The city of Aurora did an excellent job pulling off their first ever Harry Potter Festival!…read more Tickets: This was a ticketed event ($3 cash per ticket - max 5 per person) and required in-person purchase several months prior to the actual event. Even though I arrived a few hours after the ticket purchase start time, I only stood in line for about an hour to get mine. A lot of people had complaints, but it honestly wasn't bad, especially given all of the publicity! The festival itself: They planned it out very well and had multiple events and activities, most kid-focused and friendly, but good for older fans too. Activities included a quidditch workshop, spell book creation, Ollivander's wands (x2), a potions lab, mocktail creations, Herbology, how to plant a Whomping Willow, Care of Magical Creatures, a self-guided Horcrux Hunt, Quiddich playing a, costume parade, a ride on the Hogwarts Express. Finally, there were multiple vendors in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade! Many of the activities required online preregistration, though many crafting events were free and just required you to stand in the queue. It was spaced out enough that the crowds were manageable and the lines weren't too long. Goods vendors in Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade included bath bombs (including a House Reveal version - cool!), jewelry, bags, paintings, plants, wall decor, and much more! Everything was really cute and went along with the Harry Potter/Hogwarts theme. There were a few food and butter beer vendors, including 4-packs of bottled butter beer. A lot of the local businesses also got into the spirit of the festival and decorated their storefronts. I spied Wayne and Garth (20th anniversary of Wayne's World!) sporting Hogwars hats - cute! The local Paramount theatre offered four Harry Potter movie showings for $1 apiece, had Harry Potter-themed drinks and candy, and had an awesome 9 3/4 platform in their lobby! Security (and Aurora PD) was posted throughout the event and were friendly and helpful. Port-o-Johns were plentiful and stocked with hand sanitizer. By 2pm, garbage cans were overflowing.. so that's something they can keep an eye on next time. Great job on a really well thought out and organized event, Aurora!

Aurora's inaugural 2017 Harry Potter festival was a hit…read more There was plenty to do and see, and the overall vibe from all of the attendees was overwhelmingly positive, especially considering nothing like this has been held in Aurora before. The Quidditch pitch hosted tons of kids playing Quidditch which was tons of fun to watch. Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade showcased tons of local, themed vendors that had lots of cool trinkets and souvenirs to buy. There were tons of fun classes to sign up for and take part in, like Herbology, Potions, and Magical Mocktails. It was also great to see a lot of the local businesses, closed or not, decorate their windows or host themed events related to the event, which definitely added to the overall spirit of the day. Best of all, eagle-eyed visitors spotted a number of subtle decorations that showed that there were true Harry Potter fans behind this event, including a "2nd Triwizard Task Vieweing Area" (overlooking the Fox River), Tom Riddle's grave, and all 7 horcruxes to hunt and find, each with a clever clue that led to the next. I can't wait until next year's event. I'm sure it's going to be even better!

Good Family fun but needs more rides. Main Stage and beer garden is for adults only this year. Wild…read morewest bbq yum, funnel cake, cheese fries. Lots of vendors. Try out some of the local owned shops, they're great! Nice small local event. Bands are cool.

VOUCHER VEXATION The…read moreTaste of Bolingbrook is a great way to enjoy local businesses, but they need to revisit their ticketing scheme for 2026. This annual event is free to the public and takes place at the Bolingbrook Promenade towards the end of May. There's a decent variety of vendors although some are repeats (places serving the same thing) and some are ripoffs. I didn't see any public bathrooms, so we just used Macy's. The food & drink tickets themselves were a GIGANTIC 4" x 8". Who designed these, held the stack of proofs and honestly thought it was a reasonable size?? Bear in mind, a typical "keep this stub" raffle ticket measures 1" x 2", so what they gave people were SIXTEEN TIMES bigger than necessary. There were a handful of non-food vendors, like Ivy Hall (spin the wheel for bonus loyalty points), a 3D printing shop, Bolingbrook Garden Club, and several home remodeling companies. We really appreciated the sensory oasis, which gave our little guy an opportunity to color and relax for a bit. The lumpia (tiny crispy egg rolls, 4 for $4) from Riceby were tasty, as were the onigiri (we got pork belly adobo and beef bulgogi for $7/ea). I settled for mediocre sliders from Star Cinema Grill (2 for $9), no way I was waiting half an hour for Uncle Booker's BBQ or street tacos. A lot of people were confused that vendors were ticket only; naturally, lines to buy tickets stretched two dozen deep. My wife waited 20 minutes for a lobster roll from the Maine Lobster food truck, and it wasn't all that delicious, nor did it come with chips or a side (plus it was $25 fu%!#g dollars!) Beer was disappointing. A Miller Lite was $7 and we assumed we'd be getting 16oz tallboys......nope, 12oz cans. I rarely drink just one beer but at that size and price (coupled with the fact I didn't want to burn up precious tickets) it was a one-and-done brewski for me. * TL;DR * This was an otherwise nice event hampered by long lines, questionable prices and oddly oversized tickets. Don't get me wrong, this is a solid way to kill a few hours on a Saturday in early summer, I just wish food & drink were a little more affordable and the vouchers a little more ergonomic. I also disliked that food and alcohol shared the same tickets, so at some point it came down to "do I spend my last 7 tickets on a shitty beer or an undercooked slider?" Long waits at nearly every vendor discouraged me from trying things I wanted to sample. The tickets were FAR too large to fit into pockets, so unless you brought a backpack you were awkwardly holding onto them the entire time. The live music was nice, though. Unless things change for the better, we might pass on next year's Taste of Bolingbrook.

Decent little festival held at the Bolingbrook promenade. Kinda annoying that you have to get…read moretickets. Cash is king as card charges a convenience fee. (And I heard from a friend that attended later in the day it changed to cash only). I sampled some sliders from Ted's and ice cream nachos from the creamery. The vendors and food are spread out. Bathrooms in decent shape for a crowded event!

I have gone to canal days for the last 20 years I live in Chicago ridge. But when I went through a…read morefew years ago they changed the location to location that was nothing but gravel rocks. I am 68 years old and walk with a cane I cannot walk on rocks I like to better when I was in the middle of the town that you walked on the streets so I no longer go to canal days and I thought you guys had the best festival around the best craps and arts for I've everbeen to. It's hard enough for me to drive seeing I have a bad knee and walk with a cane if you ever brought it back to the little town so I can walk on the streets and sidewalks I would come back to you. Mary Ellen do you have anything to respond to me text me at 7:08 289-2033 thank you​​​

There's not a whole lot to review, quite honestly. This is probably going to be short and sweet. We…read morearrived around 5 p.m. on Saturday and nearly every booth was closed. 3 of the food vendors were still operating, but we missed one of the trucks we'd been hoping to see because they ran out of food. That apparently was a common occurrence. Most people were gathered around the band tent, but even that wasn't as packed as you'd expect. Maybe it's me, but most festivals I go to are pretty hoppin' in the evenings on Saturdays. This one felt like one of those malls that are on their last legs with a couple of shops (tents) barely hanging on. I didn't come here to really festival it up, so that's good. I really just wanted to hit one of the food trucks that was thankfully still operating when we arrived. Maybe the length of time the festival tried to operate was just too long. 13 hours is a LOOOONG day. Also, there were no signs to designate parking, at least coming from the south. There was a detour setup, and everyone was parking on residential streets, causing traffic chaos when you could only go one direction down a normally bi-directional street. But on the upside, they had a very nicely-designed map and website. So there's that.

I had a fun experience here! I think this is definitely a pumpkin patch that kids and young adults…read morecan both enjoy. This is a pretty big pumpkin patch, so there's plenty to explore and do. I went on a Saturday with my family which included two toddlers. It did get pretty packed, so getting there earlier the better, or just coming on a weekday if you don't want to deal with long lines or overcrowding. The Apple Cider and Apple Cider Donuts were delicious! I honestly wanted to come back here just to buy some more. They have plenty of other drink and snack options, too. The staff was pretty nice too. There's many things to do like a swing ride, petting zoo, and hayride -- all very fun. I will say, $40 per person is pretty steep for a pumpkin patch. While I had a good time, I kinda had to force myself to do everything to feel like it was worth that much money. Overall, I'd go back, though.

If you want an amusement park for the kids and you don't really want the farm experience, this is…read moreyour spot. Plenty to do here for the kids (and adults). Not cheap but if you're planning to head out here - it's definitely possible to stay for hours. Photo ops can be had almost anywhere - if you can get the kids to stop long enough to pose. Plenty of rides if you're a kid (or just a kid at heart) and definitely don't miss the pumpkin patch if you are truly looking for pumpkins.

So disappointed in this place. They're Farmers Market on Thursdays used to be great because they…read morewould have a live band which would attract hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of people and then people would come to the farmer's market and buy food and handcrafted items and things like that. They have decided to stop the music and the people stopped coming and now there's very few vendors. Bad decision you guys. And what makes it even worse is they are still advertising live music. You see people walking around with lawn chairs asking where the band is playing. Horrible.

A few good vendors as far as the fresh produce goes. However, we would consider this more to be a…read morefestival than a farmers' market, or a merger of both. On the plus side: local farmers, local businesses, live band, kids' activities, on the premises of The Promenade Bolingbrook mall - so plenty of parking plus if you need to shop at the mall you can do both. Lots of people, which is great! On the not negative side: in our eyes, a farmers' market should promote local, family-owned, small businesses, not huge corporate chains. We were disappointed to see there were a lot of chain restaurants in their own booths, promoting/serving their food. Yes, there should be hot food served at the farmers' market, but it should come from local restaurants. We probably won't come back. We decided to stop in and check it out mostly because we saw the signs coming out of IKEA. Overall, not a bad experience, but not fabulous either.

What a wonderful way to spend the day! This local festival has been running for more than a decade…read moreand it is such a gem! Fantastic food, desserts, coffees, smoothies, juices... Tons of family activities including petting zoo, inflatables, tons of jewelry and one of a kind souvenirs from Egypt. Great music, atmosphere and wonderful people make me come back every year!

The Taste of Egypt is my favorite little festival. Friendly people, savory foods, baklava,…read moretheology, camel rides, Middle Eastern music playing in the background. What's not to like? This year I enjoyed a delicious plate of marinated, grilled chicken with pita, tzatziki, rice, salad and a mango nectar soda. I could have eaten chicken and tzatziki all day! Also available were kufta, falafel, hummus & pita, stuffed grape leaves, and macaroni bechamel. For dessert I had two of the I-don't-know-how-many variations of baklava. Homemade baklava. So delicious! We then took a tour of the church from a well-prepared and engaging guide. Though we had taken the tour once before, I learned additional facts and traditions this time. If you are interested in architecture, iconography, or comparative religions you must not miss the church tour. Be sure to grab a copy of the pamphlet 'Egypt and The Copts' in the narthex (just inside the doors) of the church. We also attended a lecture by a knowledgeable presenter on the history of Christianity in Egypt. A few of us lingered afterward to discuss (Christian) church history and theology. Students and fans of comparative religions or theology will really enjoy this lecture. It's a great refresher on the history of Christianity in general. In addition, there are books for sale in the bazaar (Nefertiti's Treasures) about Egypt and about the Coptic faith. Now if tours and lectures aren't your thing, you can skip all that and take a camel ride. Yes, a camel ride! How often can you do this in the Western Suburbs? It's quite fun! You can ride alone or with others. This is not just for the kids. Both children and adults enjoy the camel rides. This year my husband and I rode the camel together. If you'd like, you can have your photo taken while on the camel. 4x6 or 8x10. It's a great souvenir of the day. I think the Taste of Egypt is a great fest for anyone. It's very family friendly -- not only can the kids ride a camel, but there's a petting zoo, a moon jump (bouncy house kind of thing) and some creative activities -- but adults without kids (like us) have a great time too. Hope to see you there next year!

Went to this event for years, but never again if they continue the new format with payment to get…read morein ($10 a head). Obviously trying to make up for revenue that will be lost now that Ribfest is going to Romeoville.

This event is a disaster! Organizers would not let you into mainstage area until 5 pm when Seventh…read moreHeaven was going to begin to play despite the website saying gates open at 4:45! All the security is clueless! Management really dropped the ball on communication. Very disappointing after paying $10 per person online for tickets. Get a brain Last Fling!

Midwest Brewer's Fest in Plainfield is at the Plainfield Riverfront Park with a ton of craft beers…read morein 2 oz servings. Parking is a good distance walk on a rocky, uneven path from the fest and costs $10! Good thing we had our emergency valet money in the car because we weren't prepared for that cost as the website listed free parking. My friend wasn't all that happy with paying for parking but I reminded him that the money all goes to a good cause. :D Plus!!! We got our tickets for free (Thanks, Candice!!!) - and they're normally $40 when you prepay. It was hot as balls on the day of the fest. Being hot as balls, it would have been nice to have more tents & seating set up for people to relax. Also, they had water kegs on the lawn, but were empty when I tried to get some water. Other than the parking, water and bathroom situation, I thought the event was well put together and ran quite smoothly. Because there were so many breweries, lines were relatively short. My favorite beer was the Watermelon from Horny Goat. I've passed Horny Goat in Milwaukee many times so was pleased I got to try one of their brews. They were out of their other two offerings by 3pm (two hours in) which suited me fine as I wanted the Watermelon...but others were leaving the line a bit crabby. Because of the extreme heat, we didn't stay the full fest and I couldn't drink as much beer as I would have liked. I had 17 tickets left at the end of the fest (started out with 25) and felt a bit sad I couldn't use them. On the long walk back to the car, my flip flop broke! Eek! So I had to gimp back to the car, dying to go pee because I refused to go in the porta potties onsite. All in all, it was a decent festival but could tweak some areas to make it amazing festival. I'll probably skip the fest next year unless the weather is nice and cool and the breweries promise to offer some more unique choices.

The Midwest Brewer's Fest seemed very well planned. For a $40 General Admission ticket ($50 at the…read moregate) attendees received a beautifuly printed, perfect bound brochure containing detailed Fest info which included a foldout pocket map of the festival grounds/beer tents and a description of each participating brewery with room for taking notes; a plastic beer 'glass', and 25 tickets for 2 oz. beer pours. If you're doing the math, that's just over 3 pints of beer. Of course it's difficult to do just a 2 oz. pour from a tap, so I estimate if you used all your tickets you probably had 4 pints of beer. I'm a lightweight and so is my husband, so we were more interested in tasting a variety of brews than in quantity of beer received, so the small pours were great for us. We got to taste a lot of beers, though we didn't get to them all. Our palate and backs tired out well before we began to feel the beer. There were four beer tents (A-D) with 14 brewers each. That's 56 brewers! Each brewery brought at least two beers. There were kegs of cold, filtered water all along both sides of each tent so attendees could wash their beer glasses, cleanse their palates, and stay hydrated. There was also a VIP tent, but not having VIP tickets I can't tell you what went on there. The lines for beer were generally short. Even the long lines were not a long wait. It was smart of the organizers not to oversell tickets. There was a designated smoking area occupied mostly by cigar smokers. It was not a smokers ghetto, but rather set up under a tree with some cushy outdoor couches and chairs. Cigars were sold on site. Now I have been known to appreciate a cigar with a stout or porter, but I do wish the designated smoking area had been at one end of the grounds or the other. Having it alongside the beer tents meant I often had cigar smoke with my ale whether I wanted it or not. There were also individuals who felt the designated smoking area did not apply to them and who hit me in the face with a blast of smoke while I was waiting in line for a beer. Not appreciated. Food was exceptional for a fest of this kind. Way better than hot dogs spinning on a roller. Heaven on Seven was there, Ruth's Chris Steakhouse, Windy City Paella, Aurelio's Pizza. I had paella and it was delicious. There was plenty of shade and seating in the food tent too. I heard some folks paid $10 dollars for parking. We parked free near the Village Hall and walked no further than everyone else. My biggest disappointment had nothing to do with the Fest itself, but with the brewers' offerings. There was an overabundance of pale ales, IPAs, and wheat beers. There were quite a few pumpkin ales too. My husband and I had really hoped some of the brewers would bring out their less pedestrian brews. There was not one sour to be had. There were a few Belgian abbey styles. At least one porter and one stout. We thought surely with so many brewers and beers that we would be able to extend our experience of what we know as beer, but there was not the variety of styles that we had expected. We were pleased to find mead and several brewers of ciders and perrys. The purpose of the fest (beyond celebrating craft beer) was to raise funds to restore the Plainfield Riverfront (the venue for the Fest) and support Pints for Prostates. I confess I won the tickets as a (very new) Yelp Elite. Had we spent $80 to find less variety than we expected, we might have been very disappointed because $80 buys dinner and a couple choice selections of beer at a good beer bar. I would still be impressed by the organization and experience of the Fest itself. Perhaps the organizers can persuade the brewers to take more chances with their offerings next year.

Fantastic place been here forever great mums and pumpkins love Jennifer she keeps it all rollingread more

They have everything you need and want! Operating farm, seasonal festivities, produce store with…read moremeats and sauces in the back!!