If you really want to know the whole story, it's all laid out on their website but reading a bunch…read moreof bullet points on a screen about some big neighborhood spectacle is about the most depressing thing you can do, so I'll explain. ​Basically, the Giglio Feast is a historic 12-day Italian-American festival that happens every July at Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. It's been going on since 1887 when immigrants brought it over from Nola, Italy, to honor Saint Paulinus commemorating when he returned from captivity after sacrificing himself for his people and Our Lady of Mount Carmel. That part actually sounds pretty decent, if you want to know the truth, but the way spectators in attendance make a huge circus out of it just drives me crazy. Then participants are amazing. ​The main event is this thing called the "Dancing of the Giglio," where they take a giant 70-foot tower made of wood and steel weighing four whole tons and covered in lilies, angels, and religious figures and hoist it up. They've got a live brass band and a singer literally sitting right on top of the timber frame while roughly 120 guys lift, spin, and "dance" this enormous four-ton thing down North 8th Street on their bare shoulders. ​Guys in matching outfits blowing saxophones and yelling on the platform, and crowds of people crammed together in the street taking photos and cheering. There's even a statue of a saint perched at the very top against the blue sky, looking down at all these phonies sweating and carrying on in the heat. It's supposed to be this grand, sacred tradition, but looking at a hundred guys breaking their backs to carry a four-ton tower with a band riding on it just makes you feel sort of tired and thirsty. It really does.

This was my second or third excursion here. It's been years since I've gone but it's probably a…read moremediocre fair, which is about ten blocks long, at best. A few basic rides and food being sold but I think it's relatively boring and just blah overall. If you're not a regular, live nearby or just in the area, for another reason, it's surely not worth venturing over here, in my opinion.

I went to this event a few years ago and had a great time. I decided to go back again this year…read moreand had a good time. I am really happy to share some pros and cons related to this event. Some pros are; the event is for charity, environmentally caring, there is a good vibe there, great view by the water, not too crowded, and you sometimes see discounted tickets. Some cons are; some samples are small, some places run out of food, limited samples (you buy ticket books) long lines, overall value. Will I go back next year? Depends on what else is happening that weekend.

Taste of Williamburg Greenpoint is a culinary benefit to build the Northside Town Hall. It was also…read morethe latest location for date day and I had so much fun. I found out about the event through Yelp (yay!) and bought tickets for 8 tastings and 4 beverages. The space was chock full of restaurants selling their best, sponsors hawking their products, and hungry hungry Brooklynites. I arrived around 2 pm and stayed just until it started raining. Lucky for me, I was able to use all my coupons in time! Staff were fantastic overall, with big smiles and enthusiastic attitudes. Now, to the eats: Brooklyn Cupcake - fantastic generous ladies who are passing out the mini chocolate, french toast, red velvet, and vanilla cupcakes like they're going out of style. Brooklyn Floss - root beer cotton candy, a lovely lady spinning the sweets, and lots of happy people in the "smile spot" as they are mystified by their growing cloud of sugar. The Brooklyn Star - winner of the longest line, The Brooklyn Star passed out cheddar cheese waffles with fried chicken, cabbage slaw, and mashed potatoes. Tasty, creative, and pretty. Dirck the Norseman passed out beef brisket and pulled pork with soft buns. Oh so meaty, rich goodness, with a good portion size. Pies and Thighs offered their fried chicken on a biscuit with hot sauce and sweet creamy mayo, which while tiny, is still rich enough to clog your arteries. Maison Premiere was giving out cocktails and oysters on the half shell for a ticket - a nice clean and crisp alternative to the nearby bar fare. Phin & Phebes had six ice cream flavors to sample - or you could get three for a ticket! The ginger cookie and Vietnamese coffee were incredible. Rosamunde Sausage Grill had the second longest line. The Andouille was really solid and they had really fun condiments like wasabi and spicy mayos and cheese sauces Teddy's Bar and Grille had AMAZING beignets. Two Door Tavern had salsa rubbed fried chicken wings - creative, well executed, and delish. Yelp offered a fun gift basket and the usual fun knick knacks- I hope I win! There are probably more that I can't remember. BUT it was such a fun day with very cool people. I reserve a star however - my ticket came with four drink tickets. I can't drink alcohol. So I got lots and lots of free sodas, but definitely not enough to justify the cost of the tickets. I am mollified in that my purchase has made the dream of building the town hall closer, buuuuut may buy one off tickets next year for the food and not drinks.

Why would you want to spend a beautiful summer Saturday stone-cold sober?…read more The Brooklyn Waterfront Beer Festival, or BWBF, was an excellent event to prevent that outcome from occurring. Members from both of my beer clubs descended on the Williamsburg waterfront to lay waste to all beers that crossed our paths. With over 80 breweries represented from the US and around the world, there was something for everyone. We got a chance to try some things we'd never seen before and some of it was surprisingly good. I'm definitely going to hunt down the Wandering Start Wit and the Crabbies Ginger Beer. The BWBF venue was great, right on the river, so the views of Manhattan were stunning. The event itself was well organized. We got the VIP tickets which provided an extra hour of beer sampling before the unwashed masses of general admission ticket holders were let in. Lines for beer and restrooms were never too long, though some of the food vendors proved very popular so there was a bit of a wait. There was some entertainment and it looked like the seminars were popular too. I have to say, everyone in the crowd was very friendly and polite. A couple of glitches, some of the breweries didn't get their beer delivered to their booths until about 30 minutes after they event opened. Additionally, they did not provide any rinsing stations for your beer glass. I haven't been to a beer festival that didn't do that so that's why this can't be five stars, But otherwise a very well run event. Will definitely return for the next BWBF!

I attended the afternoon session, VIP ticket, hour early entrance. I attend beer fest throughout…read morethe year. Good - short lines, nice views of Manhattan, on the Brooklyn waterfront, pleasant atmosphere. Bad - no representatives from the craft brewers themselves (at least in the afternoon), only volunteers serving sample. Many of the volunteers didn't know a thing about the breweries or the beer that they were serving. So if you had questions regarding their beer no one really to answer them. I wouldn't attend again. I think this a starter beer fest for those who are new to craft beer.

So I attended The Greatest Day Ever after hearing about it from YesJulz (love her!) and though I am…read moresad I didn't get to meet her the event was an overall good time AFTER getting in. The wait to get in was tremendously HORRIBLE! I still do not understand why it took an hour + to get in when the place was not even half full. I think there should have been much better control of the line and entering the park, especially because there were so many advanced tickets sold - not to mention that it was scorching hot out.

There was a separate line for guys and girls, with the guys' line being much much shorter - and…read moresince I had my guy's ticket he had to wait with me for about 45+ minutes before we were let into the event. Imagine our surprise when we got in and saw that the place was almost empty. I think the wait had something to with the number of male/female checkers being imbalanced, but it was super hot outside, the bouncers were a bit obnoxious and it sucked to watch the guys whizz buy while the women's land was at a standstill. I did like that they had free cotton candy, however the 4 or 5 food vendors didn't provide lots of food options. We wanted to go to smorgasborg to get a bite and then go back to the event since the site said re-entry was allowed, however we were told if we left we would have to wait on the long line all over again to get back in. So, basically we felt trapped. We sucked it up and hung around - went on the 2 rides that were there (a ferris wheel and a spinning thingie), and watched a bit of jenga at the yelp table. We were not inclined to buy the $8 small cans of beer and after dancing around for a little bit (there were various dj's playing throughout the day who were admittedly pretty good) and getting a slight headache from the loud music and sun, decided to leave to get some food at smorgasborg and look at the skyline of manhattan a few blocks away. All in all, it was interesting experience (not worth $60, but maybe worth the $20 advance ticket price!) and a nice way to pass the time ...but it's not quite at the greatest day ever status just yet..

This is for the 2017 festival. Make sure you sign up for their newsletter as they frequently have…read moresales. I'm from Florida, but on my way to visit family in Israel, I stopped over in NYC. And perfect timing - I was able to go to the Coffee & Tea Festival too. Since this was in a less-touristy part of town, hotels were a little bit limited, but were cheaper since it wasn't Manhattan. I heard horror stories about the crowds here, so I sprang for the VIP tickets, which I felt were worth it, especially since it came with a goodie bag. It also gave me a chance to scope out all the vendors and see which ones I wanted to spend time with more than others. This is definitely a more tea focused event than coffee, so if you're not much of a tea person I would tread carefully. Like Philly, this one had free and paid seminars too. I did a couple of paid classes which I felt were worth it, especially since you got some free tea at the end. I did see some repeat vendors from the Philly expo, but I'm happy to report a lot of the vendors were new which was a pleasant surprise. So comparing the two festivals - which one was better? NYC had more vendors and more variety but was definitely more crowded and in a less-tourist friendly area. Because of that, if you're coming from out of town and deciding between the two, I'd recommend Philly.

I do generally enjoy festivals such as this - the common complaint of overflowing crowds doesn't…read morereally faze me - I mean, I hate on crowds with the best of 'em, but I can't imagine why one wouldn't be eminently prepared for 5:30pm Times Square subway-level crowding at any event offering free food and beverages. The several reviews I read of past shows had me well-prepared for the event's other main flaws, which, unfortunately, didn't seem to be addressed this year. Mainly, that I'd comfortably estimate that 2/3rds of the vendors (at minimum) were tea vendors. So if you prefer coffee (and what right-minded American doesn't?!?! That's right... bring it on, tea drinkers!) it can be a bit limited. Also, I think there could be more food vendors as well - whether participatory or just independent food trucks/carts selling food, it seemed there weren't enough options, some of which didn't really fit with the beverages (I enjoy empanadas, but not so much with my coffee) and I felt a bit beveraged-out by the end. So I hope at some point the people who throw this event finally listen to the feedback and diversify the participants to a much greater degree. Insofar as the crowds, sure, there might be a substantive wait at a particular booth (especially *ahem* the coffee ones) or a claustrophobia-inducing pathway here and there, but the general ebb-and-flow also allows you to occasionally saunter up and have a booth almost all to yourself. At this particular festival, for example, I got to speak at great length with the proprietors of El Voyage coffee, learning all about their company, trying several free samples, and buying a great new coffee to try from a small, local business I felt excited lending a sliver of support to - an immersive experience that makes these events unique and worthwhile no matter the quibbles one might have. Perhaps if I wrote this review immediately post-festival, sitting in scenic Transmitter Park and all hopped up on caffeine, I would have been a tad more generous. But I've been to better festivals, both in terms of organization and product. And it seems like the issues people have had (overcrowding/overselling of tickets, lack of non-tea vendors) haven't been adequately addressed over the years. Ultimately, its probably only a must if you are a tea aficionado. Otherwise, its fine if you have an afternoon free and/or grab one of the many discount tickets available, but otherwise I left feeling as it I could kind of take it or leave it next year.

I guess I can't speak for the whole festival because I only saw one show, but the show I saw was…read moreexcellent. I was lucky enough to attend the Sasheer Zamata show at the William Vale. My friend and I made a night of it with dinner and drinks at Leuca beforehand and then made our way to the gorgeous terrace. The setting did look a bit like a wedding (floral archway, seating was "bride side, groom side"), which all the comedians commented on. Tickets were cheap, $10 or $15, for a solid 2 hours of comedy. I hadn't heard of most of the comedians, but all were very funny and had great sets. I hope the festival is back next year because I definitely want to see more (very cheap) comedy!

From the owner: Each year, the festival showcases both established and up-and-coming performers from every realm of…read morecomedy, including sketch, standup, and improv. In addition to shows, there are after parties throughout Brooklyn hosted by local and national sponsors.

4 stars for the giant pretzel 2 stars for the room…read moretemperature bratwursts 1 star for the hot mess that was the front entrance area Myself and 3 friends stopped by around 6:30pm on a Friday. We were general admission, so the Security Guard told us to wait in the GA line and we waited behind 4-5 parties of VIP guests and 1 guy who was buying like ... 10 beer glasses and that alone took about 15 minutes. When we got the desk, the cashier/host told us that GA could just walk in and self-service order from the individual stands. So basically we waited roughly 20 minutes just to be told that we could just walk in. We ordered food, which came out pretty quickly - and we soon figured out why. The bratwursts were room temperature - one of them was downright cold. The saving grace was the giant pretzel, which really hit the spot. If you're really interested in bratwursts and German beers, there are TONS of better places.

Purposely chosen as my 1,000th YELP review because this event is just that awesome!…read more My friends and I have been coming here for about 4 years. Each year the event gets bigger and better but still maintains that fun sense of community. The only disappointment was that they didn't have the carousel this year! It could be because people have fallen off of it in drunken stupors (I don't know anyone who would've done something like that... ahemhusband...) but still- losing the carousel does take away from the event and subtracts one star. We usually buy the general admission tickets and can usually find a seat for all 6 of us. Since we are mostly all vegetarians, we enjoy the big pretzels more than the rest of the food offerings. Those big ole beers at $18 each go down way too easy. This might be why the carousel is no longer available to ride. That's a shame but maybe a safer thing. This has become one of the highlights of our year and will be for some time. Too many awesome things to note in one review- just go check it out!

This was a cool event - I won a pair of tickets through an Instagram contest so any complaints I…read morecould possibly have would be and are minor. Hosted in Brooklyn Steel, this event was a great way to check out a lot of food vendors/restaurants at one place as well as revisit some old favorites. Every place had samples to try, some more significantly-sized than others, and many were also offering drinks as well. Archie's was a go-to late night order back when my boyfriend lived in Bushwick so I was glad to see they had a presence here.The samples from Guadalupe Inn were my personal favorite - I believe it was some sort of carnitas tostada (whatever it was, it was delicious). My sister and I also loved the little falafel bites with hummus that the Queen of Falafel was serving. Boars Head was popular due to the sheer size of their samples - they had full sausages with delicious mustard and kraut. Whatever brand was sampling the chocolates in the main hall was amazing too - I probably ate 50 of those bad boys. While the samples were abundant and the drinks were free-flowing, the place was a little too packed for my liking. It was, at times, difficult to move around. While lines were fairly manageable, the venue itself was a sardine can. Also, the event was supposed to go from 6:30 to 9 (my sister and I got there a little late, closer to 7:15), yet most vendors were running out/were out of food by 8:15-8:30 or so. Not a huge deal, we still felt like we would have gotten our money's worth had we paid for tickets, but for those who came late, it might not have been a good deal for the $60 ticket price. All in all, a really solid event and I'm really glad I went. Would consider going back next year.

What can I say? This was truly a great tasting event featuring so many awesome places in Bushwick…read more I was fortunate to win a pair of VIP tickets provided by Bruce Cost Ginger Ale, it did not disappoint! From the moment I checked in (VIP allowed us an extra hour prior to the general public & specialty drinks with a swag bag) the atmosphere was pleasant, inviting and tempting in so many aspects. Tasted so many delicious items paired so uniquely that I was quickly filling my belly until I couldn't breathe (below are some of the photos that my partner in crime and I had the pleasure to try). The array of options was magnificently displayed from cocktails, lite bites, heavier options and of course desserts! The space was just right, although it was an extremely HOT and Humid day, everyone was having a great time, mingling, tasting, dancing, exploring and taking it all in. Look forward in attending next year!

If I lived here, I'd be a regular. We had a great time chatting with our bartender Maddy (Mattie?…read moreSorry not sure of spelling) and some of the other patrons. The drinks were good, and the video games were so fun. They had a bunch that really brought me back to my childhood. Ladybug, Tapper...wow it's been a long time. We sat at the bar chatting and knitting in between games, it was a hoot. Ambience is dark and divey but not in a bad way at all. Spending an evening here was one of the highlights of my trip. I'll definitely come back next time I'm in town.

I checked out Barcade in Williamsburg. If you like arcade games, drinks, and going back into your…read morepast. This is definitely a fun place to hangout. Barcade has a few locations around NYC, and I went to this spot. They have soooo many arcade game here. Classics like street fighter and a bunch of other old school games. Each game takes at least 2 tokens, so definitely grab a few if you plan on playing for a while. One tip is if you put tokens into a machine and it isn't working, just go up to the bartender and let them know. They'll help you out. As for drinks, they have a pretty big selection of beers on tap. Cocktails, and other drinks. Small snacks if you get hungry while you're playing too. Since it's a bar you will get carded after a certain time, which makes sense since alcohol is being served There's family day on Sundays from 12-5pm, so families can come in during those hours and enjoy the arcade. Overall, this is a fun spot to grab some drinks, play arcade games, and hangout with friends. Definitely gives you that nostalgia arcade feeling, especially if you grew up playing these games.