Spectacular! Small enough to be WELL WORTH IT, and large enough to make it worthwhile. I never…read morewould have known about it, had it not been for Living Social. I had a free weekend, I drove up, stayed near Camarillo Outlets, then drove into Ventura for the balloon festival. There's only need to attend ONE day of the three. It's a GREAT hometown festival, whose main attraction are the balloons. Parking is good, wish I had time for the town tour, arrived early to take in the fest, and stayed late to experience all the balloons. I had the opportunity to watch them roll out the balloon, line up the strings, participate in the group effort to stand 'er up while the balloonist blew hot air within. The lighting of the balloons at night is spectacular, but probably would have been even more so if every balloon was alit during the fest. See pics.

Buying tickets online was easier this year because you could print out your entrance ticket…read moreimmediately. They also had streamlined the entrance process at the gate. Only bummer - they had the same bad t-shirt art again this year. How about taking a lesson from the Avocado Festival and having local artists compete for the t-shirt art and then maybe people would buy them? We started at the Wine Tasting Pavilion. 5 wineries this year. $2 per taste. I liked 75% of the wines this year. And towards the end of tasting time, the pours definitely were more generous. Although I did think it strange that a summer event would have all red wines, except for one white - a Chenin Blanc that was delicious. The boys headed for the beer tasting pavilion but ended up just buying full glasses of beer. I did try a Summer Shandy beer that was excellent. Dinner was from the Spencer MacKenzie fish truck again this year. I tried a less flammable sauce this year and enjoyed my fish taco more. I also enjoyed an order of their seasoned fries - thin, not overly greasy and lightly sprinkled with seasoning. The vendors were varied for craft items. I didn't purchase any impulse items, but the girl with us did purchase a few candles. The band for Friday evening played mellow County music and it fit with the casual evening. (I heard there was an unbefitting Rock band on Saturday.) The balloons are always center stage here and we weren't disappointed this year. They started inflating them just before sunset. They had more present than the previous year we had attended. We loved the alien-looking balloon called Outlander. And the Humpty Dumpty balloon was a hit. The Limoneira lemon-shaped balloon was fantastic. There were many with colorful patterns. Another evening of awe, wine, good food and friendship! I hope we can attend again next year

A visit to Ojai is worth 5 stars in itself. It's beautiful and peaceful. We just happened upon the…read moreLavender Festival that we'd planned to attend. I agree with a previous reviewer who expected to see more lavender at a lavender festival. Where were lavender eye pillows? Many of the booths had little to do with lavender. Maybe the very small craft festival needs another name. Underwhelming.

Mm mmm mmmmm...love me some Lavender. But such a darn pity…read moreshame there wasn't much of it here. Seems like most themed festivals do that nowadays. You know...bring everybody to the party but the honored guest. Hellooooooo?? Where the lavender at, people? We need to see an explosion of it. Note to the organizers: slap us in the face with lavender next time, please? There is a reason that people come to this festival, and it ain't for peanuts. Take a guess. -Shout out to the Lavender lemonade vendor. Offering those refills made you #1 in my eyes. -I'm rocking the HELL out of my bag created from recycled blue jeans, made by Blue River. The compliments won't stop. -And I was able to snag a nice bundle of lavender at $3 for the road. Great idea. Car smelled lovely. Let me coordinate this festival next year. I will show you how to make this shit magical. Think about it over coffee.

We had a grand time. The vendors share a smile and a free token gift. From the New York Bank who…read morelet my win of a lollipop be traded for two slushes to the Chiropractor Assistances who helped me get the Sheriffs when I saw an unconscious dog in a car before she gave my dad and I fabulous massages for a smile. The people were gone. I hope the dog was not in that he was not moving panting breathing This is not okay. DO NOT LEAVE YOUR DOG IN THE CAR. It was over 95. The day was a delight.

This is no longer a fiesta. It is a carnival with games and rides. Expensive food. So sad.read more

Heard about this event because one of our friends belongs to a hula troupe which was performing one…read moreof the days. We decided to drive over and surprise her, and check out the event, too. The 11th Annual version was held September 26th & 27th, 2015. We'd never heard of it during it's first decade, which is a shame. Hawaiian dancers perform in abundance, and surfers are competing nearby. The day we were there it was crazy-warm for Ventura. Felt like a quick trip to Hawaii! Free admission, and parking at the Fairgrounds across the street. Suggest you hit the ATM before arriving, as many of the food vendors don't have provisions for plastic. Many vendors offer beach-y clothes, crafts, artwork, jewelry, and more. Worth a stroll to check them all out. Also great for people watching!

I enjoyed the hula. We enjoyed the vendors and the vibe - free day too - thanks!…read more Could use some umbrellas for sun control, and some less meat heavy food options (where's the poke!? ;)) I missed a lot of it up at the beach house taco shack waiting in line for something I could eat. But again, I liked the music and the hula was terrific. My friends are from Hawaii that we went with and all told chill, good day. Mahalo.

Love love love the Santa Barbara seafood festival! We say that this is our superbowl event for the…read moreyear. We allllllways go for the lobster and uni! The LOBSTER was $45 per plate and the line is long but oh so worth the wait! The lobster is perfectly cooked and comes with melted butter and some bread. I'm drooling again just thinking about it. There are at least 3 UNI booths to buy from. I don't think you can go wrong buying from any of them with how fresh they are. We got jumbo sweet uni for $20 a piece. They are so goooood!

Fresh fish, fresh fish, fresh fish! Attentive wait staff and a view of the Pacific. Perfect…read moreanniversary dinner us. Thank you, very much.

I've been hitting up this festival for 3yrs now. I have to say its never been a disappointment…read more Held at the Ventura Fair Grounds the Sat. before Fathers Day. Booze, Rods, & Rock n Roll. Let's not forget all the cute Pinup Dolls! First time I shot up here was a last minute thing and I caught the tail end of the show with Slim Jim Phantom on stage. Last year I had to get here earlier with X headlining the show it was a must. This year Wanda Jackson took that spot. How cool is that, a performer who toured with Cash, Elvis and all the other boys. The fair grounds are spacious, restrooms all over. Grass areas and sitting areas, they let you bring in chairs and blankets. It's always a good time.

This is a must attend Event for fans of Johnny Cash. They bring in top-notch Rockabilly, Outlaw…read moreCountry, Johnny Cash tribute acts, a Johnny Cash Memorabilia Gallery, Pin-Up Girl Pageant, custom cars and bikes, VIP Lounge, beer, food, drinks, Kid's Corral, and tons of vendors with unique offerings for everyone. All this in the grass, by the sea, and in the town Johnny Cash lived in. It's a guaranteed good time. bring your lawn chairs and blankets.

This beer fest was really great. I had won tickets from Yelp, but even if I hadn't I easily would…read morehave paid the admission price. I went with a good friend and he even stated that this was perhaps even better than the LA Beer Festival. Some great things: -Over 80 vendors of beer, kombucha, cider and even wine -Large space -Minimal waiting times ( I hope this isn't jinxing it, please don't get too popular) -Food trucks serving some good eats -Bathrooms -Five hour event -Entertainment and activities -Easy parking (paid lot or street if you can find it). We received a souvenir glass which we used for sampling all the various drinks (shoutout to Booze League for the koozie) so that was neat. To hold us over, we checked out one of the food trucks, Shrimp vs. Chef. We enjoyed their baja shrimp tacos and baja fish tacos, which had a great crunch and light coating. They were fresh tasting and they hit the spot. Unfortunately, we had to leave early so we didn't even try a 1/4 of all the vendors, but I can tell you they came from near and far. A couple vendors that we tried and liked: Boochcraft, Pocock Brewing, Red Tandem Brewery, Twisted Oak Tavern, Barrelhouse 101, and Fourteen Cannons. Looking forward to the next one!

Note: This review is for the May 2019 event. I have no idea where my original review went so here…read moregoes again!! Great location and a well organized event. We rode our bicycles and there was bicycle parking available. Getting in was easy. The line moved quite fast. You received a small beer glass upon entry. And oh my, the beers were flowing and so many. Everyone was very nice serving the beers. And I, being a big Kombucha fan, was thrilled to partake in a few sample of this yummy liquid. They were 'hard' kombucha so you do need to pace yourself. One brand was FLYING EMBERS and the name came out of the embers of The Thomas Fire. With myself and husband being Thomas Fire victims, I mean SUR-THRIVE-ORS, it was nice to learn that a percentage of their profits goes to first responders. Stage was easy to sit around or dance if you wanted. Music was very good. Food trucks were there. We enjoyed East Indian food. Prices were fair for this type of event. Fun event, great location by the beach and plentiful beers. What more can you ask for to spend a day in beautiful Ventura!!

I eat tacos over a tortilla so when the stuff falls out BOOM another taco!…read more I am not big on tequila but I am big on tacos. My friends are all drunks so they're always big on tequila. Balance, isn't that what friendships are all about? I saw the Tequila and Taco Music Festival on Groupon and thought how could that be a bad time. Truth be told, I'm glad we didn't pay too much to get in because it's was mainly about a lot of drinking and vendors trying to sell me things I didn't need. You could get bored quickly if you're not drunk. I did have a run-in with an ex-boyfriend and nearly died. So the festival was more exciting than I expected. He also gave me a lot of drink tickets that I gave my friends, so that's probably why I found the festival to be more enjoyable. Watching drunk people is always a good time. Until they get too drunk, that's when you send them to someone else so they can take care of them. More importantly, this place as you might have guessed had tacos! I got some fries with my tacos so I was set. My only disappointment was they were sold out of churros. Of course, if you're looking for super clean bathrooms stop looking. They only had port-a potties here. I really like a regular bathroom but I guess this is to be expected at a festival. At least they weren't too bad. Overall I had a great time...I saw an ex, I ate tacos and fries, I had entertainment from my drunk friends (there was live entertainment too) and I laughed a lot. That's all I can ask for. Keep calm and eat tacos!

If it was just a music festival, I would totally rate it a 5/5. Unfortunately it also is a taco and…read moretequila festival. It took 45 min or more for food vendors and the drink lines were 40-50 deep at any time so if you wanted a quick drink before performances, you were out of luck.

My first time attending this festival located in Carpinteria, CA. This festival is popular so…read moreparking can be a challenge. There's public parking lots and even bus shuttles that run to and from the high school for $5 a person roundtrip costs. The size of the festival is large and runs for 3 days. I arrived on a Saturday mid-day and it was crowded. Expect to see many food vendors, lots of merchandise for sale, kids rides and several stages for live music entertainment. Admission was free and I was even able to secure free parking which was a challenge. I was fortunate to be invited to attend several matches of Lucha Libre wrestling at the veterans hall which was really entertaining and took me back to my teenage days of watching wrestling on tv and reenacting it on my brother. Overall, I had a fantastic day outing at the avocado festival and would definitely return here again.

Typically this is my favorite festival to attend. This year it was so crowded. It was jammed wall…read moreto wall. Not much seating. Rude people. I'll pass for the next one.

I wasn't able to make it to this festival last year so was looking forward to this one. This is a…read moregreat way for artists to showcase their work! The art is along the harbor pathway, so can get a little crowded since there is less room to walk. Tip: If you prefer seeing the completed artwork it is better to go toward the end of the Saturday or on the Sunday instead. We went on Sunday and majority of the artwork were completed, with some artists putting final touches to their creations. All the artwork were amazing, beautiful and brightly colored. One artwork even seemed to have a 3D effect. There is also a separate section for vendors to sell their arts and crafts. This was a great way to spend the day at the harbor, enjoying the art and view, as well as trying some of the many food options on the waterfront.

Free parking, free admission, plus awesome art, shops, and restaurants?! Count me in. The…read moretemperature was perfect near the water, although if you're sensitive to temperature you could always duck into one of the nearby shops to browse a little and cool down. You can see the artists create awesome sidewalk art with chalk. They're incredibly detailed and beautiful, and the process of creating them is mesmerizing. If you're already in the area, check this out! This year, it was September 14 - September 15, 2024 and I'm assuming the timing of next year's will be similar.