This is the first chance we had to attend the Concerts on the Square since relocating to Madison…read morethree years ago - blame Covid. We had gone to one of these concerts at least 15-20 years ago when visiting family. It was a perfect summer evening for such a gathering. If you are here as a serious fan of the symphony this may not be the best place to listen to a concert but if your goal is to have a picnic it a great setting then do go. Yes you could hear the music and see it if you were not close (many were pretty far away but there were three large video screens). That did not seem to matter given the music was just an excuse to picnic on the Capitol lawn. Between the eating, drinking, kids screaming and laughing, the chatting there was a concert going on. You do need to arrive early to stake out a good spot and there are rules on the height of chairs if you are on the lawn. Parking can also be an issue but it is all worth it when the weather cooperates. A true must-do in Madison.

What a PERFECT evening! Yesterday was the first Concerts on the square of the summer and it did not…read moredisappoint! Parking was $8 in a nearby garage and worth every penny. Food vendors galore are present to satisfy all of your needs, or you are welcome to pack a picnic and wine! We brought a blanket and were able to find a spot for two despite the large crowd. My work sponsored an event that allowed us two free pizzas from Pizza Brutta, but we did see that they also had a stand nearby. If sitting on the lawn is not your jam, there are several restaurants near by with outdoor patios that would still allow for good food and music from the orchestra. Tip: the concert closest to the Fourth of July is my favorite, and they include a salute to the armed forces and end with the 1812 overture!

This past weekend I attended the Great Taste of the Midwest for the first time, and also…read moreparticipated in the Funk Factory Geuzeria Pre-Party. After having a blast at both events, I can say I won't be missing any future ones! Perfect weather in a large space of Olin Park in Madison, WI with nearly 200 breweries pouring almost 1400 beers. Many breweries have their brewers there pouring flagships and some of the rarest beers you can try.  Funk Factory Geuzeria Pre-Party | The biggest of the Great Taste Eve events is the FFG & Friends Pre-Party where Funk Factory and some of the greatest names in Mead and Beer pour beers you wouldn't be able to have on a normal basis. Some highlights for me: Won't You be my Neighbor by 1840 Brewing A Flanders Red packed with tart cherry flavors, oak tannins, and a malt reminiscent of fresh baked sourdough bread. IOWA8 by Funk Factory Single barrel Lambic spontaneously fermented for 2.5 years. Super complex tart, barnyard, and fruity notes. Sepulchral by Eighth State Brewing A Baklava inspired Imperial Stout with Ji-Roz Baklava, Toasted Walnuts, Roasted Pistachios, Brazilian Vanilla, and Cook's Island Vanilla. Tasted like liquid Baklava, but not syrupy or thick (appreciated). Great Taste of the Midwest | I tried MANY beers and it would be impossible to list them all (thanks Instagram word limit), but I will call out some of the highlights for me: Toppling Goliath Stouts (Assassin and Mornin Delight)  Two bucket list stouts. Mornin Delight tasted like a beautifully balanced mocha and Assassin had tons of bourbon / fudgy chocolate flavors. Revolution Straight Jacket (2018) One of the smoothest and most complex Barleywines I've ever had. Notes of stone fruit, toasted coconut, molasses, and vanilla. McFleshman's Brewing 10 Paces Kriek A Lambic aged in French Oak Cabernet barrels for 1-3 years referemented on a blend of tart and sweet cherries for 6 more months.  The Explorium Brewpub's Blueberry Cheesecake A Berliner Weisse with lactose, vanilla, toasted almonds, and late season Michigan blueberries that tastes exactly as you would hope - blueberry cheesecake. Alarmist Turbulent Dynamics Everything you could ever want in a Hopped Lager.

2018 was my first year attending the Great Taste of the Midwest, and I have to say it was quite an…read moreexperience that no craft beer lover should miss. For those that are not familiar, Great Taste of the Midwest is the second longest-running craft beer festival in North America. GTMW brings together over 190 brewers in a scenic location overlooking Lake Monona while providing some great views of downtown Madison and the state capital. Ticket sales can be challenging, as they are typically released the Sunday after Cinco De Mayo at select locations in Madison, however if you do not happen to live in or near Madison you can enter their mail order lottery for tickets. Should you be lucky enough to secure tickets you will encounter a massive selection of craft beer, great food, and fun entertainment. One of the best things about GTMW is that despite the size the festival never felt like it was too busy, lines were tolerable and I never seemed to wait more than 5 minutes max for a refill, although most brewers you could easily walk right up to without a wait. Most of the 190+ vendors are setup and spread out across 6 massive tents, with each holding anywhere from 20-40 brewers. In addition there are several larger brewers with their own smaller tents scattered around the festival too. My favorite tent/vendor had to be the 0.005K Endurance Run tend from New Holland Brewing Company, finally a race I can enjoy, lol. The food selection was good, however the highlight for me was the bacon on a stick, which was thick cut back served on a stick. Seriously it does not get much better than that. Food prices were very reasonable too. The entertainment was scattered around the 6+ tents, and seemed to lean more towards folk music which seemed to pair up nicely with the festival. Overall I enjoyed my time, and look forward to attending another Great Taste of the Midwest in the future.

Was fun but many things are expensive, some of the prize games say $10 but I got charged like $42…read morefor two players. If you play with multiple people only one will win so it is a money grab. Workers are very nice and welcoming. I think the youth policy should be changed to 8pm, 7pm seems too early. We spent a lot of money and couldn't get back in, sucks but probably wouldn't buy an all day pass again unless we went in the morning.

This is a great event for families and youngsters. So many educational exhibits and crafts and…read moreprojects the kids in 4-H put together. The food choices were great with everything from burgers to pitas, Thai food and BBQ. Being our first county fair we were afraid of the animal smells etc but the facilities were kept clean and relatively lacking strong odors. They had nice entertainment options like the BMX Pros Trick Team and some acrobats. All in all good clean fun! We arrived before 3 pm and admission was only $3. Plan on it for next year!

tl;dr YOU LIKE BEER?! YOU LIKE CHEESE!? YOU FROM WISCONSIN!? You'll probably want to attend…read more A Madison friend couple of mine host all of us wild and rambunctious MKE folk at their place (god bless them and their trust in us) every year for this event. It has more than 100 different breweries present and a handful of delicious local cheese artisans. The $50 price tag for general admission is well worth it when you get a 2 pm to 6 pm free range with unlimited sampling and the signature tiny tasting class. If we're being honest, it is way less cheese and way more beer. I would say I got around 4 samples of cheese vs so-much-beer-you-definitely-need-an-uber amount of beer tastings. But, it's totally worth the ability to try a brewery you'd never normally happen across and to try samples of a beer (stout, lager, sour, IPA, etc.) that you might not normally have the willingness to pay for a full glass of. The environment of the convention center is also a delight - you get to see: 1) Extravagant pretzel/snack necklaces (if you don't know about this, have you ever even really been to a beer event before?) 2) People wearing balloons with really long strings on them so their friends can spot them from across the event space 3) People screaming "OHHHHHHH" when you hear someone break their sample glass in a nearby radius 4) Live music and drunk people dancing, playing lawn games, etc. It's really great time, I've been going for years and will keep going. Eat (a little), drink and be merry.

My boyfriend and I along with some friends have attended the Isthmus Beer and Cheese Fest for the…read morelast 3 years and each year has been a BLAST! We always stay at a hotel close by the Alliant Center in Madison, Wisconsin (where the Isthmus Beer and Cheese Fest is held) and we have so much fun eating great cheese and drinking great craft beer from all over. This is an event every beer and cheese lover should attend! It has the perfect of both worlds all in one event!

We had not been to this festival since we moved here a few years ago right before covid. This year…read morewe made a point to attend on the Friday evening to see a comedy troupe. It was quite good. Fortunately it was in a tent since it did rain. The food choices were pretty decent and the prices were typical for these type of festivals. There were a number of musical acts we would have liked to see but the next two days were blazing hot and sunny and this park has virtually no shade. The bigger stages were in the sun so even though we stopped on our bikes we did not stay. I know this park is in the neighborhood and thus why they hold the event here but they should really work on planting some trees for not only a more attractive park but to help make a setting more conducive to a summer festival.

I'm very excited to provide this review while you still have two days to enjoy the fun…read more This has always been a fun, FREE fest but the previous venue was a series of dirty vacant lots. This year, the venue is the lovely new Central Park on the near east side. What a difference! There is grass, real restrooms and great food and drink! There's a nice selection of beer (including Capital Brewery) and a surprisingly good red for $6/glass. I've become such a wine snob I was really excited to taste this decent, affordable wine. I also appreciate that beer and wine can be enjoyed throughout the grounds and not limited to a fenced garden. Food options are plentiful, including the usual suspects: Lao Laan-Xiang and Jamerica. There's also a fried catfish place and Dobhan kitchen. I'd love to see more French, French colony or Creole food options. Those are hard to find in Madison, but even a crepe stand would be cool. I do love that Gail Ambrosius is there with her French truffles, chocolate dipped frozen bananas and assorted sorbets. If she hasn't run out of Mexican chocolate sorbet, buy it immediately! Also, I had Curd Girl fried cheese curds with their homemade ranch dressing. Good lawd! Outrageously good! The music is the real reason to attend the fest. They bring in some great French, Creole and African bands for the main stage, which we enjoyed. Check the schedule or just show up. You can't go wrong. If you like to sit, there are a few chairs around, but it's best to bring your own lawn chairs. I also really liked the night club vibe provided by DJs in la Bistro tent. It was packed and FUN! What a great way to bring some diversity to the music scene. Bottom line: Great music Excellent new venue Great drinks Great food (even though not enough French inspiration) Limited parking, so bus or bike is best BYO chairs See you there!

We had such a fun time here. I would suggest everyone go to Jefferson Speedway. You will definitely…read morenot be disappointed. It was a great time with lots of local folks, cheap beer and crashing cars. They only take cash though.

I've been going out to Jefferson for nearly 30 years always a lot of great racing and fun things…read morefor the kids and plenty of eats

So this review is not for the dining experience at the Elks though many years ago my in-laws…read morebelonged here and we came for dinner. I believe it was for their relatively inexpensive burgers. The most recent visit, a few weeks ago, was to see a band play out on their lawn. It was a beautiful evening so it was a great setting. We did get a few drinks at both their upstairs bar and the one set up downstairs for this event. The drinks were good but not as cheap as I recall from years ago. Hard to believe they ran out of tonic, the crowd really wasn't that big! They did have brats and burgers. I got a brat and it was pretty good. That was it for food. Best feature of this place is the location.

The place is great! Beautiful views, nice big Lodge, great bar, good food. The only stumble is…read moreservice, but you have to remember it's a Lodge and half of the people working are volunteers . So just be patient, have another ice tea ( or bourbon) and enjoy good food in a great atmosphere.

My visit today resulted from a invitation from a neighbor. I hadn't even realized that this space…read moreexisted. My neighbor was a performer in today's live performance titled "The Pandemic Poem in Performance." The physical space was beautiful. Clean. Modern. Bright. We even toured an interesting art exhibit since we arrived early for the performance. The live performance was great. The environment added to our enjoyment -- comfy chairs, perfect room temperature, and great acoustics. I also liked the easy parking access. We went from the parking garage into the building without having to brave today's chill. There was a parking payment kiosk indoors too. I'll be signing up for their email news letter to keep updated on other events at the Lab.