Pig Out in the Park is always a good gig, and this year's event was packed, with a decent line-up…read moreof traditional and ecclectic vendors. Weather was perfect. Prices were all over the map, but there were affordable treasures, along with some old favorites. I never expect michelin star quality food here, but honestly, who would? It's fair food and fun once a year. That said, here is our report card for vendor's visited in 2018 (in reverse order): 12. Island Noodles (Veg Yakisoba). Terrible, salty yuk-fest. Your 6th grader could make a better stir fry at home with spaghetti and a bag of frozen vegetables. Portion for the price was ridiculous. 11. Porteous BBQ (Pulled Pork & Ribs). Take a can of spray paint, and cover the letters, 'BBQ' on your trailer. Roasted meat and a squeeze of sauce is not barbecue. Embarrassing. 10. Bacon Wrapped Hot Dogs (Corn Dog). Overdone. Crust literally fell off while you were eating it. In their defense, it's hard to get the bacon cooked right and still have an edible crust. 9. MacDaddies (Bacon Mac). Mac & cheese that had been sitting around for quite a while, with--I think--some bacon in it. Might have been the most surprisingly disappointing item we ordered. 8. Taste of India (Several Items). Dumbed down for a senior's palate. Naan was made off-property and reheated. Somosas were mashed potato hell. Veg Pakoras were heavy on chickpea flour--very light on veg. 7. Greek Flame (Lamb Gyro). Traditional presentation, but the 'lamb' was definitely a mystery meat. It looked more like the Vietnamese sausage you see in Pho'. 6. Piggly's BBQ (Brisket Sandwiches). Nice try. But rotisserie pit beef (bottom round) is not brisket, and shouldn't be advertised as such. Decent flavor, but still misrepresentation considering the price. 5. Philly Bro's (Philly). Nice portion. A little overcooked, but at least it was shaved ribeye. It was fairly priced, and wound up being the biggest sammie we ordered this weekend. 4. Bleohm Chocolate (Monkey Tail). Well crafted dessert. For something dipped and decorated in an expedient manner, it was very eye appealing and tasty. 3. Azar's (Beef/Lamb Gyro). Always the first thing we get, because....it's always the first thing we get. Perhaps not as big as we've had in recent years, but no less delicious. They are pros. 2. Oyster Bay (Oysters on a Stick/Lobster Roll). These guys can come back every year. Lobster Roll was a surprise for the affordable price, and the oysters were fresh. Bonus that fries came with both. 1. Doner Haus (Steak Doner). So good. Obviously hand made bread, fresh veg fixin's, generous meat component, and a nice squeeze of sriracha. Thank you sir, may I have another. Congratulations to the event planners, and all the hard working vendors. We'll do it all again in 2019. I'm sure we will have lost all the weight we put on this weekend by then...

Given this was the first year back in two years I didn't expect a whole lot. There were hardly any…read morevendors and most were the same stuff you find all the time and same stuff you see at the fair. Most vendors weren't even food just arts and crafts. Ended up paying $20 for three tacos with dry meat and a flavorless salsa bar. Maybe next year.

Sooooo here's my opinion. This event was nothing but awesome when it was at the convention center…read more3? Years ago. I have not returned until this evening. The bands are great and very entertaining. Most importantly, the beer is gut (good)! However, the food (except for your typical brat) isn't what it used to be and quality has gone down. The atmosphere though seemed pretty off. I do want to put emphasis in the fact that this is not due to any of the bands. The bands, especially the Alpine Band California, were amazing and very engaging with the crowd. I just feel like everything else was very lackluster. Maybe it was because it was snowing and pouring rain that people were scrambling trying not to get wet outside but something just felt off. My overall opinion, great for beer and dance. I wouldnt recommend it for food though.

My first time at Oktoberfest! Had a wonderful time. Music and games are going on inside and outside…read morein large tents. Family friendly event with many families enjoying themselves. Everywhere I turned there were people dressed in lederhosen. Various German foods to try and of course German beer!

My hubby and I just got back from this event, and it was so much fun! Completely worth the stomach…read moreache and brain fog I'm going to have due to all of the gluten and carbs I ate! Some of our favorite food trucks were: Brain Freeze Creamery--their Raspachio and Grey Tea ice cream are amazing!! The creaminess and flavors are spot on! The Scoop--Raspberry Rhubarb is a sweet and tart explosion, and the Coffee Toffee is super creamy and not overly sweet. Roast House--I mean, really. Enough said. Auggie's Drivin' Diner--perfection on a bun. And we also bought garlic seasoned fries--pretty tasty! Christ Kitchen--their lentils with chipolte cream was so flavorful! Great curry and cilantro yumminess! Mac Daddy--So, so creamy with a hint of smoky goodness from the bacon! Meltz--Fantastic grilled cheese! Everything they should be; buttery bread, gooey cheese-yum! The Shameless Sausage--a flavor explosion. Wow. I may have found my new guilty pleasure. Our not so favorites: Kona Ice--ummm, tasted like someone melted down a crayon and poured it over ice. Very waxy and artificial tasting. Tacos Tijuna--the meat, while it had good flavor, was dry and tough. Jamaican Jerk Pan--really good flavor, but the rice was very mushy and overdone, and that kind of overshadowed the whole dish. Gotta mention 3 Ninjas: Well done! They served Orange Chicken, and it was dynamite! It's not fried, for once, which was a nice surprise! Personally, I like more ginger, but my hubby loved it, and he's an Orange Chicken connoisseur! Roman Pizza Chariot: very tasty pizza! Love that it's brick oven! NY style it is not, but that's ok! Great nonetheless!

I'm sure it was a lovely time. I don't know, I had no inclination to go. Unfortunately, the blaring…read morelive music was rattling my windows blocks away, down in Peaceful Valley. Nothing says, "weekend relaxing after a week of unpaid overtime" like brass horns and vocalists who go flat more often than they're on pitch. Thanks for that.

A free annual arts festival featuring music, food trucks, drinks, and scores of local artist…read morebooths. Apparently, the Northwest Museum of Arts and Cultire organizes it and 2018 was their 33rd year! It was held in Coeur d'Alene Park in 2018 but I'm not sure if it lives there exclusively. It ran Friday to Sunday with special events and performances throughout. Artist selection was average to strong with perhaps 50+ individual vendors. Prices are about what you'd expect, which is to say 30-50% more than what seems reasonable. Still, I saw some beautiful original paintings for around $300+ which isn't bad at all. There's a healthy mix of style, from crowd pleasing Pier-1 Importsy junk to boutiquey crafty "up-cycled" junk to the occasional purveyor of uncompromsing singular artistic visions. Whew. Wood, silver nitrate, clay, bone, antler, acrylic, cotton, pewter, glass, pixels... whatever. The world is a wellspring. Some merchants are cash only so come prepared. There's an ATM on-site but who wants those fees eh? There were around a dozen odd food trucks in 2018. Bathrooms are port-a-potties and they were impeccably clean and hardly touched the old gag reflex. The neighborhood gets parked up fast so arrive before 10am and save some hassle. The area seems to be experiencing a hipster renaissance, so be prepared to pay extra for local dining and have roll protection for your ocular balls secured well in advance. Overall an outstanding time and FREE!

The best New Year's Eve party is held in Downtown Spokane…read more Since 2001, more than 100,000 people have attended First Night Spokane, making it the biggest and best New Year's Celebration in the Inland Northwest. First Night features a combination of visual and performing arts and takes over downtown businesses, event centers and streets. There's a party going on and the whole family is invited. So bundle up and join the fun. The experience of First Night is up to you to customize as there's so much going on that you can't do it all. But here's what to expect. *The biggest New Year's party EVER. A festival of the Arts. *One of the best fireworks shows of the year in Riverfront Park. *So many choices. You can see chainsaw ice carving and then Irish dancing. You can listen to African drumming, rock and roll, the Spokane Symphony, and Big Band Swing all in one night. *Take in the Children's parade, watch street performers and the popular snowboard rail jam in Riverfront Park. If you get cold there's plenty going on inside and you can always warm up by the bonfire with a hot cocoa or a latte. There is more entertainment than you can possibly take in. Each adult will need a First Night button, which runs $12 when purchased in advance. There are a number of locations where you can get buttons in advance or they will have them for sale downtown New Year's Eve. Go to www.firstnightspokane.org for locations to purchase buttons and a detailed schedule to plan your night. Kids 10 and under accompanied by a button wearing adult are free. On New Year's Eve, just dress warm, pin on your button, and come join the party. Several downtown hotels have First Night packages available.

This is the inaugural event for what will hopefully become an annual festival. I'm not actually a…read morebeer drinker, but my spouse is, and he loved it. Locals represent! Great selection of local craft brewers, about 30 today (40 listed for the opening night last night). Food from local vendors: Thai, Greek, BBQ, ice cream. There were hard cider booths and homemade root beer for us non-partakers and a few games set up for people who brought kids. Mainly, however, it was an adult event. And a well-planned one at that, with plenty of seating and facilities far beyond the number of visitors. Not too busy yet, since it's the first year, but I imagine it will ramp up quickly, as it should. A really fun time! We'll be back next year.

This was the worst tournament experience I have ever had…read more They put grown men on a part of the street that was unplayable on almost half of the court because of the street conditions. Then they had rude absolutely clueless young girls `monitoring` the court. Which basically means they dont do anything but stand there and watch you play while they look like they hate their life. The court marshal was also about 20 years old and had no idea what he was doing. Here was my experience as a player, team captain, and the situation that happened leaving emotion and cussing out of it. The sign in and first day of playing went great. We had a couple close games that we won both and when we asked if our 19 year old player could play with us because our 20 year old son was sick nobody had a problem with it and everyone was aware of the situation. It was a great day even though the court was terrible and they let too much fouling go to the point there was a fist fight that we witnessed on another court. It wouldn't be hard to blow a whistle sometimes to make it not so rough. On the blacktop we all had scratches, bruises and road rash and I only fell one time in 3 games. Still can barely walk because of the brutal nature of the games. Sunday comes around and we play an early game. We ask the court officials and other team if we could have our original player back on the court and everyone agreed that was no problem considering they were just subs and had no impact on the game. Played about 2 mins maybe and I believe scored maybe 1 time against guys that could score on him almost every time because they were 3 times his size so he quickly came out after our guy got a slight rest. We ended up not even getting a warning when the time expired the girl blew her whistle for the first time and said game over. We were up by 1 and therefore won the game and were 3-0 on the tournament. We were proud of what we were accomplishing considering we are undersized and old guys doing very well against overly aggressive, fouling local players. We had fans and everyone against us and were very happy with what we had accomplished. As we were packing up to go eat before our next game at 12:30 to get into the championship we had the young clueless court marshal come over wanting to check the ID of our 20 year old player. He complied and went and got his identification while I talked to the marshal about the situation and how everyone including the other team and court officials were fine with our arrangement. He showed him his ID and the marshal made a phone call to the head director of the tournament. The director showed up with 2 body guard like characters and proceeded to tell me that my team and I were disqualified for breaking the rules of the tournament. I politely asked if we could just take the loss and play in the losers bracket with either of the young guys on our team or have us 35+ year old just finish out the tourney with 3 players. We drove from deep in montana and payed ridiculous prices for hotels, food etc. And would love to finish out the games. He said no and that we needed to pack up are stuff and go home immediately. Poor guy had to walk a whole mile to come tell us that and was not a nice guy about it. We dont find it fair that even though everyone was aware that when the home town team decided to go complain after the game we were disqualified. They even were laughing and joking with the director as if they were friends. Pretty messed up if you ask me. This is all after the team that played before us won a game with a player from another team playing with them The director said no one had brought that to his attention so it was ok....... Spokane hoopfest is an absolute joke. Unless you are a young kid or an elite player, I would HIGHLY suggest you don't go to this tournament. It has changed way to much over the last few years and not for the better. If you don't agree with what happened to my team or my review just go look up how many injuries there are each year on the garbage filled streets of the cities. Thanks for nothing Spokane you will not be seeing us going back anytime soon.

A signature holiday in Spokane! Seriously such an amazing festival type game. The largest 3 on 3…read moretournament ever. We are LUCKY. I was surprised that for a basketball tournament of this size, the construction didn't affect the outcome too much. But the city regulated and problem solved and still threw a ragin' weekend. I have volunteered, and wandered, have never played but it is definitely a place to be in Spokane around the end of June. I have had family members play, friends, out of towners on my couch. A festival that everyone loves because it is unique and truly brings people together. Plus the after parties are where to be too.

Beck's Harvest house Mimosa Sunday with music, pumpkin donuts, and the best food truck ever! They…read moreoutdid themselves with this Spanish-Venezuela food! There are very yummy non-alcohol options with Spanish Lemonade to Horchata...there were other food trucks but we never made it past this one. Try the Apple Cider Mimosas if you imbibe. Sit on the patio and enjoy Autumn.

A great spot in Green Bluffs. Farmer market area. Order at the counter yummy meals. There was live…read moremusic and lots of places to sit and enjoy music or eat. Lots of gifts and foods to buy. Ample parking.

My sister and I have gone to the Bing for the Bing Holiday film festival for many years now. We…read morelove it! Being at the Bing, watching White Christmas! It doesn't get better! It's a great little venue with excellent sound. They have popcorn and other snacks and they also have a bar upstairs. It isn't always open, but sometimes it is and it's pretty good. The margaritas are premade, but they still do the job! The staff is nice, the shows are great, and the venue needs our business to stay around. The next time you're looking for something to do in December, look into the Bing Crosby Holiday film festival at The Bing! Bring the family and introduce the kids to a great classic holiday film!

I had a terrible experience with the Bing Crosby Theatre's ticketing system and customer service. I…read morebought tickets for the Josh Johnson show but got too sick to go. I spent over an hour trying to transfer them to my sister through their ticketing app. Nothing worked. When I called the main number for the theater for help, the manager picked up. She was immediately condescending and rude. She said, "Dear, I'm in the MIDDLE of OPENING and I'M the MANAGER and you can just go to the box office people and WORK IT OUT WITH THEM," and hung up on me. I never asked for a manager. I just needed help. They clearly don't have a real support system. No one was available to handle a simple ticketing issue. After everything I spent to attend, including hotel and airfare, being dismissed like that was unacceptable.