I had a BALL! When I arrived Bobby V. was on stage and there was plenty space near to get a clear…read morepicture of the singer. The whole strip of vendors were full of variety and well thought out, seems it flowed very nicely from food to accessories, local utility companies etc. There was seating for those in need all around. I walked up one side and down the other with ease and capturing a great mental picture of what Atlanta was like culturally. I would definitely go back and spend more time and you should too :-)

I went on Sunday and it was dissapointing. It seems smaller than last year and vendors were few…read more primarily food vendors but nothing that stood out. We came and left

While I usually refrain from reviewing festivals, I've been a part of these events for awhile now…read morethat I really can rave about it. Not only do you get exercise (the hubs and I ride our bikes to and from for the most part so it's more efficient), but you get a lot of nice freebies like energy drinks (there used to be plenty of granola and nutritional bars), cute trinkets to add onto your bike, and maybe even a t-shirt at some places. There's also the wonderful awe in being able to ride on the actual street that you might have driven on a million times. It's great to take on the views of the city where you work and live to notice that business you've never known existed before or to just take on the beauty of everything. And if you've never been to that part of town before, now's your opportunity! Everyone is super friendly with loads of people around. Take that Sunday afternoon off (because the event is always on a Sunday) and get some vitamin D and slow down before the Monday churn comes around. Even if you don't have a bike, there are plenty of people walking, roller blading, skate boarding, and so forth. It's good exercise even if the vendors are a dud.

Living in this event-going city never leaves me found wanting or with a sense of need regarding…read moreweekend outings and/or adventures. There are plenty of opportunities to explore festivals of all all kinds across parks in the entire Atlanta area and most tend to be multiple day events. Atlanta Streets Alive has taken the cake for me. Lasting but 4 hours, your time to enjoy this event is limited, but perfect. No need for multi-day attendance, but rather a microburst of celebrating Inman, O4W, and the Highlands and the surrounding businesses. It may sound silly from the 1000ft view, but walking down Highland from Boulevard and then making it all the way to Ponce... and walking across through the middle of the street, was hilariously fun. People on all kinds of bikes, dressed up, drinking great beer in the streets, activities, dunking booths, poem stations, screen printing, cupcakes, food trucks, chalk art, dancing, you name it -- it was all there. If you plan on making it around the entire stretch of Streets Alive, the easily preferred mode of transportation is on bike. Most people were on bikes and walked their bikes leisurely up the big hills, when needed. Next time, we'll definitely plan on biking, but walking was still really fun. If you have a stroller or little kids, you'll still have a blast.

Well, it's nigh that time again. No, lady who does the bare minimum - not waxing season, but you…read morereally should do something about that tribble in your pants. I don't mean the annual McRib Farewell Tour, either. No official word yet on when to expect that molded meatloaf of melancholy to return. It's time for the 2014 Atlanta Film Festival. The 2013 Festival ran for 10 days or so in March. Various ticket options were offered, and as I was still "technically" in grad school, if not actively enrolled, and I was still carrying my student ID in my wallet, I went for the $75 student pass (not that I was ever asked to verify my status as a student when I purchased or fetched my pass). This pass granted me access to all films and other assorted shindigs associated with the Festival - EXCEPT for the opening and closing features, for which I'd need to purchase separate passes either in advance for a high-but-not-too-unreasonable price, or during the festival, at the ludicrous cost of $30 each. I skipped both of those features (the Matthew McConaughey film, "Mud", and the teen-romance drama, "The Spectacular Now"). The Festival was split between The Plaza Theatre (http://www.yelp.com/biz/plaza-theatre-atlanta-2#hrid:wZ_JAtW55KEt41051Rg11w) on Ponce and 7 Stages (http://www.yelp.com/biz/7-stages-atlanta) at L5P, and I split my time roughly equally between the two to see most of what I'd wanted to see. I viewed more than a dozen feature-length films and many more shorts, ranging from abysmal to awesome, dull to hilarious, hackneyed to cutting-edge, family-friendly to explicit, moronic to profound. A sponsor, Stella Artois was free everywhere I turned. As for the other events presented to Festival-goers, there was an AYCE Buffalo wing night at the Highland Inn, a short walking distance from the Plaza, in honor of the documentary "The Great Chicken Wing Hunt", whose filmmakers were in attendance for much of the Festival. The wings, catered by JR Cricket's and others, certainly won't be appearing in any future docs about great wings, but it was a fun event that gave me the chance to devour a couple dozen wings with some of the folks from Doobious, a non-profit group of local riffraff who were ubiquitous during the Festival, snapping photos and shooting video. Another event was a Drivin' 'N' Cryin' performance, celebrating the screening of a documentary about the band. I didn't get to attend, but it was a cool addition, despite the fact that you can't walk a couple of blocks in Atlanta without tripping over a thirty-something redneck hippie and stumbling into a DNC or Kevn Kinney show. My favorite event was a blend of food trucks, visual arts and music at The Goat Farm, where several local bands such as Tikka and PLS PLS played. I noticed that many of attendees were most excited to meet the C- and D-list celebrities who attended, as well as to discuss the art with the up-and-coming filmmakers who were there to present their works, and yeah, that was pretty cool. I spoke for a while with the director of "A River Changes Course" - a terrific documentary about environmental and cultural change triggered by industrialization in Cambodia - and also with Luis Mandoki, whose American movies have always dredged the bottom of the barrel, but whose festival entry, "La vida precoz y breve de Sabina Rivas", was a fine film, and who would surely have won the festival's Robert Plant lookalike contest, if there were one. Thanks to the confounding nature of transportation between the Plaza and 7 Stages, I found myself in a minivan with a couple of sci-fi filmmakers working out of my home state and a middle-aged driver hoping for his big break into the industry as an actor. As it turns out, no, I should not have been permitted to take the shuttle between venues. Perhaps the organizers will do better in 2014 to make such details more clear. I told the others in the van that I was John Mayer, which earned a fist-bump from the guys and a hard-yet-lustful face-slap from the girl. Something I wish had been different in 2013 was that none of the educational workshops were offered at times I could have attended without taking off from my 8-5 job. Some of these workshops looked quite intriguing. So far, it seems the organizers are doing a better job with planning and communication. The ticket-buying process was certainly less obfuscating (http://atlantafilmfestival.com/2014-tickets-passes/). My All-Access pass gets me 10 additional passes to bring friends. Or enemies. Depends on my mood that day. If you want only to see a movie here or there, tickets are $10 each. Something I like about the pass is that it also buys membership into the ATLFF organization, which hosts screenings and other opportunities throughout the year. I think the group needs work and perhaps better leadership, because it feels like a struggling new festival and not one that is in its fourth decade, but this event is certainly not one to be missed by any film lover.

After living in Atlanta for 28 years, this is our first year attending the Atlanta Film Festival…read more It is hard to believe that this festival has been around for 43 years because they are rather unorganized. But, the biggest problem, and the biggest thing we learned this year, is NOT to buy a film badge! You are better off buying individual tickets. We went to a movie on Sunday night with our film badges for which we paid over $200, and they turned us away 15 minutes before the movie and allowed people who bought $10 movie tickets into the theater instead of us! We COULD NOT BELIEVE it. It is clear that their loyalties lie with the $10 ticket buyer and not the $200 badge buyer, and that is unbelievable! We will never buy a badge again. I wonder if the organizers understand the irony of their misplaced priority on the $10 people over their true movie fans who spend hundreds of dollars buying a film badge?? If they keep running like this, they will have $10 to collect instead of hundred dollars from a badge purchase. Crazy.

Piedmont art festival comes year and this time it was on 18th and 19th aug. festival had more than…read more250 art vendors. Festival had food carts, live music and games for children. There were so many unique creations and I think this is the best place to pick the art pieces including jewelry which is otherwise hard to find.

2015 was the 6th annual Piedmont Park Summer Arts Festival. I actually did not come to shop, but…read morethought it was a good way to get in some exercise. In hindsight, I should have brought some money lol. This a large arts & crafts festival. I was pleasantly surprised by all of the booths! Alot of festivals have many booths for businesses (like window installation, etc), but there didn't seem to be too much of that. Works out for me since I rarely stop at those. The items tend to be on the higher end for an arts & crafts festival, but there were a number of things in my price range. I likely would have bought a few things if I had money. C'est la vie. I did walk away with a few cards so I could follow up with vendors later. And, hopefully, some of them will be back for other festivals. There is a children's area so that is great for those who have kids. I didn't notice a whole lot of food trucks, but maybe I missed them.

The 2019 Atlanta Brunch Festival was held at Atlantic Station and was an ideal location for this…read more Fellow Yelper Nekiba M. and I went on Superbowl Sunday afternoon. It was my first time attending this yearly event. When I think of brunch, I think of Mimosas and Bloody Marys accompanied by a good mix of breakfast and lunch food items. The drinks were in full effect at this event. Several vendors were there to serve up these delicious brunch cocktails and there was no shortage of them. Notably, Maker's Mark represented in a big way serving up dee-licious Bloodys and giving away red and blue wax decorated plastic glasses, which they were making on-site. Vendors were also there serving up wine, beer, and other concoctions for your other morning and early afternoon drinking desires. This includes Dunkin Donuts. Dunkin was there sharing their new line of Girl Scout Cookies coffee flavors, which were pretty good and do a fine job of tasting like the cookies, if you ask me. The Dunkin Donuts mascot (big DD cup) was walking about doing his thing. They could have used more food vendors at this BRUNCH festival. I was able to enjoy some amazing shrimp and grits dishes from 101 Concepts restaurant group and Smith's Gourmet Creations. I have to say that Smith's shrimp and grits were a standout. I also was able to enjoy some good crepes from Lisa's Creperie, and delicious donuts and glazed bacon from Bon Glaze. Delights by Dawn impressed me with their alcohol infused cupcakes...yes please! I loved being introduced to businesses that I hadn't known before. The problem was that because there were so few food stalls, especially savory food stalls, that the lines were outrageously long. Like, stupid long. Also, the two or three savory food stalls were right next to one another, so the lines to what was what were convoluted. More food stalls please and more spread out... for next time. I loved how there was plenty of seating in the form of picnic-like tables and in its own area, and there were little tables outside of this area where you could stand up to eat also (but they were swallowed up by the ridiculous lines to the food stalls). There was a cute little van in which you could use props to take cute pictures and that I loved. Also, Maker's Mark had an area for pictures and cute GIFs you could make. What really set the whole thing off, and without which would have lowered by good time exponentially, was the live DJ and the dancing. It was totally like a broad daylight club in a tent. I loved it. The music was good and loud. People (me) were feeling great (remember I said that the drinks were NOT a problem) and got loose. So, yeah, we'll go ahead and A+ that part. In addition to drink and food vendors there were timeshare resort vendors, skin care vendors, apartment complex vendors, and clothing vendors. I even saw a d.u.i lawyer's office tent (George Stein) in case you do too much and then decide to drive like a big, gigantic dumb ass. Oh, I got to see the lovely Michelle T. there, who was volunteering. Always good to see fellow Yelpers. I need to mention that I got some booty (not that kind wit yo nasty self!), meaning swag. A cap, a t-shirt, a hoodie, a baggie, couple bottles of Tevana, couple bottles of Monster energy drink, and two cases (that's right, cases) of Alta Palla sparkling beverages (because they had A LOT left over by the time the event ended and were just handing them out). Overall, I enjoyed this situation and might make it one of my regular festival events. See you there next year.

This is my 3rd time attending Atlanta Brunch Fest and in my opinion by far this was the best one…read morefor me. I decided to purchase the Baller Brunch ticket for $125. It included a baller tray and cup which to me is worth $125 right there! Try holding a cup, while trying to eat and wait in line for more bites. I also received 6 food tickets and a seat under the Baller Tent with the fancy Porter potties and additional tickets for the brunch bites at the Baller Tent. The food selection was excellent! I had an oxtail, candied yams, muffin I had fried rice with large shrimp, and great desserts! Bottomless mimosas of course but I enjoyed the brunch punch more. They had a live band and a DJ. Fun dancing and socializing! There's also a few vendors. I ended up purchasing a bangle bracelet. It was a bit chilly so glad I dressed accordingly. I will definitely return next year with my Baller Brunch food tray. So check out my vid and until next time SYOY!

The Taste of Smyna is an annual food festival that takes part in downtown Smyna located in between…read morethe Smyrna Public Library/Smyrna Community Center/Smyrna City Hall. When coming here I recommend parking in front of the First Baptist Smyna church. Parking is completely free. This is our second year coming here, this year was better than last here. There was a huge turn out this year as viewers can see from the pictures, the weather turned out to be completely beautiful and there was such a great selection of food. The Taste of Smyna is a free event to visit and guests can walk along Village Green Circle and try out samples from over 30 restaurants, each sample ranges anywhere from 1 to 4 dollars. They had live music from the Scott Thompson Band this year. For kids, they have plenty of activities, the Atlanta Braves had a tent setup for young kids to practice hitting a ball (3 times) and afterwards they could get their face painted by a local airbrush artist with different brave logos. They also had a great selection of blowup houses for kids to jump around, slides, rock climbing, bungee cord lift (goes about 20 feet) and they had this really cool thing where kids are put into a huge ball, it is filled with air and then they float around inside a pool like environment. Checkout the pictures so you know get a better idea. What is also cool about this festival is that the festival sponsor gives out awards to one restaurant for four categories; this includes the best Entree, Dessert, Decorated Booth and Food Presentation. There are also gift giveaways and free balloons for kids. I am very impressed with the way Jrm Management Services puts on this event, they also run the tastes of Forsyth/Kennesaw/Acworth. Even though this year was extremely crowded, there was still plenty of room to get around. This is definitely a food festival that is worth checking out and that is coming from someone who drove 50 miles one way to come to The Taste of Smyna. I highly recommend this festival. [Review #207]

Really enjoyed myself this year I went alone and met so many People. The food options were…read morereasonable but delicious. I even took some samples to go. Parking was free and I feel the organizers did a great job with the setup of everything. I will be going back next year, because I absolutely enjoyed this event

The food was great! The participation of our group made the night fun for all! Come prepared to…read moreflex your acting muscles!

I attended Jazz Age Jeopardy. This was definitely entertaining. Be prepared to participate. Food…read morewas better than expected. Great service, the staff was very attentive. The location was out of the way, but comfortable. Kudos to the entire cast.

This is a free event that happens every year at Candler Park. Overall it was pretty cool- we got…read moreto see Better Than Ezra which was a great pick. I did find the even to be somewhat disorganized though. Tents surrounded the crowd area, but it seemed to be more centralized on one side than another. They didn't have quite enough restrooms as there were lines everywhere I looked. They probably could have had more food options. There was the general fair food, as well as some other local places- Fox Brothers, for one. I also ran into King Of Pops. But I would have appreciated some other good food and reasonable prices. I thought there was going to be more going on than just the bands, but it looked like that was it. There wasn't as much artwork and other vendors as I thought there would be. If I'm not doing anything when this happens next year, I'll probably go, but I won't make it a must-attend.

First, let me say that the MusicFest this year was OK. There were a few hiccups, that have already…read morebeen mentioned, so I won't go over them. All save one, The heat! It was unbearably hot, especially in the open field in front of the Main Stage. What would have helped here is some of the mobile misting units that are used in most other summer music festivals in the metro. A little more planning would make this a very good event, because the core pieces(free entrance, easily accessibility, great music, family friendly environment, good food and drink) are there. Mind you most of them are sorely lacking in quantity but they are there non the less. Hopefully next year, we will find this to be a better planned event.