"I've only been in love with a beer bottle and a mirror." ― Sid Vicious…read more Sweating my metaphorical dick off but I'm drinking samples on samples of beer and I'm having fun! There's some shaded seating and misting fans around along with water stations so stay hydrated folks! It's a hot hot May and you're drinking so make sure you grab your free waters. There are so many brews to try (250+!) in such a short amount of time. Come with a designated driver, Lyft, or Uber folks! I think I have tan lines and that ain't cute! Thanks for the tickets, Yelp! *pour some beer for the ducks*

Amazing beer fest!…read more It was a beautiful day, I had amazing friends in tow, and I got to drink drink drink my most-adored, most-loved Indiana beer, Sun King Brewery Sunlight Cream Ale. When your favorite local beers from back home cannot be shipped to AZ, you wait for them to come to you, a la beer festival [or drink a lot of it when you visit home]. A lot of the places were more than generous with their pours, especially if note was made about how awesome their beer was/is. It was a little on the hot side temperature-wise, but there were plenty of water stations and fans and a nice batch of trees along the food truck sidewalk. A few of the bigger breweries had large large tents so a few times my group and I sampled those particular beers to cool down. Just a handful of the beers I really enjoyed were Shipyard's Sea Dog Sunfish and Melon [don't judge a melon beer until you try it], Great Divide's Orabelle, Citrus Mistress IPA, College Street Brewhouse Big Blue Van, Borderlands Citrana + Moche Dulce and Maui Brewing Coconut Hiwa. This part of Hance Park was perfect. I'd never been to that area and for the number of breweries present, it was a great amount of space for the crowd and all the stuff happening on the inside. Everyone was genuinely in a happy mood, happy to share their beer and chat it up. Can't wait to attend the next one!

Really gays? What has happened to us? We've become so serious. So mainstream. So. Oh dear. How do I…read moresay this...so, so heterosexual! GASP! Strollers. Parents. Pets. Lacoste shirts. Topsiders. Soccer moms. Soccer dads. And in my best Sarah Palin voice, "Joe 6 packs". Just normal folks don't ya know. You betcha. Where are the inappropriately dressed men in Speedos, glitter and nipple tassels? Dykes on bikes? Minors tripping on E? What has happened to our luster people? Have we become....um, boring? Well, I"m not sure. But the Rainbows Festival is darn fun. A small town feel, in a lovely urban setting, filled with the usual food vendors, t-shirts booths and local organizations hawking their wares and services. But overall, the genuine feeling of fun, love and celebration permeated this event. Lots of smiles, hugs and waves. And yes, lots of families of all types. And, really, that is what it's all about right. We noshed on turkey legs, tacos and swilled Bud and fruity vodka drinks. Ten bucks to park, but free to get in. How cute and small town is that? Well, not the parking maybe. But who doesn't love a free party? Rickie and I had a blast and at the end of our Rainbow, we found a bag full of condoms, lube and free minutes for a gay sex site. Ahhh, my people! Girls and gays just wanna have fun! See ya next year. And don't forget the nipple clamps!

A smaller version of the Pride Festival, Rainbows is a good way to introduce someone who has never…read moreattended a Pride event before. I find it interesting that a previous reviewer took issue with the "strollers, walkers and kids" and called the gays "mainstream" and "boring." It's unfortunate that someone from our community would actually begrudge others in the community the chance to show off their families in a safe and (supposedly) accepting place. Yes, there are kids. There are dogs. There are babies. There are families. It's a very family friendly event, and not as overwhelming as the big Pride Festival in April. There's entertainment by local drag queens and drag kings, dancers, singers and DJs. There are informational booths and food booths. And, unlike Pride in April, you can actually bring your dog with you to Rainbows. So pack up the kids, the strollers, the diaper bags and the family dog and get down to Rainbows Festival and celebrate your fabulocity!

Cheers to the AZ Beer Guild for organizing a festival in the heat of summer... indoors! Sounds like…read moresince the beginning it has only grown for the positive. For the 2018 edition, there were 300+ beers available to sample across the gamut of "Real, Wild, or Woody" style, and 20 drink tickets to find your match. While I can appreciate a hefty 4-ounce pour, the Beer Guild should consider doing 2-ounce pours like they do for Strong Beer Festival. For someone like myself who can't necessarily chug a good beer (and most of the time refuse to do so), 4 ounces is too much. I need just a sample and then if I like it so much I'll give another ticket. It was cool to see a variety of brewers represented across the state and the Southwest with their alcohol attempts! Pro tip: go with friends so you can sample THEIR samples and vice versa. I'm not much of a sour person and the festival reassured me of so. I'm glad there were delicious food samples set out for us drunkies but the tasty bites didn't really pair well with what I was drinking. Perhaps the organizers could list recommendations at both food and beer booths? The activities in the middle made for some fun people watching. Worth coming back to in 2019, but not for $60+. Maybe $40-50.

Very, very good event for their first year. The line to get in was a little long and it was a bit…read morecrowded inside. The most important thing here is that the beer was great! OMG not only were all the AZ breweries here they all came with outstanding creations. Lots of interesting ingredients and barrel-aged goodness. The Perch's rosemary IPA and Firestone Walker Stickee Monkee were my favorites. I'll definitely be at this event again next year!

On my birthday weekend, I went to the 2024 Arizona Strong Beer Festival on 2/17/24 with my parents…read moreand my boyfriend, who also had a birthday a few days ago. Though there were about 175 different vendors at the festival, there was no way that we were going to end up trying all of them. The festival took place at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick in Scottsdale. Because we had a wristband that we picked up at the college baseball game that took place the night before, we entered the festival at approximately 11:30, which was an hour and 30 minutes before the general admission entrance time. At the entrance, we were given 24 booth tickets and a complimentary 3 oz sample glass to use at all the booths. We later realized that some of the booths didn't ask for our tickets, so we believed that only the VIPs got unlimited samples. We had access to their VIP lounge, which was located under a giant tent in the middle of the field. Because we didn't want to lose our table at the lounge, we agreed that one person stay at the table while the rest of us went to the brewery tents. It was really nice having a table at the VIP lounge, though while the shade did help sometimes, it did get a little hot as the festival went on. Some of my favorite samples that I tried here were the brand new Monster hard tea (yes, Monster now makes alcoholic drinks), OHSO's hard seltzer, and Pedal Haus' day drinker lager. Free water was also available with lots of ice provided. We agreed to stop for water after every two beer samples. Also making an appearance at the festival were a lot of food trucks. We ended up getting a lemonade at The Funky Pita food truck and pizza muffins from Floridino's food truck. The pizza muffins were so awesome and I feel that I should find them again so I can have them again. The lemonade was also refreshing on an unusually warm day in February. Other food trucks that were at the festival were Leo's Ice Cream, Sally's BBQ, and The Corn Dog Company. Though we couldn't make it to the end of the festival because of the unusual heat, we still had fun trying out new beers and talking to new people. Looking forward to next year, if applicable!

So this is pretty much THE beer festival for AZ. All the state's breweries are there along with…read moresome from the neighboring states. You get 40 sample tickets (2 oz. per ticket) which is plenty, trust me. The beers come strong as the name implies, so pace yourself, stay hydrated, and don't show up on an empty stomach. The only real gripe I have on the festival is the organization at the point of entry. I showed up a good 5 min late and had to wait in line 20 min to get in. This should not happen when an even larger beer festival in a Denver (GABF) can get you in pretty much instantly when you show up like 15 min early. Someone needs to contact those guys and figure out how they do it and replicate it for sure. Anyways, have fun!

I always have such an awesome time watching the Angels play during spring training. The games…read moreoffer a family friendly experience in a fun and exciting environment. See you next time around! It's great to be back.

We had early entry tickets and boy! Am I glad we did .... Lots of people but also lots of wine…read more I got 'interviewed' by the lovely gals at the BMW tent, and got some awesome swag: tote, cap, and a great water bottle! The car I first drove was a burgundy BMW 2002, way back in 1971, and fell in love with it! It had been optimized by Romeo Ferraris, with extra HP performance, wider tires... Great start to our day out :) Back to the USAToday Wine Festival: tents were all lined up along both sides of the High Street, with wines and tequilas, whiskeys and bourbons, and lots of tasty foods to try out with the wines on offer. I tasted several rosé wines, since I recently went back to drinking rosé instead of mostly red, and found some very palate-pleasing bottles that I will have to put in rotation at home. My favorite food was the Risotto in the wheel of Parmigiano: I honest to goodness could've scarfed the whole thing down, then asked for more . I tried a fantastic-looking slider, with the tender meat very good: sadly, my problem with spices/chilis made mini blisters pop up in my mouth, so couldn't finish it. By now y'all know I'm extremely allergic to capsaicin and living in the Southwest...still, the aromas floating around us were hunger-inducing and making my tummy rumble. I really enjoyed an Uncut Bourbon, so just had to sneak back for another tasting! We had to taste the Whiskey too, and the Tequila, and of the quite a few tastes I had, I think I'll be drinking the tequila crema on ice ;) Although very crowded everyone was enjoying the beautiful day out: I chatted with several people along the ' tasting avenue' who were also enjoying the afternoon, and the whole event was a success. I particularly liked tasting a black sesame hummus: being so busy tasting everything I didn't pay attention to the vendor's names... forgive me for this lapse in judgment. Next time I'll take notes!

Updating my 7 year old review. We went again in 2020 on a Sunday and had a blast…read more Yesterday was our first time going since pre-pandemic. We did go on a Sunday again and I think I prefer Sunday over Saturday. It's not as 'popping' but it is a more mellow vibe with a lot less people. I can't get over how gorgeous Heritage Square is. Between the location, the wine vibe, the band, and of course our amazing AZ weather I love this festival. But like everything right now, the price has doubled and the pours are smaller. Unfortunately due to this we have to pick and choose which events we go to. I really hope we can go again next year.

What wonderful event, especially for kids but I liked it too! There were ambulances, a fire truck,…read moretractors, a moving truck, construction equipment, police and SWAT car, an ATF command center, UPS truck, helicopter and even a Wells Fargo stagecoach - all in which kids could climb in and on and explore. There was also inflatable jumpies, a rock climbing wall, food trucks and local sports mascots. And all of this was in the mall parking lot. The kids had a ball! My only complaint - and I mean only - was the horn honking. Kids would climb into the vehicles, sit in the drivers seat and lay on the horns...

As a member of the Junior League of Phoenix, I am proud to have a hand in hosting this…read morefamily-friendly event! We love being able to provide activities for all ages as well as a variety of trucks/tractors/helicopters/police cars/firetrucks/etc for children to explore and enjoy! Food trucks are available as well as bounce houses/slides and a climbing wall! Suitable for all ages and sure to be a great time.

I went to the 2019 Dish It Out on High Street in Phoenix. This festival benefits boys and girls…read moreclubs of Phoenix. General admission tickets ran around $70.00 and VIP admission ran around $200.00. They had 29 general admission restaurants, 22 beer vendors and 24 general admission wine and spirit stops. and 7 VIP restaurants and 10 VIP wine and spirit stops. They also had a live band performing. I've experienced several problems with this festival. The biggest problem was that after an hour the place was so packed with people you couldn't breath. The lines disappeared and it was just a packed crowd. You were trapped and at that point it became hazardous. Also many people just started dropping plates of food and drinks and the ground became hazardous and slippery. That pizza that hit my husbands leg became like a banana peel on the ground. I tried to hit the food spots as quick as possible and then try some wine. I could only get two glasses of wine. I was planning on spending most of my wine at one certain spot but within an hour they ran out of red wine (BAH!) It was just too crazy to fight the crowd to try to get another glass somewhere so we just left. The other thing I really hated was that on the dish it out website they listed participating vendors without separating them into general admission and VIP. It wasn't until around the day of the event that you actually knew the separation. Some of the food really was very good but I didn't feel like I got my money's worth. It was too uncomfortable and hazardous walking around. I will not attend Dish It Out at this location again.

2017. Wow. Classy event with every course covered! Flemings, Tea2Go, The Vig, Chino Bandido, Red…read moreBull, Wine, Beer, The Halal Guys, Kona Grill, Venezias. The lines were long and there were areas where you couldn't move, but that's part of the excitement of a good festival. Making friends and enjoying the libations. Cool ambience with VIP lounges and good signage. Well organized and laid out. So much to choose from that I didn't sample all the restaurants!