Best beer festival in southern Indiana . . . hands down…read more 48 brewery guests + 3 food vendors + live local music + good parking + a map of the booths + a steel sampling cup + plenty of shade and places to sit all in the cozy setting of Mill Race Park. They always do a great job of getting folks checked in and have plenty of staff / security buzzing around taking care of the nitty gritty. See you next year.

I absolutely love that Columbus has an event like this. The Ethnic Expo happens yearly and there…read moreare tents set up representing different countries. At each tent they sell ethnic food from the respective country. This year the featured country was India. I especially love this event because you get to try a bit of different foods from different countries. This year I tried out the Greece booth and had a lamb gyro. It was excellent. There is also a Biergarten serving beers/wines from the different countries. In the back of the expo there were tents set up with merchandise for purchase. I hope in the years to come they continue expanding and more countries are represented. You can definitely get a taste of a few ethnicities. It's usually located behind the Columbus city hall so you will have to find a spot in the free parking downtown and walk.

I've lived in Columbus, IN, for 6 years and have attended 6 annual "Ethnic Expo" festivals. It's a…read moreterrific event held since 1984 on the 2nd weekend of October on the streets surrounding City Hall. About 35 food vendors are on site from all sorts of different countries, ethnicity, etc. serving anywhere from 3 - 4 items to a dozen items of amazingly terrific food. There's something for everyone (including a tent dedicated to nothing but desserts. It's something to behold). Each year a different country / ethnicity will host the event. In 2019 India will host and will have featured entertainers (as well as the 1st booth you come to as you head south from downtown Columbus). Speaking of entertainment, it's non-stop on 3 different stages including one inside the biergarten. Many of the booths are sponsored by non-profits who summon volunteers to help with the effort. Always great to see money going to good causes. Additionally, there's southern Indiana's coolest parade at 11 am on Sat. as well as about a dozen non-food vendors. They top it off with fireworks Saturday evening. Just loads of fun. Bring your appetite and some cash. https://www.ethnicexpo.org/ https://www.facebook.com/groups/EthnicExpo/photos/ (see a list of the menus here on an Excel spreadsheet) https://www.columbus.in.gov/community-development/ethnic-expo/

https://www.facebook.com/SeymourOktoberfest/…read more https://www.seymouroktoberfest.com/ Seymour, Indiana, just celebrated its 45th annual downtown Oktoberfest (2017) complete with tons of food and craft vendors, fair rides, a Biergarten, music on several stages and much more. As a local, I have attended about 35 years of Seymour Oktoberfest, and truly, it just keeps getting better each year. Parking is not a problem since the event is so large (most of downtown) and there's a shuttle that takes people back / forth from the Seymour High School parking lot to the library (next to the Biergarten). The shuttle is tractor drawn, so that's fun to do anyway. On the 5 separate stages of the event are all sorts of music including a German-style 7-member band (made up mostly of local area teachers), cloggers, bluegrass, local rock bands, etc. I really like how soloists (or duets) will just be randomly placed throughout the event playing music (ie. accordion players, banjo/string bass duets, etc.). The parade starts at 1:30 every year and is huge! 5 area high school marching bands perform along the route, tons of church and non-profit floats, way too many people walking with politicians and candy is given out by many. Grab a seat somewhere away from the corner of Walnut and 2nd St. (by the library / Biergarten) since that can be a little crowded. Regarding what food to eat, ugh, that's tough to say. There's so much good from which to choose. The Sati-babi is always a crowd favorite (hunks of flame-grilled pork on a stick) along with the apple dumpling (which usually sells out). If you go away hungry, you weren't trying hard enough. Finally, the Biergarten. The logistics are pretty good with coming in and leaving, but they could have a little more room at the line to get your beer. I could have just gone at a time when they were doing contests (ie. stein holding, etc.) and that caused a bit of a bottleneck. The choices are pretty good with plenty of the mass-produced watered-down stuff (Bud Light, etc.) but they have a nice selection of German-style and local beers (ie. Spaten, Salt Creek Brewery (Bedford, IN), etc.). Hats off to the organizers and all the volunteers. So much of the event proceeds go to local non-profits. What a fun way to support good causes.

What a fun event for the Lavender Daze! Great vendors and entertaining live music. It was nice to…read moreget a drink, walk around, get some food, sit down and hang out. Worth the drive.

Beautiful farm setting for events. Went to the Lavender…read moreFestival where we cut our own bouquets for $10 each. All things lavender for sale plus tons of vendors in the barn and on the grounds. Plenty of parking. Admission $5. They also have concerts, picnics, Christmas events and you can rent the barn for weddings, receptions, etc.

The taste of Columbus was in the Commons building upstairs. It was 3 hours of sampling Columbus…read morewith 27 venders. Ashlynn Leigh Cakes- her Halloween and Christmas cookies were beautiful and the macaroons very good lots of varieties. YoMaMa's Frozen Yogurt ice cream was Turtle- S'more and Cookie Monster. Also biscuits and gravy but by far my favorite was her beer cheese.They do ice cream cakes also. The Fresh Fork had the best Sweet potato bruschetta but the bread was a little hard and a Caramel apple cheesecake shooter so good. Cranberry BBQ meatballs and a gourmet fruit and cheese tray. Chick fli-A Kale salad two different wraps. But the Mac and Cheese was so good that will be on my plate instead of the waffle fries from now on. Jeanette Molina Catering had the best stuffed dates and bacon wrapped dates and coffee. Lucabe Coffee Chicken Ricotta sandwich very good and coffee. Fresh Take Kitchen Pasta and Veggie. The Garage Pub and Grill had the best spinach artichoke dip served with chips. Freddy's chocolate or vanilla frozen custard ice ice and thanks for the coupon for a free cone or dish. And I'm glad the A1 burger is coming back soon. Culinary Art had a delicious meringue and a soft center with cranberry sauce on the outside it was so good it was a sweet and tart dessert. Upland brewery had IPA -Pilsner and Ale beer to sample. McAllister's I didn't try it because I eat there all the time. Had samples of sandwiches and some sides. Delivery.com had delivery bags and backpacks and samples of two of their vendors one was a pizza place. Hilton meats and cheeses pickles and peppers and the best pimento cheese spread. And a meatball with marinara piece of mozzarella cheese and a basil leaf. Canteen Service Large wrapped cookies. John Conti Gourmet Specially Coffee Ice tea and Ice coffee. The Savory Swine 4 different samples of their dishes you take home and thaw and serve to your family. Thai Connection Noodle and a Rice dish and soup. Horizon Bank. Caramel corn Radio Station WKKG 101.5 country And others I can't remember. And a cash bar. Just a note for next year. Don't put tables down the center of the Isles it caused back up and people were pushing to get through. Overall experience was extremely satisfying and very filling and would do it again.

The 2019 Taste of Columbus in Columbus, IN, was a blast. The Commons (indoors) downtown is a…read moreperfect venue for the event. Around 20 vendors participated from local restaurants, caterers, food delivery services, etc. They had a cash bar (so you could wash down all the goodies) and door prizes. If you buy your tickets early (and bought 5 tickets minimum), the price was $16 / ticket. I suggest doing this and just selling the tickets you don't need to friends. Otherwise, tickets are $25 at the door. Definitely worth a $16 ticket. The live entertainment was terrific. Apologies for not getting his name, but he played recognizable tunes on the classical guitar, and he was fabulous. Not too loud / soft, just right. It's casual dress and lasts around 3 hours, but after 1 hour there you'll run out of room in your stomach and will have seen all the booths at least once. Cool event that is put on by the local Chamber of Commerce. https://business.columbusareachamber.com/events/details/a-taste-of-columbus-2019-1831

1.) We hit the weather jackpot for this year's Indiana Wine Fair…read more 2.) Story, Indiana is ridiculously charming. The Inn itself *is* the town. Half the charm of this event is the drive down from Indianapolis. 3.) We parked in a field and moseyed our way through the Inn's garden which is filled with produce they use in the on-site restaurant. 4.) 30+ Hoosier wineries offering samples (spirits this year too! -Huber Winery (Starlight) and Cardinal Spirits from Bloomington (one of my personal favorites) 5.) the setting is super laid back in a field with live music and a BYOC vibe (bring-your-own-chair) 6.) Maybe next year I'll snag a room at Story Inn and make a weekend of it? ;)

If you love wine, this is the event for you! I went with a group of girls and we had a great girls…read moreday. Bring your dog, bring your friends, bring everybody! There were even a lot of men winos too. The event can get pretty busy, so the places to sit fill up very quickly. It's a long event, so I would recommend bringing chairs, blankets, or somewhere to sit at. Standing on your feet the entire event and drinking, especially if the weather isn't ideal (90 degrees when I went, woof!) is exhausting, so having a comfy spot is ideal. Come with the attitude that you're there for a great time and will have plenty to drink! The lines can sometimes be a little long, and there were rude comments from people about others getting more than one sample per booth. We're all there for a good time, and they won't run out, so hold the negativity! The food and drink vendors are amazing! Everyone was nice, helpful, and offered recommendations. There's something for everyone -- including beer and liquor vendors. It is primarily wine but there is plenty of variety! The only thing I would recommend improvements on is the bathroom situation. There are maybe 10 portapotties with long lines and they were NOT kept up with well. Dirty, no toilet paper, and the hand washing stations weren't working. The only negative in an otherwise fabulous event. Make it a whole weekend. Brown county is beautiful. My group rented a cabin and then enjoyed the wine fair. It was perfect!