This was my first time at the River Street Festival. Parking, as usual in these places, was…read moreterrible, and we looped around for quite a while until we found a spot to squeeze in. There were definitely a wide range of different artisan crafts and goodies! Ranging from homemade soaps and scents to special meat scrubs, we got to try out a plethora of novel things! Sadly, we missed the Farmer's market, but there's always next year! Also, awesome tact to have the Yelp booth supply us with a charging station. Loved it!

It was great to see a stage set up for music, and all the great vendors…read more The only problem I had was I couldn't find the farmers market!

This is an annual apple festival (this year was year #21), without apples! No apples anywhere! And,…read morenot in any recipes...no apple cider, apple turnovers, apple dumplings, or apple pie. There were hot dogs, coffee from the local Pierce Bros. (pretty good), and Kettle Corn, but NO apples! What a shock! There were also, as promised in the title, local artisans selling reasonably-priced local honey in bars of soap and lotion, stained glass, goat's milk soap, and Emu oil soap (ick!), pottery, clothing, angora scarves (with the Angora Bunny right there in a big cage!), as well as kids activities. This was like a country fair, and really cute in the town green, but we were slightly disappointed because we wanted some apples or something delicious with apples. So, we went home and drank our apple cider. Sometimes what you want is what you have! ;)

Go to the fair! One…read morereason is that they have candy apples. Candy apples taste so good. Another reason is you can also go on rides. You can go on the rollercoaster. The fair is in Amherst. You can go in the spring. Little kids can get lost. Make sure to stay with your mom and dad!

Magical! Who doesn't love hot air balloons?! And to see so many of them take off and float up in…read morethe sky is just beautiful! This was one of my favorite travel moments of 2017. Yes, traffic was quite bad but we did get a priority parking pass so we were able to avoid most of the headache people complained about getting to the event. We attended both the sunset flight on Friday and the sunrise flight on Saturday and both were truly a special experience!

Wonderment abound!…read more One of my favorite books as a child was 'Around The World In 80 Days.' It created an obsession with the thought of riding a hot air ballon - drifting through the clouds, flying high above the world, alone with my thoughts, admiring the splendor of world around me. I was slightly delusional!! In reality hot air ballooning is HARD work! Don't get me wrong, all the beauty of my fantasy was certainly possible (though I never got to find out due to unstable winds), but I never knew that amount of precision, brute strength, and sheer luck that ballooning requires. The experience was worth it all the same, but here are some pieces of advice for those ballooning novices (like me) to make the most of your balloon adventure: 1. Get there SUPER early! The first flight is usually around dawn, I suggest you get there far in advance to ensure you find parking and call dibs on a good pilot. Around 5 am is a safe bet. 2. Bundle up - by that I mean dress like its the dead of winter. Temperatures on the ground will be cold enough, once you get up to higher altitudes in the balloon ... fogetaboutit! Freezing! 3. Realistic expectations - keep in mind that that flying is all about the winds/ weather. If they are not in your favor you'll be grounded. If you are grounded, like I was, you'll still have a fabulous time at the festival. There is so much to do and see. My favorite part was admiring all the filled balloons and the lighting ceremony.

What a disappointment. While it has been many years since we attended the Hudson Valley Garlic…read moreFestival in Saugerties, NY, we expected something similar with lots of garlic vendors offering many different varieties of garlic and various foods, both expected and unexpected, infused with garlic, e.g., fudge, ice cream, drinks, etc. Instead, we saw only a few (9 or 10?) vendors concentrating on garlic, and the only one who had something unique, chocolate cherry garlic fudge, was already sold out on the first day of the festival. Even the food truck vendors had nothing unique. I guess it's time for us to check out the Hudson Valley again.

After attending the Hudson Valley Garlic Fest a few times, I expected everything garlic. It took us…read morea half hour just to find a few vendors that even had garlic. Very disappointing! We didn't even stay or buy anything. Too over crowded and definitely lacking in garlic vendors and garlic food vendors. Just another crowded craft fair! Hudson Valley garlic festival is the real deal. They have garlic everything (see my review) This one is an imposter.

Very nice little theater. Plenty of parking. We had a beer before the performance-cute area outside…read morewith pretty gardens. The seats were comfortable. Clean restrooms. Unfortunately, the show we went to was a bit of a snoozer. But, that wouldn't stop me from returning to see something different.

Located in what appears to be an old barn from the outside is this wonderful little theatre. There…read moreis ample parking alongside the building and in an unpaved lot across the street sufficient to handle a full house performance. This is a small (emphasis on small) theatre with a tiny patio at the front entrance to sit and sip some wine and munch on some baked and other goods that are available for sale in the foyer prior to a performance. The theatre has very comfortable seats, access for the handicapped, and even some seats that are wide enough to accommodate obese patrons. There is not a bad seat in the house. The most distant seats from the stage are still able to hear the actors when they are not amplified by microphones. The front row seats require only a minimal viewing angle upward toward the stage and thus do not strain the patron's neck. The facilities are clean, including the restrooms, and the staff are friendly and helpful. The performance that we attended, "Sherlock Holmes And The Case Of The Jersey Lily," was extremely well staged by the theatre's staff, not to mention the actors. This is not a review of the play or the actors, but I must say, if this is the caliber of a typical presentation, then no performance here should be missed.

I have been going to Apple pie Festival in Dummerston Vermont for 12 years and I always enjoy this…read moreEvent They have a awesome apple pies Donuts apple ciders different craft fairs and many more Love going there and enjoying beautiful views of Vermont

Apple pie festival here every Columbus day weekend! Quaint little Southern Vermont town...check out…read morethe Dummerston covered bridge as well. Very close to Brattleboro's Grafton Cheese shop and downtown Brattleboro. Go here every year and we love it.

Very clean for a fair, we have done a lot of shows there for the Vintage Market Days and have had a…read morelot of good luck. The area that they set up is outside the track area and covers two buildings. The track is nice, other than that there is fair amount of parking but overall driving around the location (that wasn't included as part of the show) there is a lot of areas of open barns and fencing in disrepair. Its hard to judge a location like this because of the many different things they host but i would say for the vintage shows we do, they do a great job.

Was hoping to find this fair to be on par with some of the other State or County Fairs that I have…read moreattended over the years. Unfortunately, I left the fair yesterday feeling sorry for the vendors. Perhaps it's busier in the evenings, but it was strangely quiet during this particular hot summer Saturday afternoon. There are your typical rides, food vendors (fried dough, burgers, hoagies, ice cream, cotton candy....etc.) along with the various carnie rides and games. Only a few rides were actually running. There are several barns with animals and a nice showing of 4H kids. Still...the layout was somewhat disjointed and again...it was surprising how sparsely attended it was. My favorite spots were: -Maple House (syrup, maple candies freshly made onsite, ice cream...etc..and the smell is out of this world) -Horse barn (way in the back behind the other, smaller barns) -Historical barns (some cool stuff in there) -4H display/barn Not sure what the organizers need to do to increase attendance, but they should definitely look at the flow/layout....along with how many days the fair is open. The vendors let us know that it went from Tuesday through Saturday. Even though it's summer, it doesn't give a full weekend of the fair for the vendors to get the kind of traffic that they need.

For 2018 the Cheese Festival was held on Saturday, July 14. You might want to put a reminder on…read moreyour calendar in early July of any future year to get the date for that year's festival. The festival was 5 blocks long with over 60 tents set up by vendors. In addition to various craft cheeses there were condiments, baked goods, dairy products, wines, and some talented musical performers spread out over the blocks. Little Falls was once known as the Cheese Capital of the entire USA. The Little Falls Historical Society has outlined in the festival brochure a 3 stage Cheese History Trail that you can walk as you learn all about Little Falls' contribution to cheese making and its influence on the cost of cheese even as far away as Europe. I suggest you bring along a cooler with an ice pack or two to transport your purchases. The purchase opportunities here are delicious. Tip: Keep your brochure so you can remember to always look up these vendors to visit again as you travel throughout the Hudson/Mohawk valley, the Catskills, the Adirondacks, the Finger Lakes and the Southern Tier.

The Claremont Brewfest is a huge Fall event now going into its tenth year. The activity is…read moreorganized and operated by the Claremont Kiwanis Club, a chapter of the international charity organization known worldwide for its collaboration with UNICEF to enhance children's health among many other activities. Now in its tenth year, the Claremont Brewfest proceeds benefit area children. Last year the Claremont Kiwanis Club was able to donate over $50,000 to build a new playground in town. The brewfest counts with the sponsorship of area businesses as well as over 35 brewers in New England which offer their selections to ticketed guests. Entrance tickets are sold way in advance and they consist of a VIP ticket for $75 - these sold out in 90 minutes the day of the sale, and General Admission pricing that starts at $40 in July and become $55 on the day of event. In addition, numerous food trucks sold food throughout the event. Several hundred people attended this year's event, tasting 4 ounce containers of the brewer's selections. The beers included special Octoberfest editions, IPAs, Double IPAs, Pilsners, Sours, Lagers, Hefeweizens and special selections for those with VIP tickets. The atmosphere was festive and congenial, including a few folks in Lederhosen. Live music was playing throughout the event. The selections, the people, the music and the brewers made this one amazing day.

Nice little farmers market. With a wide selection of food. I even found a stand that had stuffed…read morecabbage similar to Romanian Sarmale (so? - been to Romania twice so I get a pass) selection is vast but I saw that the prices were a bit higher than even CA...Now Saratoga has become Richey Rich over the years and this is what they get. Our farmers market in Pleasanton, CA near where I live is In a Richey Rich area and the price is not even as steep. Just saying as I blend quality and price but overall the foods, veggies and meats look great. One star off for steep pricing. Service is nice and friendly but again the price for my stuffed cabbage is $2 more than my Russian / Ukrainian/ Eastern European Market price in CA. So that still bugged me. Typical farmers market ambiance. Wished it were on a large parking area versus a park. Parking is not convenient but that is ok. I would go again but not go out of my way to go. Regardless, if you are in Saratoga, NY it is worth going to and definitely try the stuff cabbage.

Mostly prepared food vendors when we went (multiple tries). Very limited parking and quite a let…read moredown for "Saratoga Springs". Try the Troy farmers market and you'll think you were being punked in 'toga.