Awesome festival in my humble opinion this is the best festival in az. It has a crazy number of…read moretents with beer,alcohol, food, cocktails and all types of samples to try. The vibe here is always cool with a lot of music and some food carts and games. This yr the festival was on the civic plaza which was cool and a new atmosphere and everything closer together and it had a cool vibe. 40 bucks for 10 samples even tho honestly 80% of the people don't ask for tickets which is cool and makes it worth the money. Presidents day weekend in Az is a huge beer and cocktail weekend and this might be the co main event of it all. Behind top bars of course. Everyone give this a shot it's a good time guaranteed.

I was very excited for this event we had tickets for Sunday and I don't think I would of paid the…read more45.00 for this event. Fortunately we had complimentary passes, if you are a wine connoisseur it is not worth the ticket price because they were only pouring 1oz. So you got 10 tickets and for a 10oz glass of wine it cost you $45.00. The beer booths were pouring more and that's were you got your money's worth for the ticket. The spirits also were only pouring 1oz. The event was kinda of small compared to other brew fest in the valley. The beer selection was pretty decent they had a few breweries from San Diego, Seattle, Bend Oregon, one from Los Angeles and several from Arizona-Flag, Tucson and here in the Phoenix. I liked the food selection they had a variety of food trucks and the Saffron Pig was my favorite and the food was awesome. We also enjoy the Woody Creek Distillers which they featured a great Gin and not only did they give you a 1oz sample but they created a fabulous cocktail which was more than 1oz. Not sure I would come to this event again especially because I am a wine drinker so it's definitely not worth the price of the ticket. I do have to give a shout to Alex with Desert Selfies at the Photo booth who gave complimentary CrushBrew Event photos, great feature at this festival.

we bought tickets for the premier food event in AZ, Crave Arizona, back way long ago. But then they…read morechanged the date, so in an effort to placate early ticket buyers from getting too ornery we assume, they threw together a Crave Pre-Party that took place last night. being the punctual couple we are, luckily we didn't have to pay for this event, all though, tickets were selling for 20 bucks. actually, what a huge waste! a food event that served tiny blocks of cheddar and pepperjack cheese that could be bought at frye's, brushetta with hummus or goat cheese, and little sticks of meat. that's it. that was the only food. supposedly the food was provided by 5th and Wine...we hope not because if that's indicative of their food, well...people who dine their are getting shafted. then there was supposed to be live music. they must be the late crowd because we were there 2 hours and no attempts were made for any kind of band to start. wine and beer was provided in very teeny, tiny samples so basically you hung out near the bar, downed your sample with one swallow, and asked for more. The Crave event is awesome, but do away with the sad attempt of a Pre-Party. or step it up a notch.

Travis, thanks for the honest feedback about the Pre-Party on Saturday evening. We truly…read moreappreciate you coming out for the event! While the party did start at 7 p.m., we wanted to allow time for mingling before Dennis Rowland started his set at 8:30. The crowd enjoyed a little performance by Mark DeCarlo at 9:30, and then live music continued throughout the evening. Food, beer and wine were all donated and we appreciate the contributions of the venue, 5th & Wine, Marcellinos Ristorante, Southern Wine & Spirits and SanTan Brewery. Honestly, we know the pours were pretty standard at the beginning of the evening, but with the majority of the crowd showing up around 7:30 we had to adjust the amount poured so that we would have plenty for everyone throughout the evening. Please keep in mind, this event was planned in 3 weeks! Our intention was to give everyone a small taste of Crave, and build the excitement of the event for January. For our next party, we will shorten the time a bit, and start the band earlier. Thanks again for coming, and we look forward to seeing you in January!

I arrived early and met up with fellow Elites Andrew and Meagan. The weather couldn't have been any…read morebetter. This festival was smaller than I anticipated, but still have plenty drink samples all around. Nice set up with the wood-fired pizza trucks/booths and tables in middle of Southbridge. Got to eat more pizzas to soak up the alcohol. How quickly an average person is likely to get drunk? Curious, the Uber station got a great breathalyzer. I am not telling who made way over the midpoint.=P Excellent craft selections in one festival. So many great local distillers & wineries too. Live band music, giveaways, photo booth/bombs, and After Party at W Hotel! It was a blast! Absolutely will be back next year. Hopefully, you'll find me in the VIP section. So lucky to be part of this exclusive club. Thanks so much to Hailey, Yelp, and CrushBrew Craft for the ticket!

From OHSO's breakfast brew to Coronado Brewing Company's Stingray IPA I scavenged the festival from…read morebeginning to end. The vendors were all extremely nice and knowledgeable. They did not rush anyone or bat an eye to a hard question. They even knew of local groceries that carried their products. This festival had more options than any other that I've been to! The pizza throw down was a nice touch. It was also the perfect padding for all of that beer and wine! After a couple sips of wine we dipped over to the uber station, where they had a breathalyzer. I found this to be very interesting because I wasn't feeling too crazy of a buzz, but it informed me after the blow that I would have to wait 4 hours before driving. It's great that they are spreading awareness with that! Of course we ubered home! I will definitely make this a yearly event. We had a fantastic time!

Very nice event. Large selection of craft beers. Plenty value for the $25 cost. Wish they had a…read morelist of all the beers so that I knew what all my options where at the big distributor's booths. I liked the gingerbread beer from That Brewery and the bourbon barrel aged Raj IPA from Four Peaks the best!

Chocolate overload! be prepared to eat your weight in chocolate at the Haute Chocolate Festival…read more Tickets were $40 online ($70 for two), or $45 at the door. Vendors included Wei of Chocolate, Paletas Betty, and Fairytale Brownies. Each sample I tried was excellent, and I was on such a sugar high after going through just half of the vendors! You can really eat so much that you will get sick of chocolate because of all the selection to choose from. In the main auditorium, there were chairs set up for the fashion show starting at 7. Outside in the courtyard area, there was a jazz band playing music, drink vendors, and some chairs and tables to sit and relax. The courtyard itself was picturesque, trees lined with twinkling lights. Outside the main auditorium there was a photo booth and some silly costume accessories you could put on for your picture if you wanted. Although admission was a little pricey, we all had a good time. I went to a similar chocolate festival in Las Vegas, and they had better access to water for the patrons, which would be a great idea for this festival- perhaps it's something they can do for next year!

The SW Veg Fest was a FREE and Non-Profit Festival at Steele Indian School Park in 2017. The focus…read morewas FOOD (it might have been ALL VEGAN), Retail, entertainment and education. They also offered discussion panels with Vegans. Some of the topics of discussion were Veganisim in politics, How to transfer to a Vegan lifestyle, There was a Vegans of Color group and Raising Vegans in a non-Vegan World. Not all but some of the food Vendors were giving out food samples. There might have been about 30 venders. It was extremely crowded EARLY for a first time event. Parking was somewhat difficult. They didn't post any signs anywhere for the event. I arrived around starting time and got the very last parking space available. If you go next year you need to arrive extra early before the event to get a spot if this festival is in the same location. They also provided free water but you needed to bring your own sipping container. The event was also dog friendly.

This was my first time. Apparently last year the space was a little larger. There was not enough…read moreroom to walk around and the lines were long. Besides that, I still had a good time. I'll come back next year of it was where it was last year. And there is food there for you to purchase, just in case you need to sober up.

It was good just not enough space. It needed to be spread out more too many people on a narrow…read morearea., also at some tents only one person was serving beer and getting tickets. Only one section with about 10 portals potties.

We had early entry tickets and boy! Am I glad we did .... Lots of people but also lots of wine…read more I got 'interviewed' by the lovely gals at the BMW tent, and got some awesome swag: tote, cap, and a great water bottle! The car I first drove was a burgundy BMW 2002, way back in 1971, and fell in love with it! It had been optimized by Romeo Ferraris, with extra HP performance, wider tires... Great start to our day out :) Back to the USAToday Wine Festival: tents were all lined up along both sides of the High Street, with wines and tequilas, whiskeys and bourbons, and lots of tasty foods to try out with the wines on offer. I tasted several rosé wines, since I recently went back to drinking rosé instead of mostly red, and found some very palate-pleasing bottles that I will have to put in rotation at home. My favorite food was the Risotto in the wheel of Parmigiano: I honest to goodness could've scarfed the whole thing down, then asked for more . I tried a fantastic-looking slider, with the tender meat very good: sadly, my problem with spices/chilis made mini blisters pop up in my mouth, so couldn't finish it. By now y'all know I'm extremely allergic to capsaicin and living in the Southwest...still, the aromas floating around us were hunger-inducing and making my tummy rumble. I really enjoyed an Uncut Bourbon, so just had to sneak back for another tasting! We had to taste the Whiskey too, and the Tequila, and of the quite a few tastes I had, I think I'll be drinking the tequila crema on ice ;) Although very crowded everyone was enjoying the beautiful day out: I chatted with several people along the ' tasting avenue' who were also enjoying the afternoon, and the whole event was a success. I particularly liked tasting a black sesame hummus: being so busy tasting everything I didn't pay attention to the vendor's names... forgive me for this lapse in judgment. Next time I'll take notes!

Updating my 7 year old review. We went again in 2020 on a Sunday and had a blast…read more Yesterday was our first time going since pre-pandemic. We did go on a Sunday again and I think I prefer Sunday over Saturday. It's not as 'popping' but it is a more mellow vibe with a lot less people. I can't get over how gorgeous Heritage Square is. Between the location, the wine vibe, the band, and of course our amazing AZ weather I love this festival. But like everything right now, the price has doubled and the pours are smaller. Unfortunately due to this we have to pick and choose which events we go to. I really hope we can go again next year.