What a fun little craft fair! A friend of mine participated one year so I ventured out to see what…read morewas up. Tons of variety in the styles of art and creativity met me in a small parking lot. The quality level could easily rival that of the "big wigs" who come through Atlanta's major festivals. Furniture? Purses? Jewelry? Cookies? Dog toys? Paintings? Yup, all that and more, all handmade, just waiting for you to buy it (with a pretty sweet price to boot). Some of the shops also come out to sell, and you're lucky if it's an antique or vintage one that's out there - they cut me a few deals on spare jewelry parts to play with back at home! Oh but Athens and your painful parking, even during the day. I was a bit put off circling around to find parking and even worse for wear trying to locate food. I forgot that unless it's after 10pm, nothing in Athens is really open, and even then it's all liquor... I know for next time to bring some snacks with me.

I have been trying to attend this festival for years and I finally did! It is worth your time. So…read moremuch to choose from foods: deserts, gyros, corn dogs, foot long corn dogs, bacon on a stick, funnel cake and more. There all types of lemonade, beer and water. Many things to buy crafts, jewelry, pots & pans, cheese cutting boards, baskets, paintings and more. There is a kid's inflatable area and petting zoo. Sooo much happening at this festival close to home with that fall vibe, was a perfect activity for me. It is always held the last Saturday and Sunday of September. Make plans for next year if you missed it.

I used to go to this festival every year as a kid and absolutely loved all the activities,…read moredifferent foods & stalls! I got to go back this year after a longgg time and was kind of surprised in how it turned more into a food festival, there was literally a whole strip just dedicated to food vendors. There was such a wide variety of foods from all sorts of different authentic cuisines to snacks and homemade treats for on the go! We ended up getting a frozen pink lemonade, elotes and the impossible gyoza. One of the stalls did sell fresh apple cider donuts and I would definitely recommend getting them if you go! Overall such a good time and experience with your friends and family! You can easily spend a couple hours here and they have a mini pumpkin patch, face painting, live music you name it! It's only one weekend though so be sure you're free!

When you tire of city living and need an escape, point your car toward the perimeter and start…read moredriving. Keep going until you see some good road kill. Squirrels don't count -- you see those in the city. I'm talking about possums, armadillos and porcupines. Chances are you'll bump into some kind of festival in a nearby small town. And that's how I discovered the Sunflower Farm Festival in Rutledge, GA over the 4th of July weekend. Barely 45 minutes away from my condo in downtown Atlanta, but a world apart, it's billed as a "Good Old Fashioned Family Fun Time In The Country!" And despite my lack of family, I did have fun. I arrived early enough on Sunday morning to catch some of the Sunday Morning Jubilee, featuring fine bluegrass gospel tunes by the Rocky Creek Band. I didn't feel so guilty about skipping church as the sweet sounds of "Just A Closer Walk With Thee" wafted through nature's own cathedral of tall pines. With barely 6,000 people in attendance over three days it's more relaxed and less crowded than the massive festivals held in the city. There's a real charm to the artists and crafters market, unlike the slick juried shows at big city festivals. I delighted in choosing between buying corn cob jelly or banana nut bread jam. The bird feeder I purchased, made from a vintage cup and saucer, will make a unique gift. Like any good festival, there are food vendors, including the requisite junk food purveyors selling funnel cakes, and get this, fried Oreos, Twinkies and Snickers. I did my cholesterol a favor and took a pass. Activities for kids included pony rides, a petting zoo and a hay ride. And instead of sand, the kids play box was filled with corn kernels. Isn't that cute? The signature event allows you to wander through 15 acres of sunflowers and cut as many as you can stuff into a bucket for $15. That's a lot of smiles and sunshine to carry home. The thing about small town festivals is that you hear about other festivals too, like the Cotton Gin Festival and the Christmas In The Country Weekend and even the Loachapoka Syrup Sopping Festival in Loachapoka, AL. If the Sunflower Farm Festival is any indication, I see more small-town festivals in my future.

This festival was a blast! If you love Bluegrass you must…read moreattend this next year. The festival runs from a Friday to sunday. Friday evening you check in at the main stage tent. For 5.00 you get a bidding paddle for live and silent auction. All the food you can eat, this year provided by Bourbon Street. Shimp, cornbread, deserts. Fab! All the wine you can drink. Yes you read that correctly! Plus you can purchase your Bear on the square tshirt! Bid on wonderful items! Listen to live music. I got to meet Ugly Cousin! Definitely go to the festival on Sunday. This is when the gospel music is until around 1pm Then, this year headlining the event was Becky Buller. Amazing song writer, singer and fiddle player. I got to meet her also and she signed all my stuff! Food, food, and more food. Everything you want. I got a gyro. It was awesome. A bit pricy but it's a festival. Basically if you enjoy Bluegrass go to this festival. You will get to meet some amazing artist that are very willing to speak with you and appreciate that you are a fan. Definitely going back next year.

WHERE IS THAT BEAR?…read more This is the twentieth year for the "Bear on the Square" Festival and I thought that it would be interesting because of the emphasis on Appalachian music and culture. We love all genres of music and enjoy being able to hear something different and speak with the various artists. Storytelling, workshops and demonstrations were also featured. This festival is a huge favorite of the locals and the highlight on a Sunday morning is the gospel jam which is held in a tent overflowing with attendees. This jam should have been held in the local park because of its size and the interest that it generates. During the Gold Rush Festival, the Sunday service is held in the park and it is wonderful and accessible to all. As a rule, we always attend the festivals on opening day (Saturday), because it has a fuller and more varied schedule. On this day, many of the acts were not scheduled to perform until later in the day around 1pm but since we were there at 9 am, we would love to have seen musical acts performing at that hour. The cool aspect of this festival was being able to talk to artists such as the resident weaver who were working this very sophisticated weaving machine that was making cotton wash cloths. She had been weaving since the age of seven and had definitely discovered her passion. I also enjoyed talking to the dulcimer artist who carefully constructed custom dulcimers one or two at a time. The craftsmanship was impeccable and it usually takes a minimum of three months to create one from beginning to end. You get to totally customize your own design and whatever you want, he will make an effort to execute it. There were plenty of vendors who were showcasing personal wares such as jewelry, pottery, leather, wood products, instruments, clothing, food items and more. This was just a beautiful day to walk around, explore and mingle with vendors and visitors. It was also a great way to cap off the weekend after spending all of Saturday working in the yard. Next year we will be sure to arrive on Saturday so that we can take advantage of the full schedule.

This place is a great alternative for local Gwinnett residents to see some pretty holiday lights…read moreinstead of traveling elsewhere like Atlanta. Granted, it is a lot smaller but they packed a lot of lights in there for a $10 entry. ($10 is the online price, $12 at door) It is in a random residential area with a gravel driveway so you might miss the entrance, especially in the dark (We had to make a U-turn) but the GPS does take you there, just follow it carefully. It turns out this festival is on some farmland. It has a gravel parking lot and you walk through dirt/grass...so wear comfortable flat shoes. There are different light themes throughout. You first enter the "Under the Sea" theme. Other themes scattered around are Christmas, Chinese, etc. It is a quick walk through, but if you stop to take perfect Instagram worthy pics like I did, you can easily be there for an hour or 2. There's also a few fire pits, a little makeshift ice skating area, some farm animals, and a food/vendor tent. Inside the tent is where we saw the huge panda mascot! It was dancing and brought great energy to the crowd. I'm a HUGE panda fan so obviously I had to take a picture and even made it dance with me. Hehe. Everyone loved the panda and it truly made our visit. That pretty much ended our night, so we headed back to the car after an hour and a half. This place is only operational until Jan 1, 2022 so I would go before it closes!

Very packed, lots of food, vendors and good music and shuttles at the Suwanee location.read more

I had heard about this event from the earlier event locations - this is a "pop-up" style market…read morethat moves around Atlanta, typically over a holiday weekend. On this occasion, it was the Memorial Day weekend on 2018.10.5 - 2018.10.07 and the market took place at the North Point Mall at 1000 North Point Cir, Alpharetta, GA 30022, along the side facing the JC Penny's anchor store. This is an outdoor vendor-oriented market featuring imported goods and a huge assortment of food. In Asia markets like these are done at night to escape the heat of the day - typically they go on pretty much all night but of course this US market is a bit more pragmatic. I met a friend after work on the first night (Friday) right when it opened, about 5:00 PM. The market was just getting started so some of the food vendors weren't quite ready and some tents were unoccupied, but this was remedied by the time we left. Admission was $10 but could have been less if we'd bought online prior to the event day - we decided to just pay at the gate. Oh and most of these vendors were cash only so keep that in mind - there are several ATMs but you get to pay those fees. I'd say that the "International" aspect was very well represented by a super diverse assortment of vendors and a crowd to to match. There were the typical saree and handbag sellers plus one booth that had leather jackets. I saw many, many different ethnic groups from all over the world - lots of fun to be had. There's also a stage with music that continued for most of the night with some live local acts and a DJ spinning a broad-time-spanning assortment of well-mixed dance music. But of course the real reason I attended was to sample the food. The food ranged from near-local to far reaching Asian - there were at least two different Lao vendors, Snackboxe Bistro and a Thai/Viet/Lao vendor that served Pad Thai, Papaya Salad and skewers of meat. There were also several Indian vendors including the nearby Dekkan Spice (very good) so a good mix of local restaurants, caterers and food trucks. I saw a couple of Halal places including a whole BBQ goat. We settled on a mix of Thai and Island cuisines, the latter being a veggie and noodle stirfry with teriyaki chicken. I thought both were quite good and less than $10. The Hawaiian rotisserie looked amazing but wasn't quite ready or I def would have gotten the pork ribs or turkey leg. There was also a vegan section with many restaurants within if what I described above scared you. I think there was plenty to sample something unusual and come away full. There were many drink vendors selling lassies and other cold drinks including many fruity drinks. I only saw one beer vendor but it was large and well placed sith several local craft brews - I ended up with a Creature Comforts Tropicalia IPA but also say a Three Taverns sour and a Steady Hand Farmhouse Ale (Saisson) as options. Overall I liked the event but coudn't stay much more than the hour or so (commitments elsewhere) but did have fun while there. The people serving were really nice and accommodating and good about answering questions. It was starting to get crowded so that was my queue to get out anyway - I don't deal with the jostle of the crowds - when my beer gets bumped it's time to leave!

Clean grounds, organized sections. Love when the fairground lits up with carnival lights. The…read moreexotic animal petting zoo is my fav. What I didn't like were the pricing on the foods/drinks, and the carnivals games could be better. As for entrance fees, be selective with the promo. Tuesdays $2 etc. Some days come with unlimited rides but the entrance fee may be higher.