AZ Reggae Festival 2026 was OFF the charts! We went opening day Friday and it was so nice getting…read morethere early before the crowds rolled in. What an amazing lineup -- so many great bands! The food was fabulous and we had so much fun throughout the day. By 6:00 it got really crowded so I took fewer photos, but it was an absolute 5 day! Sunday's lineup looks great too -- would definitely recommend coming out!

Thank Jah for this beautiful weather. The music has started... DJ on deck... vibes are good…read more... There were several Bands throughout the day. I posted a couple pics for the bands I liked. Pick up Reggae bucks for food. I suggest pricing your food first, then getting the exact amount in Reggae bucks. The venue is an open soccer field. Ladies leave the stilettos at home. Wedges are cool. Bring an umbrella, there are no trees, there is no shade.. Bring a blanket Don't be crazy, wear and bring sunblock. This was the first annual festival. I was impressed with the way it went for the 1st time around! I was initially upset that it started 2 hrs late, but I can be forgiving for that. We sat for nearly an hr in virtual silence. 12-1; 15pm! If u came on time at 11, uhm, that's 2 hrs. People, DEE JAY - hire one next year!

I love this street show…read more We've met so many talented artists over the years, we've been coming for the last several. This is my favorite place to Christmas shop because we can buy local artist pieces and one of a kind gifts. I love West Kept Secret's homemade magnets and metal calendars. The weather is gorgeous, there are so many places to sit in the shade, being your doggies on a leash and eat and drink. They also feature local music to listen to in the main quad as well.

Great venue! You also can stay at resort without worrying about all the traffic when it's over.read more

I averaged my rating based on Oct 2012 (5Star) and April 2013 (3.5 Star)…read more The Arizona Jazz Festival is one of the nicest/prettiest music festivals I've attended. Normally, festivals are held in these huge fair grounds with dirty dust being kicked up everywhere. But what is so wonderful and nice about the AZ Jazz festival is that it is held on the beautiful grounds of the Historic Wigwam Resort http://www.yelp.com/biz/the-wigwam-litchfield-park#hrid:-Yra83fScX6aPuKW8hLBSQ. My review in this link tells you how I feel about the Wigwam. As for the musical selection at this "jazz" festival, it is a common tongue in cheek comment that this is not a real Jazz festival because the major draws to the event are "neo-soul" and "old school R&B/Soul" performers. A fellow Yelper, Reese J, commented that the festival should be renamed "Arizona Soul Festival". Nevertheless, the fun atmosphere and talented draws are certainly worth the money and time. So for a little FYI: This festival was previously held at the JW Marriott. This festival is put on every 6 months in October and April. I attended both the October 2012 and April 2013 events. My friends and I bought hotel packages for each event. If you live locally and you live out in Mesa, consider it. The convenience of running to the room at 4pm after sitting in the sun and heat to take a quick shower and change can't be beat. As well as not having to drive an hour to get home. As I stated, I attended Oct 2012 and April 2013. In Oct 2012, the festival set the bar extremely high. I sent them feedback and my only "needs improvement" comment was "get an after party". Litchfield park has no night life. Capitalize on that. They didn't do any better on Friday night in April 2013. The lineup in April '13 was far better than Oct '12. But less Jazzy and more Soul. So, in April 2013, all they had to do was maintain the BEAUTIFUL experience I had Oct '12, but they fell short. here's where I was unhappy. -The Will Call line AWFUL on Friday night. I missed the entire Will Downing Concert because of it. Suggestions: Have lines based on last name. A staff person in the hotel lobby during check-in hours of 3:30 - 5:30 to hand out tickets to hotel pkg people. Separate Will call for VIP. -Drink Tickets! ANOTHER unnecessary line. Suggestions: Presale drink tickets online. And/OR Use a mobile app so folks can buy the tkts at their seats and get in line to buy drinks. -OverCrowded!! Suggestion: Reduce the Max Capacity. Get a new, larger Venue. In October 2012, people danced at their seats as there was more room. Since we were packed in there, you didn't see that very much. -Entrance to Festival Area. lines were long and the VIP line was largely empty. Suggestion: Run the entrance like the TSA does the security chk points at the airport. The TSA person checking the boarding pass/ID of the 1st class passengers ALSO checks coach-class folks when there is no 1st class person is in line. Apply that concept here too! Anyone taking tickets should never be doing nothing (excuse the double negative) when you have a long line. -Guarantee Event exclusivity the resort members scheduled an event on top of this event. I can say that many people felt there was some bias there. I'll leave that comment there. My experience in Oct 2012 was extremely pleasant. I could not imagine a festival being done better. Apr 2013 was just ok for me. The AZ Jazz Fest has my support in Oct 2013. I'm hoping they use a sensible cap this time. But I'm not sure how I will support this event in Oct 2013. I'll have to evaluate the pricing and then make my decision. Update: one thing I forgot to mention: They had more vendors this time around than in Oct 2012. That may have contributed to the lack of space. You may like it. I also didn't comment that every single act was amazing. The shows almost always ran exactly on time and finished on time. I especially love that.

I appreciate that parking was free and so was general admission. No one likes paying for parking…read more Not sure why this is advertised as a Chocolate Affair though, it's actually just a farmers market. Food trucks and vendors outside of the civic center and then vendors inside. It's not just chocolate vendors inside which would make sense so the chocolate doesn't melt, it's solar, window treatments, realtors, etc. There are WAY TOO MANY vendors in that tiny room. There is absolutely no room to walk around comfortably and actually look at what anyone was offering. And of course there are strollers, wheelchairs and wagons to navigate through. People stop at a vendor table and then hold up the whole line of people trying to walk down the aisles. Please work on your logistics. This was not a fun event to attend, we didn't even stay for 30 minutes. Don't advertise this as a Chocolate Affair. It is anything but.

This event is a yearly event that usually takes place at the Glendale Civic Center. It looks like…read morethis event has been going on for at least 16 years now. Most food festivals cost money and/or parking. What's awesome about this event is that it is one of the rare events where it is free admission and free parking so you really have nothing to lose by checking it out. There were 8 general food vendors which were situated outside. All the chocolate vendors were inside of the exhibit halls in the Civic Center. Along with this were a few other misc pop ups such as clothing, trinket, home improvement, and candy vendors. The chocolate vendors were a mix of actual physical establishments such as Cerreta's Chocolate Factory and pop ups such as Wysked. Something this place had that I don't see a lot of food festivals have is ample seating to enjoy your delicious treats. There's a beer garden too if you're looking for some alcohol. Overall, it's a pretty small festival but full of neat places to browse. Since it's in the heart of downtown Glendale, you can also spend your time walking around time if you haven't gotten full off the savory sweets of this festival.

We went yesterday 9/5/15. Out of the line up for the day, Collie Buddz, is who we really wanted to…read moresee, everyone else was just a bonus. We got there at 1pm, started at 11 am, Collie was supposed to perform at 9 pm and we thought it would be a real bonus to listen to live reggae music all day long. This was not the case, the flyer even stated someone performing every 2 hours or so....8 performers. We listened to a DJ till about 5 ish and only 5 performers came. I am not rating the performances here just the event because of the 5 who actually showed up and the DJ's who were there did a wonderful job! However who ever ran the event, should get no stars! They didn't communicate with the crowd why everyone was late or even apologize for it! Then we were waiting until after 11 pm for Collie go come out and the lights went on and security telling us we had to leave....no explanation from the promoters, hosts NO ONE ! We were all wondering what's going on and as we were walking out the door, the poor security guards had to tell us Collie didn't show up! Needless, to say, there were SEVERAL upset people who came early, stayed late and even bought VIP tickets for the show to see him. No communication from anyone ; it was poorly ran. People got the feeling of being ripped off, I heard many complaints walking out.....the energy definitely went down! Snoop Lion was the big name for today (Sunday the 6th) and they already crossed his name off yesterday off the list and there is nothing on their Facebook page or the event site stating it.....Don't waste your money because he will not be there today if you are only going to see him and I have a feeling they won't say anything either when you come to the door! Reggae brings all types of people together, people will still come to listen to the messages and positive vibes it sends out. Just be open and honest about things. This was very shady business. I have been to other events before and this is the first one that felt like it was a scam to get people to buy tickets and get people there. I for one understand things happen, people have to cancel, something comes up, etc but when you are dealing with peoples money in your business, don't be shady about it, communicate with the crowds to what's going on, don't hide, you will get more respect that way....just some food for thought....I expected more being the 3rd annual one.

This was such a horrible experience! Collie Buddz never showed! Wasted $105. No explanation. Got…read moreripped off, if your thinking about going dont go. The DJ was the best part of the night! Felt bad for vendors. Arrived at 6 stayed till 10:30 this is when I realized i got ripped off no Collie Buddz. I tryed emailing these people and there website doesnt even work. DONT WASTE YOUR MONEY!

Was invited as a judge through Yelp for the food festival and had high expectations from what was…read morelisted on their website and extensive list of food vendors they had advertised. We (Yelp Elite) met the coordinator in order to listen to information on directions on how to sample food vendors and vote. It was put simply that there were three lines per vendor and that we could get samples by simply letting the vendors know we were guest judges. We then would vote on our favorite vendors and submit our results after all the given tickets were used up. The event was simply put as horrible and highly unorganized. Most vendors were unprofessional in denying such line for samples or didn't participate in the "contest". Besides that, there was not as many vendors as advertised and seemed to be a bait for a higher turn out for the festival. Also, it's staff did not contain enough knowledge to direct us anywhere or about anything related to the event. It was a mess. I do have to mention that The Panini Guys and Longhorn Steakhouse were the only vendors who participated in the sampling as well as showing some form of respect towards us judges. As mentioned before, most vendors were unprofessional in their responses and condescending. Poorly coordinated, planned and lacked in many aspects. Probably the saddest excuse for something they call a Street Food Festival. Many other guests who had purchased VIP wristbands realized they paid more for nothing VIP and that it was overheard that many wanted refunds for their tickets. Let's just say, I will not be returning- even if offered as a guest judge.

As a yelp judge for this event, I had an okay experience because I was sampling for free and was…read moresometimes given the chance to cut the long lines to sample. Also, having not attended any yelp elite related events, I had minimal to zero expectations. However, if I was not a yelp elite and had decided to attend the event and purchase a food pass, I would have been so upset. First of all, the sizes of the food samples were extremely tiny - oftentimes the size of my two thumbs. The price of the food definitely did not justify the quantity that customers were given. For the "Foodie Pass" tasting option, $28 gives you 10 tickets - that's an average of $2.80 I could have paid and actually what others were paying for very small portions. An hour after the festival had begun, vendors were beginning to run out of samples and even dishes and cups to put the samples in. Furthermore, there was supposed to be three lines at each vendor, to differentiate between people getting samples, actual food, or express, but more often than not, there was just one long line. That was really silly. I think the lack of communication amongst the event organizers, volunteer staff, vendors, and festival goers was a big issue. So, with the judging, yelpers weren't informed about where to meet initially, that we would be taped, and that even though the event organizer told us to cut the line, some vendors wouldn't let us do so. The event website was definitely misleading. Overall, it was a bit of a mess.

Loved that music was current and pop slight mix of classic. Lights were amazing. Worth the…read moremoney!!! Best family experience of the holiday without breaking the bank and small time commitment. Make it longer! Slower car pace please.

Took our 94 year old friend who is home bound and was just overwhelmed with the experience of World…read moreof Illumination. She loved the drive and the music was fun. The staff was great and the pace was perfect. We hope that the theme will be switched with the other location next year so that we will want to go again next year.