Soo fun! Great food. Bought the best custom pet collar from a vendor there too. Definitely going…read moreback.

I love a good festival and the 2nd Street Festival was 2nd to none…read more There are a lot of spring and fall festivals, but the 2nd Street festival filled the void in my summer festival calendar. It was hot, but not too crowded, and you could easily cool down with some ice cream (little babys), a popsicle (lil pop shop), Vietnamese iced coffee or Thai iced tea (Soy Cafe, Same Same, Circles), a DUNK TANK ($5 for 3 throws and a beer-and you can dunno your friends! ), or some free drink samples (true organic juice, wine, nesquik chocolate milk, anyone?) The free stuff offerings were strong (not as good as Rittenhouse Festival but better than South Street and Italian Market). This festival's haul included true organic juice sunglasses, a Philly sports and social tshirt that I will probably never wear, and kind bars (do these guys give out more they sell or what? They are really too kind) . Also spotted a lot of coozies, some water bottles, tote bags, the usual (spin all the wheels people!) Food and drink offerings were good, with a variety of restaurant stands (Same Same, Circles, Standard Tap (octopus bruschetta was my favorite bite of the day), Hai Street Kitchen,) food trucks (Cow and the Curd, Poi Dog, Dump and Roll, Mom Moms Polish Food truck) and a lot of your standard bbq offerings and typical festival foods (funnel cake). There were also a few stages with bands, some street performers, some shopping trucks like Smak Parlour lots of craft/Philly t shirts/hippie clothing/jewelry stands, etc. Easily accessible from the Spring Garden or Girard stop on the MFL and you can check out the Piazza afterward or stop in to one of the many restaurants along the festival. Highly recommend!

The first thing you, dear reader, should understand is the historic location where this faire has…read morebeen held for the past several years. It is Fort Mifflin, originally constructed in 1771 in a place they then called "MUD ISLAND". Yes, that's right. Mud. Fort Mifflin is still an active base for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and is currently the oldest active U.S. military base and the only base in use that predates the Declaration of Independence. So, back to the location: MUD. As in very wet ground. This fort sits on part of the remaining wetlands situated along the Delaware river where the Schuykill River empties. It's essentially built on a giant natural sponge. What does that mean? It means wear waterproof shoes whenever you visit this place, Faire or not. It does not matter if it hasn't rained in weeks: You are likely to still have mud. Today, Fort Mifflin sits very directly next to the Philadelphia International Airport, right along an active runway. What does that mean? Dragons, cleverly disguised as aircraft coming in for landing. Stripey Dragons (American Air), Triangle Dragons (Delta), Brown and Gold Dragons (UPS), even Dragons hailing from Southwest. We saw lots of dragons. :) It's a place that was built before cars, and so in between the faire vendors and performers who are there all the time, the parking lot is super full. You CAN take a chance and park your car along the side of Hog Island Road, however please understand you are right at a major airport, and you are also close to the airport's fuel storage tanks, so there's a better-than-average chance that your car will be towed while you're frolicking. The faire organizers rented the closest available lot, which, because of that big airport runway, is about a mile drive away. If you could walk in a direct line between the two, it's like 1/4 of a mile. Great, except it's an ACTIVE RUNWAY and they don't take kindly to pedestrians. Anyhow, we DID read the instructions for parking before we arrived, paid our $5, and hopped a shuttle. They had 4 large 12-15 passenger vans running constantly and I think the longest we waited in the 3 days we were there was maybe 20 minutes, during which they had a folk singer with his guitar and kazoo. The faire itself is probably more what you'd call a 'pop up' faire, compared with some very large fairs like Pennsylvania that is 'purpose built' with permanent village structures, this is much more pop up tents and temporary stages. I like both kinds of fairs, however I don't compare them. That would be like comparing the St. Denis Fun Fair with Great Adventure, right? The shuttle drove us right to the gate, and we had zero problems checking in using our $40 season passes. The first section when we entered had a stage, food trucks and a couple vendors. There were covered and open sky tables for people to sit at while they ate. The next two spaces were shows and vendors. I visited the hair braiding booth first where the lovely person braided my hair right up and put pretty decorations in too. YAY. Then we saw the falcon show - the falcons were not flying free because of the very close by airport. Airport + bird = bad. The falconer was great, she told us all about the birds, how to become a falconer, etc. There were like 5 total stages and we saw some great acts, a storyteller, harpist, daredevil fire and magic act, and a singing group were all on hand. They had taken care to rope up the wettest mushiest areas, and they had laid flat plywood all along the walkways, which definitely helped. The vendors were all very nice, no temu re-sell crap, and they had two different 'find it' games for families to play while they were there. Find the Cheese was really funny too. I really enjoyed my time at this faire and would go again next year. I will bring a hat and sunscreen next time, I always forget these. If you're looking for big showy stages that look like the globe theater and a village, this isn't your faire. However if you're looking for genuine artisan crafts, great shows and a lovely sense of ...community, then this is your place. By day 3 I was greeted like an old friend, which was super cool.

This is a review from the 2023 Faire…read more Based on the past reviews I'd say they've figured things out much better than in previous years. The only issue I had was that they didn't prepare the parking lot on time, so myself and a half dozen others were driving around before being sent back to the deserted lot where we had already been. But only a few minutes after the Faire opened the attendant showed up and setup a little tent. From there on everything was great. It was a small Faire, but it was a lot of fun. One of my friends mentioned that compared to the bigger faires they actually thought the quality of the vendors was much higher. She liked everything she saw and I guess at larger faires that's not usually the case. The Fort was a cool setting that worked well for the atmosphere. They needed a few more food stalls because the lines got intensely long by midday. I was one of the first people in and I really wish I'd been hungry earlier because it went from zero wait to 30 minutes + and that wasn't even the slowest line. Some of the vendors even ran out of food with several hours left. But I'm still giving the Faire 5 stars because it was fun. I got a bullseye with a throwing knife. It was a beautiful day. So yeah none of the other stuff matters it was a good time and I'd happily come again next year. Oh yeah, and there were swallows all over the place! Nested in the "catacombs" and flying over the Lilly pads. Beautiful.

I had no plans for the weekend and last minute decided to go to this festival with my family. We…read morearrived around 3:30 and after 10 minutes of looking for parking we decided on the parking deck which was a great decision considering how packed the festival was. We had a ball, we walked the entire festival area, heard some good live music, ate delicious food (including tacos and street corn), and had some good beer and cocktails. We are beat and that is a sign we had a great time!

A lot of fun in great weather. Lots of food options…read more Make sure to get the Bavarian pretzel from Brauhaus. Don't forget to look for freebies and food samples too.

We all have gone to a block party here and there in our times. You haven't done a block party like…read morea Philly one where they block off 4 blocks. This will make for some good times. Does your block party have a live band? Maybe some do, but not like this one. Does your block party have multiple food stations where you can go into a food coma? Again I'll go with maybe, but I will bet Barclay , Butcher , Alma De Cuba, Rouge, Oyster House, and so forth aren't catering to it. The food I could go on with the countless racks of ribs being layed out by different places, the burgers from Rouge or Lobster Rolls from Oyster House that was a taste of perfection. Lamb Burgers, and Underdogs doing their thing. Everyone trying to be better than the rest. I love a healthy, stuff your face with this mouthwatering dish kinda competition. Drinks you say? Every block had a section designated so you could enjoy a libation or two , or three in honor of Spring coming into full swing. I'm sure you've been to a block party with a keg or two, but this one simply blew out whatever you experienced. A great flow of people(more like an endless sea of people) becoming one giant, over fed , well hydrated, party going family. Besides the endless amounts of food to be consumed, or drinks to satisfy your thirst, ice cream to cool you down, there is more. Vendors selling house things, trinkets, cloths, you name it they sold it. A great day in the city of Brotherly Love to be enjoyed. Plus the after party to keep things going are at the bars and restaurants right at your feet. Can't wait for next years festivities and another Mojito !

I'm what you would call a festival connoisseur. This weekend alone I was at the Night Market, the…read moreRittenhouse Row Festival AND the Italian Market Festival. I'm addicted. PROS This festival had A LOT of freebies/spin the wheel/enter this raffle/cornhole/beer pong: My friends and I came home with beach balls, hand sanitizer, tote bags, pens, a bag of hamburger rolls, a measuring cup, hand cream, Helium comedy club passes, yogurt, mints, etc. Let's just say I'm going to have to unsubscribe from a few hundred emails next week. All the fancy Rittenhouse restaurants were out-Le Bec Fin, Oyster House, Butcher and Singer, and some of the not so fancy ones-Dunkin Donuts, 500 Degrees, etc. CONS Some of the food was kind of pricey for small samples coming out of a tent (Il Pitorre, no one wants to pay $7 for 1 shrimp). Lines for alcohol were lonnngg (but hey some of the drink samples were free). I'm a big street jewelry/craft fair display person-there was a lack of that here. VERY crowded at some parts. Overall great festival, but it did conflict with the Italian Market Festival, and I am aggressive and did both (we stuck to a strict schedule), but if I had to choose I'd go for the Italian Market Festival.

Media closes down a few blocks of State Street and craft vendors line both sides of the street…read more Tons of beautiful things and ample parking. Very well organized. Great family fun.

This was a HUGE disappointment. I'm hoping that it's because they had to push it to its rain date,…read morebecause otherwise I can't imagine how it has lasted for 35 years. There were way less vendors than we thought there would be. It's billed as a food and craft fair but I counted 2 craft booths - the main reason I was going, so a massive disappointment. I hope the organizers work to recruit better vendors next year. That all said, there were a ton of food options though unfortunately, my husband and I only truly enjoyed one of the 4 we sampled.

Lower Merion annually has a National Night Out in order to support local police, EMTs and…read moreFirefighters. In the past, they have held the event at Suburban Square, but this year it was at The Wynnewood Shopping Center. While the event is geared towards younger kids, I always come to check it out and see the great community. I came in and was greeted by the sight of a giant slide, carnival games and a large revolving swing. After that, I walked around a little more and saw a couple of more things including a fire truck, an ambulance, a police car, a moon bounce and a concession stand. The kids were really into it, which was nice to see. The concession stand was alright, but they served limited items. I only got a funnel cake and a lemonade. They were both solid, but the lemonade was a bit watery. Towards the end, the Phillie Phanatic and a cow mascot, advertising for a Kosher barbecue came out. For the entire time, a band was blasting music. While I did have a nice time, I had a couple of problems. First, parking was difficult to get as the parking lot was jammed, luckily I was able to find a spot. However, many people had to park on the street. Also, they said a K-9 was expected to come, but she was a bit scared so she wasn't let out. Altogether, I did have a nice time and I plan to return next year!

It was like stepping back in time going from the crowded raucous dance parties and drag queens at…read moreOutfest, to the wide open cobblestone streets of Old City Fest, complete with people spinning looms in colonial garb. We hit the Fest, just as it was ending around 5-6, but there were still lots of contests to enter, wheels to spin, drinks to drink, and foods to eat. Lots of local spot offering up small bites and local businesses offering up free weeks at gyms, sunglasses, snacks, and theater tickets from the Arden Theater (!) There was even a spot to dress up in colonial outfits and take a #selfrethsalley! (Selfie at elfreth's alley). Saw some people walking on stilts, but would have loved to see some of the fashion show and other performances. Good Fall Festival, and nice that it's not too crowded or crazy!

Today was the first Old City Fest and let me start by saying this: Rum Punch…read more Everywhere you looked, festival goers were holding those coconuts. And for good reason! Those things, courtesy of Cuba Libre, packed a PUNCH. (!) And they were worth the price-tag. Only $10. Can't beat it. This event was just great. I love the Old City neighborhood to begin with (...who doesn't?) and making a festival day out of all the awesome retailers and restaurants is even better. Plus, the weather cooperated and it turned out to be an absolutely gorgeous day. This made it easy to also enjoy Franklin Fountain's special pumpkin ice cream in a waffle cone after the rum punch. Perfect for the season! Other highlights: Fashion show, Madonna impersonator band. + Ben Franklin. Of course.

Maybe it's because we went on a weeknight, but it was pretty quiet at the RiverRink - a bit…read moredisappointing because it would definitely be a great vibe if it were more crowded. We had the ferris wheel all to ourselves and spent some time walking around the other attractions. Seems like it would be a fun way to spend the evening on a crowded summer night.

Blue Cross RiverRink Summerfest made my inner child so happy! I visited towards the end of summer…read moreand immensely enjoyed myself! First and foremost, I love ferris wheels. There was a nice one that had "xoxo" in the middle. My friend and I got on the ride while the sun was setting over the city, and it was such a beautiful sight to experience. Blue Cross RiverRink Summerfest is a fun place for all ages! It's a carnival atmosphere with games to win prizes, funnel cakes, a skating rink, alcoholic beverages, mini golf, and so much more!