2024 Review! This is…read morethe third year my partner and I have been to the Taste of Roselle! The festival is the first weekend in August every year on Friday evening and all day Saturday/Sunday. They have a mix of food vendors, artisan tents, and carnival rides. There is all live music each evening with 3-4 bands rotating timeslots. The entire event spans on Main Street from Park St to Roselle Rd. Each year we have gone, there have been some consistent food vendors but always some new! They always have Doctor Dogs, Italian Pizza Kitchen, and Pollyanna serving beers, seltzers, and some of Lynfred's wines. The first booth we stopped at was Chicago Culinary Kitchen out of Palatine. Their menu offered a variety of BBQ style sandwiches with unique flavors. My partner got the Pit Beef Sandwich ($17). Forewarning, the horseradish sauce did not disappoint on the spice level and meat was tasty! The second booth we stopped at was Aunt Tina's which offers souther style cuisine. They had a "tasting menu" where all items were $6; I got the mac and cheese as well as cornbread fritters. Mac and Cheese was creamy and hit the spot. The cornbread fritters I would pass in next time.

Lots of vendors and good entertainment. Went for the beer and music. The food is super expensive…read morefor what you get in my opinion. I did share a Mexican plate with my wife and it was very good.

I'd call it a rinky-dink festival but it was actually really fun and the musical acts were nothing…read moreto scoff at, especially for the price (FREE!). I really liked it because not only did they put on a great FREE fireworks show on Thursday (July 3rd) evening, but even during Saturday's headliner (Howie Day) it wasn't even close to mildly crowded and the sound was actually really good. We liked the music acts so much that we actually came by twice in one day to catch this ZZ-Top sounding band along with Howie Day and a fun girl cover band that all play in the Fred P Hall outdoor Amphitheater (Palatine's hidden gem). The fest food is nothing to write home about beyond the slices from JJ Twiggs. Otherwise you're stuck with like 6 different quesadilla and fried food vendors. Soda and water is $1, and there's a beer tent with various Miller and Mike's Hard products. We chose to BYO in a discreet thermos, but I don't actually know if that's allowed or not. There are some vendor tents but we avoided those altogether- seemed like a few church things and pampered chef vendors, homemade loom type things. There was this really cool wood carving guy but since I'm moving soon we tried not to fall in love with any extra wares. I think the biggest draw of the fest is the kid-friendly factor teamed up with the rides, which ranged from tot-friendly to downright terrifying, but I really have to give it up to this fest because I did not think it was possible to transform this park in to such an massive entertainment and amusement park.

This is a great local community festival 4th of July weekend paid for by a local community…read moreorganization the Palatine Jaycees for the residents of the community. My family and I have attended the festival each year for the last 10 years. This event is over 50 years old and gets better each year. There is food vendors, a carnival, beer booth, and great local bands. Tip don't set up a blanket on the field for the fireworks prior to 8AM on the 3rd.

Another year, another Itasca Fest…read more We live minutes from the Itasca border, so getting here is a breeze. And so is parking -- though you do have to be willing to walk a block or two. But downtown Itasca is lovely. I think most people, if they drove through this little village of 8,300 people, would not expect very big happenings. But Itasca Fest is pretty impressive for the size of the town. Free admission, and there's a huge carnival, a big tent set up with plenty of tables for noshing at and a stage with live entertainment, bingo, a rummage sale, educational events for the kids (including interacting with wild animals) and of course plenty of greasy food to go around. Last year, there was a super-cool NASA trailer set up where you could play with various gadgets and learn about life in a spaceship. Honestly, I enjoyed it as much as the kid with us did. Unfortunately, no NASA trailer this year. Still, four stars for a solidly good time nearby and on the cheap.

Considering the majority of my big fat Italian family lives in Itasca, it's shocking that this was…read moremy first time here. And let's be honest, I came for the Bingo. We started here on Sunday night, the last night of the fest. Bingo is run by the Lyons Club and they do a great job of keeping the natives restless while having some personality. The guy working our row was awesome, was so friendly. Cards are 3 for a dollar and my dreams were crushed when I saw they were the sliders and not the stamp kind of cards. I was really looking forward to having a big purple stamper to dot up my cards. Each round of Bingo could win somewhere between $50-$70 but alas, I didn't have any luck. The final round was a cover-all game and cards were $1 each. The jackpot for that final round was above the $200 mark. In order to entertain us before the final round (and possibly because it was the last night of the fest, we were able to get as many free drinks as we wanted before the last game). I spent about $13 total on an hour of Bingo, which I don't consider to be too much of a loss. Did I really just write about Bingo for a full paragraph? Back to the fest. They have about 8-10 vendors for food including local restaurants. Rides are plentiful here, I couldn't even guess how many. Upwards of a dozen? Games were also not scarce, and they had all the classic games. I ended up winning myself a stuffed monkey. It's what every 29 year old adult female needs. I can only compare Itasca fest to Bartlett fest or Naperville's Rib Fest. I would probably prefer Itasca fest over both because it has WAY more games and rides than Bartlett, and isn't as crowded as Rib Fest. It's a new summer tradition.

So the fest was this past weekend, and it far exceeded my expectations…read more Unfortunately for everyone in attendance, it was a sweltering 95+ degree summer day, but the delicious food, music and huge amount of beer options made the sweat dripping down my neck and back bearable (Brew Fest Organizers, pleaseeeee consider making it an Oktoberfest!)   The sample punchcard was printed on the back of the paper map of the fest that you get when you arrive.  Another fest I went to had a lanyard punch card, which I thought was a nice touch...but not as green as this was.  So, yay for recyclables!    It really didn't matter if you had a punchcard once you were inside...because no one marked off your samples unless you literally put it in their face and asked them to.  Not that anyone needs more than 20 beer samples, but they almost seemed offended when I asked them to mark my card!   The music was good, the food was fabulous and I especially loved the Bravazzi Italian hard sodas. I saw them at Caputo's the next day.  Now I know where to buy them next time I'm craving one. My MOST favorite-ist beer of the entire night was Roaring Table's 5:00 tap special - a fruity/berry sour with whipped cream on top.  What a way to finish off the night!!!

I had the fortunate pleasure of attending the 8th Annual Barrington Brew Fest this year (2011)…read morelocated strategically directly in the North lot of the Metra train station (perfect for stumbling back to the train for an easy ride home). We decided to make a day of it, starting out with a wonderful lunch in the French Market adjacent to the station. What a delightful way to start off a cool saturday morning before an afternoon of heavy beer drinking. Sandwiches from Pastoral, modelo tallboys from the CVS located within the well air-conditioned building, and hot crispy frites from the belgian shop, SCORE, great start. After the luxuriously delicious meal, we bought our $7 weekend passes (super-cheapo bonus) and hopped aboard with previously mentioned tall-boys and played a game a Yahtzee while the hour quickly passed. Arriving at the station around 3:30, the festivities were well underway with several hundred beer-fanatics vigorously imbibing. The free t-shirts were long gone, but they offered past years T's for just $5 if you pleased. I paid my $40 ($35 before), grabbed my tasting glass and had at it. Some notable attendees included Floosmoor Station with two specialty kegs tapped early and dry soon (everyone love FS), as well as Lucky Monk's Oatmeal Stout and Wheat WIne (WOWZA WAS THIS TASTY). I also thoroughly enjoyed selections from Limestone Brewing, Half Acre, and Wild Onion's Hop Slayer was down-right awesome. I love me some IBU's and this packed in the hops. The brews and patrons were all top-notch and made for a thoroughly enjoyable afternoon (3-7PM). Best part (besides the beer of course: proceeds from the Barrington Brew Fest go to the Barrington Area Council on Aging serving seniors and caregivers. After a great day of craft-brews, we headed back one minute to the Metra and rode home, arriving before 8PM, just in time for late dinner and ready for round-2. The cold-hard facts: * Three Dozen Brewers & over 80 samplings * Bean Bag (Baggo) Contest * 50/50 Raffle * Live music by Second Time Around Food available for purchase from McGonigal's Pub, Cooper's of Barrington, Ruth's Chris Steakhouse

Another typical suburban festival -- carnival rides, mixed with music stages, and food tents, and…read moresometimes, business vendors. To be honest, I enjoy em, and this one, called Buffalo Grove Days, or what the cool kids call it -- "BG Days" is A-OK with me. I do like how this is well laid-out. There are shuttle buses to take/drop you to where you need to be. I didn't bother looking for parking and ended up parking at wherever the Buffalo Grove Days parking signs pointed to, which ended up being at the Buffalo Grove Metra station, which was free. I do have to say that the offering of carnival rides BG Days have, compared to the other copious amounts of suburban festivals, was less. It was actually hard to use up our 22-tickets (this year it was 22-tickets for $25) and I'm glad I didn't go with the unlimited rides for $25 each. The carnival games included pop-a-shot, lucky ducks, and other typical games. Food-wise, the food tent was actually pretty big. Lots to choose from, from pizza, to Mexican, to Dairy Queen. Food prices were A-OK and definitely not like the $40 for a piece of lettuce prices you'd find at the Taste of Chicago. BATHROOM REVIEW: The couple of port-a-potties we visited were actually pretty clean! Many to choose from and there was no line on the evening we went. Sit or squat? It's still a port-a-potty after all. Squat.

Free to enter. There are various shuttles (bona-fide school busses!) to bus you from parking lots…read moreto the fairgrounds and back. Tip: Make sure to note whether your bus says COOK CO or LAKE CO on the side window so you can get back on the right bus route. Bring chairs or blankets for the parade (starts at 1). The north side of Lake Cook has craft fairs and food, while the south has rides and games (and a few food options - mostly cotton candy, elephant ears, corndogs). Ride tickets amount to about $1.25, and kiddie rides are typically 2-3 tickets. There are two sections of rides: the kiddie ones and adult. Food vendors included a lot of pizza (Nancy's, Wapaghettis...), Jersey Mike's, JD's BBQ, Culvers..also mac and cheese, chicken tenders, burritos, pretzels, etc from various other vendors. There's a covered picnic area to chill and take a break from the sun and heat, as well as a misting tent. Prices weren't TERRIBLE. My steak burrito was $7 and my custard sundae was $3. Pop cans are $1.50 and water is about $2.50. You can bring your own beverages, water, coolers, whatever (non-alc), too. There's an abundance of portra johns, and we even saw some being cleaned! Clean sh!tters?! Score!

This was my first Oktoberfest and I greatly enjoyed it!…read more There was German beer, food, and music! Now that's a real Oktoberfest or I would like to think so because Oktoberfest orginated from Germany and how can you have one without all the German goods? The event is quite small, but the crowd was great! People enjoying music and participated in German dances! I got to try some real German food, which made the foodie in me extremely happy! My favorites were the German potato salad and spaetzle (egg noodle)! The spaetzle came with a gravy, which made it deliciously flavorful! For you non-adventurers there were the basic hot dogs, pretzels, chips, etc. The bf and fam enjoyed the food and German beer also. They even bought some huge glass jugs with a German logo on it! Fun times, wish it was bigger and more German cuisines.

Ugly fest too depresed festival. Too small, too poor definitely if you wanna waste your time go…read more Watch tv is better. Sorry but I not recommended. Only if you wanna eat German food it's ok.

Want the whimsy of the Renaissance Faire on a smaller scale and without driving to Wisconsin or…read moreMichigan? Check out this great little fantasy festival at Vasa Park in Elgin! Despite some rain, we enjoyed interacting with some intrepid vendors who were hawking such wares as jewelry, fairy gardens and miniatures, witch hats, cloaks, tea, art, and watches, as well as face painting, fortune telling and reiki. There were also whimsical costumed creatures, such as Og the Twister (a satyr, I think) who made balloon animals and Alanna MerBubbles the Mermaid, seated in her giant clamshell, as well the Living Statue! We enjoyed live music and dance by Nazario Chickpeazio, Leah Jurgens and the Harp Twins. There were several options for food (a food truck and food at the club house). Overall, a fantastic festival for lovers of fantasy!

After experiencing the difficulty of getting near the launch site of the fireworks shows, this year…read moreI decided to watch Itasca's firework show from a distance in Elk Grove Village. Though there was still quite a line off 53 and onto Biesterfield and Arlington Heights Roads, this is still much better than what I've experienced closer where the fireworks are launched. It's a good idea to allow a minimum of 30 min before and 30 min after for heavy congestion though even an hour after the show, the traffic was still quite heavy on the main roads. The show itself really dazzled with both a higher frequency of fireworks than many nearby spots as was a larger size fireworks. This spanned a large array of different firework types though I wish there was a little more variety in the colors available. Regardless, even from over a mile away, the show was amazing and well worth the drive nearby. It's still crowded in the surrounding towns and there were a substantial number of lines at local businesses like McDonalds who were serving food. Overall, great fireworks show to watch -- even if you're not experiencing it directly at Hamilton Lakes.

Great shot with lots of beautiful and very patriotic colors and styles of designs above our heads…read moregoing off, but was a little too short.