never found an atm. Most booths are cash only, only a few took cards which was a bummer. People come from all over the world and it did get very crowded in the evening and late at night. The festival was on Friday at 5pm to 11 pm and Saturday 9 am to 11 pm. They had a lot of different activities including four different stages with bands playing music, a 5k run/walk in Saturday morning, a mutton sandwich eating contest, a deadlifting contest, a pie eating contest, a keg toss, and rides for kids! I don't feel like I could have seen it all if I had gone for just fun! So, the food! What most people came for! The first thing I tried out was from Big Horn beef. I had their steak dinner. It was $12 and had steak, smashed potatoes, mushrooms, and onions all in one container together. It was all wellseasoned and delicious. They also offered Worcestershire sauce and Bar-B-Q sauce to put on it but I opted out, it tasted great on it's own! The portion was well sized for the priced. I will also post their menu so people can see their other options. I then got the best pina colada I have ever had in my life! it was non alcoholic, but sooo delicious, it was from the booth called Pina Colada Caribean Style. My work friend bought 4 of them throughout the 2 days. You get get a cup for $6 or get it in a decorated pineapple cup (they use real pineapple in their drinks) for $8 or a large cup for $12. Now for the Bar-B-Q. Most of ths Bar-B-Q stands had sandwiches for $4-5 some had them up to $7, almost none took card! Most of them offered burgoo and pork or mutton bbq sandwiches though I did sre some with ribs ans more options. They all looked pretty good but I had to go with the one that took card which was Moonlite Bar-B-Q. I got the mutton sandwich, baked beans, and potatoes salad to $8. I did try their bbq sauce on my sandwich and it was underwhelming. The meat was cooked well but it was a very thin sauce and I don't think it paired well with the seasonings already on the mutton and they only offered that one sauce. The sides were both good but nothing that wowed me. I ate at this spot again simply because they took card and got just a bbq pork sandwich which I liked better, the meat was very tender and delicious. This time I went to a stand that was accross the street from them that just sold bbq sauce and put some of their sweet and savory sauce on the sandwich. This is what I had been waiting for, a dry rub can be nice, but what is a Bar-B-Q festival without a good bbq sauce?! The sauce was from Johnny's Savory Sauces located in Washington, IN and it was one of the best bbq sauces I have ever had and I have had a lot! I will be ordering some sauce from them as they took card but no cards were able to process. This sauce was what I had expected. There were some other food stands that were not what I would expect at an international bbq festival, typical fair food booths with the massive signs of pictures of their food and no name along with plates of old food out to show you what they serve. Mostly corndogs, gyros, blooming onions, etc. I eat at places like that all the time at events and am frequently disappointed by their food especially for the price. The great part about the actual bbq booths was how inexpensive they were for getting fresh quality food. If I had been able to get cash, I would have bought more bbq sanswches just to try them all. Now for dessert! I had homemade ice cream from Chaney's Dairy Barn. I ordered a double scoop of the birthday cake ice cream in a cup for $5. It was excellent ice cream, smooth and creamy and had chunks of cake and sprinkles in it but not too many. They offered cones as well. They make their ice cream on their farm with milk from their cows! The other booths at the festival I went to were meh. They had some of the same booths that are at conventions with the cheaply made sunglasses, low quality clothing reminiscent of stuff you would find at the dollar store in the early 2000s, and cheap jewelry. I would have loved to have seen more local stores with booths and handmade crafts.

It's a festival folks! I have made it to everyone except for the 2 years that I lived out of town…read more No mater what I try to attend at least a few hours on one of the days it is going on. Just remember it is always the 2nd weekend in May or the weekend after the KY derby.

We did a tour here today and it was really intimate - we were the only four on the tour. They…read morecalled my friend, who had booked the tour, about two hours ahead of time to say the Rickhouse would be closed because of the cold weather, and to ask if we wanted to continue the tour as scheduled or rebook - good customer service. We arrived a little bit early and had lunch at the cafe on-site, which was pretty good, and then we checked in for our tour. What people may not know is that below the gift shop area is where a lot of the barrels and such are. I think our tour guide's name was Ricky and she was very good, I learned a little bit about the distillery. We had chosen the bottle your own experience, which ended up being really unique. At the end of the tour, we got to taste a few of the bourbons, literally from the barrels, and then we got to fill a bottle from one of the open barrels. After that, we put a sticker/the label one, plus one with our name, and another with the back label. Differentiation was encouraged, although we all put them on standardly except for my husband, who had the four of us plus Ricky sign the bottle, which was fun. I believe the tour was $100 each, and just the bottle itself would've been like $80, so for $20 extra, it was a good deal. At the end of the tour, they let us taste a good portion of their wines and other whiskeys and bourbons; I will say their wines were not that great, unfortunately, though there were two that I liked and purchased. They were very generous with the tastings and I don't think there was a maximum number ... I tasted maybe 1/3 of what was on the sheet, aka open for tastings. Overall I would come back here, although I probably wouldn't need to do the tour a second time (it would be fun to see the rickhouses, though).

Went on a beautiful Saturday into the afternoon. The winery definitely gets crowded as the day goes…read moreon but plenty of parking. They had a band come on at 1pm outside where they have lots of outside seating (or bring your own chair). Would recommend getting a pizza or flatbread and a pitcher of sangria. The charcuterie box is $20 and not worth it. The ice cream shop, market, and ride to pick pumpkins, strawberries, peaches, is close by. There is also a family fun playground/park down the road from the winery and you can take in your own food and drink; it does have a $6 per person (over 2 years old) admission fee.

I was so excited to hear that that Kingfish was performing at the annual blues festival in…read moreHenderson, KY in 2021!! I was fortunate enough to be sitting next to his mom, Princess Pride, in Clarksdale, MS 7 or 8 years ago when he was only 15. We'd never heard of him before, but we knew then we were witnessing something amazing. Since that time we've been to more than a few of his concerts, traveling quite a ways and he's worth it! Two years ago he played in Nashville with Buddy Guy. It was AWESOME!!!! The blues festival was fun, and if possible and you like the blues, don't miss it in 2022!

My favorite street festival with all the fried things! The West Side Nut Club is an institution in…read moreEvansville, Indiana and the best kept secret outside southern Indiana. Grew up going every year and hadn't been able to make it down for close to 10 years, but finally was able to have a homecoming and on their 100th anniversary too! Some favorites include Stromboli's from the TKE booth, fried green beans and mac & cheese from the Vanderburgh Humane Society booth, Italian beef, chicken & dumplings and fried cookie dough. This year I also found a Ski slushy. What's Ski, you ask? It's a lemon lime drink that has a cult following in the tri-state region and one of the only places it's sold. Next October, if you're looking for a fun food time, make the trip to Evansville, grab a munchie map and start walking down Franklin St.!

We've been coming to this fall festival each year able for around a decade. It's become a tradition…read moreto meet up with good friends and check it out, splitting foods and tasting a bit of everything on offer. There are a LOT of food options and while basically NONE of it is healthy, quite a lot of it is TASTY. Plan to bring $50 or so in cash and an appetite. If you're here at a peak busy time there will be a crowd and a line at the more popular booths (e.g. the "Donut Bank Burger"). I will say that in recent years the festival has cleaned up a lot--it used to be overflowing with garbage and just a general mess which in some ways was part of the appeal, it was not formal in any way and it's a people-watching extravaganza. But this recent year (2023) things were orderly, clean, and neat. Some of the booths seemed to be phoning it in a bit, we all had to say (e.g. that aforementioned "Donut Bank Burger" used to be a primary draw for us but this year they didn't even bother to melt the cheese on the burger) but there's still plenty of good food to be had and a lot of churches and charities to support (from across the spectrum, so if choosing to support or not support a specific cause is of interest to you, you can do that).

Been here so many years in a row. Big changes this year, no chicken dinner felt like fewer booths…read more More food trucks, but prices seemed a bit high. Also, the amount of air pollution with trucks running made it feel unhealthy. Appreciate them giving food trucks a place to be but can't we do both, food trucks and chicken? (OH, and maybe add bingo to Friday nights?)

This was the 175th year of the St Joe Picnic in 2024 and it was held the 2nd weekend of August on…read moreboth Friday 4 PM to 11 PM and Saturday 11 AM to midnight. We attended on Saturday from 5 to 8 PM. Parking was also available in the area at the seminary with a bus shuttle to and from the drop off at the front gates of the event. Wish there had been more shuttles available during peak hours because the wait was extremely long. We arrived at the drop off point at the front gates and then waited until an extremely long train (total of 6 engines) passed before we could enter. Trains pass by periodically, which is to be expected. We had pre-purchased $100 worth of tickets online for the 20% discount, and it was a bit of a challenge to find the Will Call booth for pickup. We were also surprised to be told that the tickets were only to be used for food, which is contrary to some of the wording on the website. We ultimately did patronize several game and activity booths which did in fact accept the tickets, so all was not in vain. We were aware that the special $1.75 chicken dinners offered this year in honor of the 175th would go fast. News reports indicated 4,000 dinners would be offered for an expected crowd of 50,000 patrons over the 2-day event. By the time we made it to the chicken dinner ticket booth, they sold out by 5:30. A bit disappointed, but we had been prepared it might happen. I felt bad for those who were not well aware beforehand. We ended up getting $7 beers and $3 hot dogs, playing a few games, purchasing a few raffle tickets, and then selling some of our tickets to other patrons and giving some away as we headed out early to go down the street to eat dinner at a sit down neighborhood restaurant. Our party of 6 all agreed the event felt a bit disorganized, difficult to navigate booths and the property, signage was sparse, and golf carts were annoyingly prevalent throughout the pedestrian pathways. Since this is a charity event, I was happy to participate and lend support. The volunteers are all to be commended. The property itself is also lovely beneath the mature trees and the weather was pleasant.

Freudenfest is a fantastic small town festival in Oldenburg, Indiana (70 min drive SE of Indy) that…read moreoffers authentic German food, various German style beers, live entertainment and tons of things to do in this idyllic Hoosier town. I usually go with a group of friends and we spend a good part of the afternoon / evening there. Plenty of spots for shade while you're waiting for your turn to chicken toss or chicken dance. The Dachshund races are a blast but you gotta get there early to get a good view of really short dogs (race starts 2 pm Sat.). Plenty of free street parking. Don't miss this festival - it's one of southern Indiana's best!

Great family friendly festival for all ages. Being of German heritage, I really enjoy being a part…read moreof the celebration that features the old style culture of the German people. Lots of games, events, music, food, and of course beer to enjoy. So grab a stein and head to Freudenfest for what is always a good time.

First time going to this festival, unfortunately we were only able to see not even a half haha From…read morewhat we were able to walk through we got good food that was different from the food offered at our state fair. I saw the cheese curds, but did not go for them. If I knew they were Wisconsin Cheese Curds I would have. Great food and great people. Yes, there was a lot of traffic as you got closer to the fair, but I think it was worth it. It looked crowded from all the cars that were parked, but didn't actually feel that crowded. Unfortunately we did see a vender drop a fry on the counter and put it back into a customers bowl. Unsanitary and not good. Also for the venders... I noticed that their "gem" necklaces were just hollow plastic. To me that's horrible to be selling something that obviously fake. For those 2 reasons I'm deducting stars. Otherwise I'd say yes DEFINITELY worth the trip and traffic haha

Lot of fun and food. Great photo ops. Go every year. May wanna pass on the buried beef…read moresandwiches. They weren't that good.