I'm surprised by the negative reviews on the event board for the Dumpling Fest. I went for an hour and had a nice time. 9 times out of 10 you have to know the lines at festivals long. At least at the dumpling festival the lines moved quickly. You haven't experienced atrocious lines unless you experienced the Parked Food Truck Festival. Those lines didn't move AT ALL. What I liked about the fest, each vendor had two dishes to choose from. 4 dumplings each, ordering was quick and painless. Forging another line wasn't so painful. They had all types of dumplings, from asian to Polish perogies and ravioli (Italy's dumpling?). My fave, Bruce Cost Natural Chicken with Vegetable. The most awesome parts, the giant dumpling AND Mr. Dumpling Man. Plus, the winner of the dumpling eating contest won $1000 bucks. That's pretty sweet. I should have entered, I totally would have kicked some butt. read more

NYC Dumpling Fest - 9/25/2010 Poster. - Festivals Near Me - New York, New York

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WHAT A COMPLETE WASTE OF $20... No like seriously!!... not even joking!!. I was only able to try out one tent and that because their line was super short, all other 5 tents were so long you didn't know where the line end. the area they chosen was so small that people were lining up in the streets blocking traffic. The cops has to come and speak to the person who was in charge and tell them to correct there lines or they were going to be shot down. there was only one lady in the entrance giving out flyers but quickly walked away once anyone asked her a question. You had multiple lines for tickets but never told anyone if your had already purchased a ticket you got to a special line, so basically i got off one line to go on another... YEAH!!! once you received your $20 tickets to try four tents you were suppose to go on line and explore your taste buds. That didn't happened, they lines were interwind with each other, the crowd that was watching the dumpling eating contest were blocking half of the tents.. LET's JUST SAY... the whole thing was a DISASTER. very poorly executed. Don't advertise a festival all over NY and have a small space and little vendors to come show off cold dumplings... please don't play yourself. funny thing is I watched tones of ppl argue with the event coordinator and getting their money back. I didn't do cause i figure hey, it's only $20 you guys need it more than i did. read more

NYC Dumpling Fest - Red Bean Bun and fried Pumpkin dumpling - Festivals Near Me - New York, New York

This is a pretty cool event. Dumplings deserve their own festival for sure! I didn't get the dumpling ticket because there are so many awesome places to eat in the neighborhood and I had plans to go elsewhere. I know it's $20 for some frozen dumplings but it's for a good cause after all. I came to watch the contest because my bf/friends were in it. The dancing dragon show was pretty cool too. My only complaint was that it dragged out a lot. They had a bunch of speakers, then 6 separate contests - 3 waves for each gender. The contest is fun to watch though. I personally think they should cut down the number of people though. My recommendation? Enter the contest - they usually don't have enough people to fill all the slots. Free lunch! Then you don't have to feel so bad about spending $20 on a dumpling ticket. Oh and the event staff was very nice. I was taking photographs and the PR rep gave me a media kit and asked me if I wanted to get closer. I thought that was extremely nice of her. read more

2015 Festival. 3.5 stars. It was my first time going to this festival and also hearing about it. One of the main reasons I wanted to go was because I wanted a picture with Dumpling Mama, so cute! Anyway, a bunch of my friends and I got here about 15 minutes before they even began selling the tasting tickets. It was a good thing we got there early too, no lines! We were probably one of the first groups at the photo booth as well. I felt that the dumplings that were offered at each stand weren't the best, but at least the money was going to a good cause. Although, the mushroom ravioli was the best out of everything we tried and certainly the most filling. My friends and I stayed through the dumpling eating contest...you might wanna think twice watching those intense contestants scarf down those dumplings. Perhaps it would have been better if the venue was a little bigger because at some point, it just got too crowded. It was an overall nice experience, but I'm not sure if I would go again. read more

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They need a bigger venue. Bigger. Apparently, it's quite popular because, c'mon it's dumplings! Tickets were sold out after an hour. I could see scrumptious choices but alas, I can't get to them. I'm being generous with three stars as it is an excellent idea despite the poor logistics. And I want it again next year. If they can't plan better, I will come earlier. Meantime, there's Mimi Cheng's a mile away. read more

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So festive. Tons of people. Super long lines. A super fun way to spend the afternoon. $20 for a 4 tasting sample but the first booth didn't check the box, and I was probably full after the first one anyway. No booze so we picked up a few six packs on the way (the way to go) so far I've seen a beat boxer, belly dancers, raffle offs ( the chick reading the numbers was pretty funny. If there was slightly less people it might be a bit more enjoyable but over all an awesome way to spend the afternoon Update: apparently there's a fire so they shut down the electricity... I.e. No more entertainment read more

NYC Dumpling Fest - Ticket - Festivals Near Me - New York, New York

Probably one of the worst festival I have been to. At first the line is almost 30 minutes long for every dumpling stand therefore I won't even consider trying any of them. Some of the best dumpling places are less than 5 minute walk away. Eating is NOT a sport!!!! ESPN should never consider that. If you consider giving food to hungry people a sport, I might support that. Packing your mouth with 50 dumpling doesn't make the cut. Disgusting I think they need a bigger place like central park for the event. There are a lot of people in a small nyc basketball park. It's a shame consider dumpling is one of my favorite food. They need more authentic dumpling vendors as most of them as far as I can see are like microwaved dumpling. Wholefood is right across the street. I think they just grab it from their freezer and sell it in the street. There are a lot of improvement. read more

FESTIVAL + FROZEN DUMPLING REVIEW: PSA: This was hands down the WORST 'festival' I've ever been to. tl;dr: Do not go if you value your time! I purchased tickets in advance, ($20+ per ticket for 4 tastings and a complimentary gift bag) complacent in the fact that I wouldn't have to wait on a super long line for tickets on the day of the festival. It opened around noon and I arrived at 1:15PM. Even while I was purchasing tickets, I was a little irked because dumplings are super cheap to make, but since I would be receiving 4 servings, I didn't think twice and made the purchase. I now wish I took a picture of the festival (I could see an aerial view of the horribly disorganized lines from the second floor of the Whole Foods across the street), but I was probably too much in shock the entire time I was there. When my boyfriend and I approached the event, we couldn't even tell what line was for which tent. There were such a large amount of people in such a tightly-knit space--and even most of the people in line were second guessing what the line was for! We approached the information booth, but we ran into several people that tried to sell their tickets to us. Being that I already had tickets of my own, I went to the information booth to pick up my tickets (two codes on Eventbrite that were then transferred into two physical tickets and bags). I had accidentally spent a minute or so in a different line (for people to purchase tickets) when a pair of organizers attempting to rally the non-ticket holders told us blantantly that if we were hungry, that we should "find food somewhere else" because there was "an hour wait" for the dumplings. What!!! I spent my money to try the dumplings--as I'm sure many other annoyed ticketholders did as well--and I was not happy to hear that there was an hour wait. Judging by the long, random, winding lines, I couldn't doubt that there was an hour wait for these dumplings. Most, if not all, the lines were at least 40 people deep, and these lines were not organized at all. They were random--the people on the lines were clearly annoyed, and so was I. Now I realized why people were trying to sell their tickets to us. Technically speaking, if I were to stand there and try out four different "boroughs" of dumplings, I would need 3+ hours of waiting, not even including the eating time! Thankfully, there was a separate line to redeem frozen bags of dumplings in exchange for unused tastings. (Needless to say, this line was ALSO extremely hard to find and get around to.) We did a long U-shaped roundabout to determine the shortest line for borough-dumplings, but since we found them all needing over an hour-long wait, and especially since we couldn't even determine how long the line actually was (just volunteers screaming at us that it was 'X amount of time' of a wait), we opted to redeem 4 bags of frozen dumplings and get the hell out of there. The several young women that were running the frozen dumpling checkout were rude and very annoyed to be there. I understand girls, I was too. I ordered my four dumpling types, and she placed them in a cooler bag for me, which I was glad for, since I was definitely going to be out longer in search of OTHER FOOD not from this festival. UGH! However, when she got my order wrong, and I asked her for the correct type instead of the incorrect bag that she gave me, she literally SNATCHED the bag out of my hand and shoved the correct one into my bag. Like holy crap, I was SO DONE with this place and extremely upset at this point. No more dumplings for me. I went to Blue Ribbon Fried Chicken across the street (hella good chicken, definitely recommend this place since it's very clean, ORGANIZED and super friendly service). To my (not) surprise, several diners inside spotted me and my boyfriend's bags and asked how the festival was. I gave them my honest opinion (something along the lines of "Don't go there", "Avoid that area", "An hour wait for a serving of dumplings") and they mostly replied with nonchalance after seeing how crowded it was anyways. For dinner, I dared to try these dumplings and I was pretty eh about it. Service + experience at the festival aside, these weren't particularly fantastic dumplings. I cooked a bag of the shrimp dumplings--it was OK, nothing to write home about. You could see the shrimp inside, and there were those generic peas and carrots. I consider myself a pretty good connoisseur with dumplings (I'm Korean and I've tried plenty of frozen dumplings too!) but this was very generic. At least I could see the shrimps, which I appreciated. I will never be coming here ever again, I will be warning all my friends not to go, and I will not buy their generic dumplings ever again either. read more

Been on line for 90 minutes and still no dumplings. Worst organized event I have ever attended. No wonder they state no refunds. This is one event I will NOT come back to... cmon people get it together. The people trying to organize lines gave up and left and it became a free for all. One star because I can't give less. Don't think I'll even get to taste any dumplings. Next time I'll just mail a check to the charity. As my daughter pointed out, interesting at a charity event to fight hunger, they have a gluttonous dumpling eating contest! WTF. All while hundreds of people paid money and hours on line...wow Gave up and left. Tried to give tickets away and everyone we talked to was leaving for the same reason. Decided to go stand in line for Oktoberfest...and that's another story but yet familiar horror story read more

Disorganized. Too many people. This park is not big enough for this event. 2-hour line to get 4 dumplings. People were selling back their tickets because they wanted to leave. Worst food festival of my life. I wish I could give minus four stars. My advice: don't. read more

I didn't opt to eat food. I came to support a friend who performed in the show. I think they should definitely host it in a larger park as it was difficult to navigate through some of the food lines. The dumplings looked great though. read more

NYC Dumpling Fest - Festivals Near Me - New York, New York

This festival was definitely very poorly organized. The lines were horrendously long and the space was way too small for the amount of people that came. With that said, I thoroughly enjoyed the food and overall experience. From the musical performers to dumpling eating contest, I thought it was a fun concept, but poorly executed. Recognition for all proceeds going to charity. read more

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It's a good idea. And it would've been fun, but there was just SO MANY PEOPLE. The lines were so long that it took 20 minutes to get from one sample to the next. 20$ for a 4 trays of dumplings. about 5 items per small paper tray. It'll definitely get you full. Its a bit expensive, but it's for a good cause and you get to try a lot of different types of dumplings! We were at go!bib and they had tiny little fried dumplings that were awesome. Oh and they were giving out tubes of gochujang which paired SO well with the dumplings! I wish I had taken more... The japanese station had fried buns which were great. and then we tried another station with pork and basil or chicken and basil dumplings. At the front there were dumpling eating contests and we saw one woman eat 93 dumplings! a world record. All in all, fun thing to do on a Saturday afternoon. Good way to try different dumplings! Will definitely be back next year for the dumpling eating contest read more

NYC Dumpling Fest - Festivals Near Me - New York, New York

I didn't mind the lines, but look, I can heat up dumplings that come out of a bag, too. If I am paying $20 for four samplings and having to wait in line for each of those samplings, it would be nice if the dumplings were made by actual chefs for the festival. $20 is too expensive for precooked bagged dumplings that were heated up. read more

I'm asian, so naturally I was there... duh. $20 bucks for 4 samples of dumplings is.... expensive! These are dumplings from frozen bags that were boiled and then seasoned/ fried. They were not amazing or worth the long lines in the heat! (Don't get me started on the heat!!!) If I decide to go back next year, then I would just get my moneys worth and try the eating contest. I could down 20-30 easy... Some people up there ate under 10? Embarrasing... read more

100% of the proceeds went to the Food Bank NYC so I am okay with having spent $20 on a ticket. But the dumplings were SO disappointing. Yes, the line sucked but if the food was delicious and were not poorly heated-up frozen food products, then I would not have complained. The Macao Trading pan-fried dumplings and the buttery perogies were the most edible. Also, I think everyone waiting on the lines was extremely annoyed with the MC's loud, shrieking voice. The second star is for the dumpling mascot. He was getting his groove on on stage and was definitely the best part of the dumpling festival. read more

It's a pretty neat event and for a great cause. Plus there's a dumpling eating contest along with a bit of entertainment. They could use a more interesting variety of dumplings as almost all of them seemed to come from frozen store-bought packs rather than made fresh, except the ravioli which was the yummiest one. read more

Great idea with horrible execution. The lines for each booth were a tangle mass of snakes with no one entirely sure they were on the right line. The signs to tell you were the end of the line was were little so little and on popsicle sticks; you had to be literally on top of them to see them. We got there around 2, and they had stopped selling tickets. We left for something get to eat, and around 330 things had calmed down, but still a bit if a mess. If the tickets had been sold by what time you could get in line, we might not have been packed in. The queues need to have better delineation, like ropes or even color coded tape on the ground. All that being said, the variety and taste of the dumplings were great, and the staff and customers were all polite and friendly. Hope next year is better organized. read more

Zero stars for organization, 5 starts for entertainment. One line to Manhattan tent was not enough, so someone created another one. Lots of yelling and arguing about which line is the correct line. I was really hoping for a physical fight to break out. Shout out to the self-made polizei (who does not belong to festival staff) that decided to take it upon himself to redirect people to his new line and make them wait for an extra hour. read more

while i'm happy to have contributed towards a charitable cause, it would have been a more fulfilling experience if the dumplings here were actually good. unfortunately they were mostly mediocre or bad. having to wait on long lines in the intense heat, having to hear the horribly annoying MC's voice, and ending up with crappy freezer dumplings... total fail. read more