Since I've punked the Hampton Beach Seafood Travesty two years running, I feel I need to give a…read moreshout-out to what the Travesty should be - the Lowell Folk Festival. No cover charge - you sample the local food and drink and the entire downtown is closed so you can stumble from watering hole to watering hole while enjoying an amazing variety of ethnic stuff between. I highly recommend the Nigerian goat stew. Also, the baklava and the Dubliner. The Dubliner's a bar, kiddies. This is a July event and you best not skimp on the brew. The music is eclectic, to say the least - but there's always danceable R&B to go along with the "tuvalu throat music". No, that's not slang for a sexual act. Back in the day, you could get some of that kind of throat music on Fletcher St. but that was 25 years ago and now there's a nice shiny Police station where the girls were. Such a shame, IMHO. Yes, Lowell is rough around the edges... if you haven't seen Lawrence. For Gawd's sake this is a Folk Festival - the crowd is slightly less violent than what you'd see at Tanglewood. Just don't wear your Palin Tee - cuz then it's CULTURE WAR BAYBEE and you'd best run to a dive bar... which this being Lowell will usually be about 50 yards.

We went last summer just for the food as we saw a vendor serving Filipino food and have a very hard…read moretime finding any places serving it in our area. The food was AMAZING. You could see everyone working together to cook the food for quite literally the longest line at the festival because of how good it was. We got pancit, garlic rice, lumpia, pork and chicken BBQ, and turon. Each dish was also served with a small vinegar based sauce as well. There is something for everyone at the folk festival as well, with SO many different food vendors from all over the world sharing their unique flavors with the city of Lowell! The festival itself is free, but parking around the festival is not so you definitely need cash. It is also suggested to have extra cash inside the festival as well because many vendors are cash only. There are always concerts playing with live bands and plenty of local artists selling their work. HIGHLY suggest going one of the days it is available over the summer.

The festival is held in July each year…read more There's lots of loud Puerto Rican music, a quincenera festival for the girls and lots of music and dancing. You know how good Puerto Rican food is. Ya gotta go just for that at least.

This is a great event drawing people in even from out of state. I saw the races in boats with…read moredragon prows, dance ceremonies, singing in a variety of genres, and a huge variety of foods along with other merchandise for sale. Tried and like a mix of different rices, beans and coconut cooked inside a piece of bamboo. There is parking across the street in a muddy lot (only drawback) and ample restrooms with no lines. The view of the river is nice. Various organizations have tables set up and give out swag. Come early if you don't like crowds, which grow over the course of the day. It's great to experience another culture in a friendly, welcoming atmosphere.

Much improved from 12 years ago, which is when I last went. I went a couple of summers and then I…read moregave up on it. (see last review) Well, it's grown to be MUCH bigger and it's also better. There are now vendors all the way down to the boat house. That's over a half mile of vendors. They actually DO sell Asian food now! There are vendors with clothes, jewelry, CDs, grocery-type items and much more. It was fun to watch the boat races. I'm glad they improved it. It's another great thing about Lowell. Get there early. It was crawling with people today. There was no parking in a mile radius. Even Sheehy Park's parking lot, across the river, was full.

This festival is sponsored by the Lowell Parks and Conservation Trust organization on the banks of…read morethe Concord River in Lowell, in June each year. It has lots of live music, a trolley ride, educational talks about the preservation of the river, recycled art activities and paddling down the river.

This festival has been in Lowell for 10 years now. It's held on the banks of the Merrimack at the…read moreSampas Pavilion, Pawtucket Blvd. It takes place on a Saturday in late June each year. There are lots of dancers, artists, singers and lots of good food.

A Culture Fest International ethical events festival. This festival is sponsored by nonprofit…read moreorganization Second World, whose mission is to bridge the gap between the "First World" and "Third World" to edu-tain about fair trade empowerment initiatives that fight poverty through the arts while encouraging cultural exchange and celebration. More than 100 artists and performers join with local restaurants, fair trade organizations and ethical businesses to bring the sights and sounds of global culture to the Lowell Arts District (Middle Street). This is the nation's premiere fair trade festival and has been hailed as a unique cultural event. Takes place annually in September.

Most of the art studios and their local artists participate in this event where you can see them…read moreat work. There's a good handful of studios in the city of Lowell. Many are located at Western Ave Studios, but several are within walking distance of each other, in the downtown area.

My first visit to the studio lofts at Western Ave Studios during the 2011 Open Studio and Arts…read moreFestival. F-A-N-T-A-S-T-I-C. Every artisan was kind, (save one) and all work was impressive. Great use of old mill complex, building teems with creativity and art. U gotta see for yourself. I am a fan and will return during monthly open studios.

The worst Christmas parade ever. All the vehicles weren't decorated in any way shape or form. The…read morevehicles all had a business advertising on them. It's one big rolling advertisement. It's not a parade. Then to top it all off Santa drives by at the end on a frigging golf cart. The golf cart wasn't decorated. But it sure had advertisements all over it. The most ridiculous welfare parade you'll ever see. If you want a good laugh at this rolling advertisement go for it. But I suggest you go enjoy a parade in another city. This cities Christmas parade is a complete joke and a complete waste of time. You'd think with all the money for their big rolling advertisement, including a Corvette and humvee which of course were not decorated. But at least put Santa in the humvee or Corvette instead of a stupid golf cart. I just can't get over what a complete fake parade this was. I will never bring my child here again. I don't want my child to think this is a real parade and will taking them to a real parade out of the welfare zone. Despicable to call this joke a parade. I feel terribly awful that the people from Lowell are forced to watch such garbage and how dare them call it a parade. It's the biggest money grab scam of the year. That's about it. Have a nice day!

Fun, fun, fun! Hot chocolate competition all over downtown, friendly shop owners chilling in front…read moreof their stores/restaurants, and the DPW truck decked out in lights. This is a nice long, full parade with lots of music and all the dancing Girl Scouts in homemade snowmen and snowflake costumes your heart could possibly desire. We take our kids to this every year. Parking is free, the atmosphere is festive, and Santa and Mrs Claus close out the whole thing before you walk down to follow the parade and see city hall and the giant smokestack Christmas tree get all lit up for the season. Easy family fun.

Just like the Pops on the Esplanade, except smaller…read more It's right on the river. There's a beach and an ice cream shop across the street. There are plenty of food vendors and there's a live orchestra on the open-air stage. Just like the pops, they play the 1812 overture and it's synchronized to the fireworks.

I was there this year for their annual 4th of July fireworks show on the boulevard. it wasn't a…read morebad show. There were numerous stands serving fan favorites like fried dough, fries, burgers and drinks.. (typical carnival style foods). The music performance that day kind of sucked but I guess it just wasn't to my taste since everyone else seemed to like it. It was muggy and overcrowded where we were sitting and there was an approaching thunderstorm. That made the fireworks all the more enjoyable since there was flashes of light behind distant clouds as the fireworks themselves were going off. The fire works themselves weren't too shabby at all! I loved the end where they went crazy and just unloaded everything.. a good minute or two. My nieces loved the smiley faced fireworks. The reason it got four and not five stars was because it was way too overcrowded.