I try to make it back for the festival every year. Great music, food, crowds over 3 1/2 days. I…read morelike the events on the commons most, but the parade (Thurs night) and the party at Stewart park (Sunday) are pretty sweet too.

The best of Ithaca! Usually held during the first weekend of June, the Ithaca Festival celebrates…read morethe vital role of the arts in the community. Local food, arts and crafts fair featuring over 80 crafters and artists (jewelry, pottery, paintings, furniture, photography, wooden creations, handmade toys), healing arts fair (massage, reiki, acupuncture, herbal medicine), Gorges Green Expo (learn about environmental awareness, energy conservation, and other green initiatives. Also features a Taste of Tompkins, where you can taste locally grown vegetables, local cheeses, locally made desserts, and wine), family fun (face-painting, storytelling, performances, etc), an Ithaca Festival Parade, and a Paint Off (local artists are asked to produce a piece of art on site in just one hour and the best piece is auctioned off). There's a lot of other stuff going on, too, that I'm probably missing. It's a great place to take your family, date, friends, anyone!

Great day at a fun fair. Fun to taste apples from a variety of local farmers. I also loved the free…read moresamples of cider. It was crowded, but not too crowded and other vendors if you got tired of the apples, but who gets tired of apples. Fun memorable date or outing for kids. Free to get in and very reasonably priced items. Parking close can be challenging if you get there later in day.

Awesome! Usually held the first weekend in October. Living up to its motto, "Tempting to the Core,"…read morethis festival attracts over 30,000 people and features performers, entertainment, farmers, wineries, bakeries, crafters, food vendors, an apple pie eating competition, music, dancing, eating, food from local restaurants, education, a Ferris wheel, giant slide, Iron Chef event, crafts, and APPLES. The Festival also tries to be environmentally friendly, as it uses compostable utensils and paper plate. A local favorite is the kettle corn. I'm a fan of the candied apples. Om nom! Lots of fun, definitely come enjoy the celebration if you're in Ithaca around this time!

This was the second year the Chinese lantern festival has been in Syracuse. This was my first time…read more Tickets are $16 at the door or $15.50 online. There are discounts for groups over 20 people. There are also senior discounts and children's prices. The event is best at night when the lights look prettiest. Inside the international building there's a show that takes place thrice a day. Come early to get seats. I loved the show. It included jugglers, hoop jumping, foot juggler, face changing act and a bowl balanced. I thoroughly thought the acrobats and entertainers were extremely talented and the show was entertaining from beginning to end. I had a wine slushee here that was $7 and was more like a wine snow cone. The ice wasn't blended with the liquid. They sold beer for $5, ice cream for $5 and flurries for $6 (like a McFlurry). Other food included gyros, baklava, Cajun fries and a few other options. My favorite lights display were the zodiac arches. Each arch was shaped like a zodiac animal and under the arch was a description of each sign as well as the years that correlated with it. Parking is free for this event. Overall the event was very fun but a little on the small side considering the price. I would still recommend that everyone check it out (and do not miss the show).

For 2018 the Cheese Festival was held on Saturday, July 14. You might want to put a reminder on…read moreyour calendar in early July of any future year to get the date for that year's festival. The festival was 5 blocks long with over 60 tents set up by vendors. In addition to various craft cheeses there were condiments, baked goods, dairy products, wines, and some talented musical performers spread out over the blocks. Little Falls was once known as the Cheese Capital of the entire USA. The Little Falls Historical Society has outlined in the festival brochure a 3 stage Cheese History Trail that you can walk as you learn all about Little Falls' contribution to cheese making and its influence on the cost of cheese even as far away as Europe. I suggest you bring along a cooler with an ice pack or two to transport your purchases. The purchase opportunities here are delicious. Tip: Keep your brochure so you can remember to always look up these vendors to visit again as you travel throughout the Hudson/Mohawk valley, the Catskills, the Adirondacks, the Finger Lakes and the Southern Tier.

The Spiedie Fest... more nostalgia than anything. I hadn't been to the Spiedie Fest since before…read morethey moved it to Endicott and moved it back to Otsiningo Park. The location is wonderful; I love Otsiningo Park and truly believe it's one of the best parks I've been to. But, I guess I've been living in California too long, because I was surprised that the fest was dry! That's a Cali Sin! Not to be confused with the ever-delicious, Cali Zin. It's like "come on." No beer or wine at all! But there are lots of different vendors: food, drinks (soda and lemonade), and crafts. There's also some games and activities like rock-climbing and rides. We made one round, I got some henna, and we left. As we were leaving for the city, the balloon rally started. That's probably the best part. This is definitely a family friendly event... a sober one!

chicken spiedies + hot air balloons = win…read more I try to plan my trips back to Binghamton during the summer so I can attend this! After an entire year of being deprived from delicious chicken spiedies, the spiedie fest is a time for me to gorge on spiedies to last me until the next time I'm back. Stuff yourselves with delicious food then sit back and watch the hot air balloons set up and take off. Parking can be hard to find. I usually try to park around Roosevelt Elementary and walk over. I'm sure the local residents love it when you do this. It's amazing to see how much it's grown since the 90's. Lots of fun and entertainment for the entire family.

This is the first time I went to the Finger Lakes Grassroots Festival. It was totally awesome…read more Great music of all styles and genres. People dancing together. Electricity and magic in the air. Sumptuous food vendors of all cuisines Had a wonderful time! Will be back next year!

These four days of amazing music and dance from around the world attract day-trippers and campers…read morein droves. I've attended for the last eight years and it's still hard to put into words how wonderful a festival this is. Four stages of top-quality performers from around the world operate from about 10am straight through until 2am every day (or in the case of the dance tent, until 6am--where folks stay up dancing all night to Zydeco music). (Check out http://www.grassrootsfest.org/festival/ for an impressive list of past performers.) A huge variety of healthy food (much better than standard fair fare) is available from centrally located vendors and a secondary area of vendors offers products from local craftspeople. At the center of the festival is a hug campground where people mingle, play music together, and share cocktails (no one has to drive home!). A vibrant Kidsfest area keeps the little ones happy all day long. The festival also has a robust recycling and composting program, as well as a strong commitment to social and environmental issues.

This year marked the 64th annual Polish Festival! I've gone to the Polish Festival twice so far. It…read moreis a 3-day festival that takes place in the summer in Clinton Square. They have live music, performances, awards (or scholarships that were given to high school students who also performed), Polish beer, pierogis, kielbasa, ice cream, face painting, hot dogs, shopping and much more. The first year I was here, I got pierogis. The 2nd year I came, I got a bunch of different desserts from Eva's European Sweets, ice cream, and pierogi. The ice cream didn't taste that great but but the other foods were good. It is a great outdoor event for families, kids and dogs. There are only ~6 food stands. I would love for there to be more. The festival itself is pretty small but I am guessing the Polish community here is also small. The crowd this year was smaller than last year's. I've never been to any other Polish festival before in any other town, so as far as I know, this one is great.

So I have decided to go through and review some of the festivals that we have here and Polish Fest…read moreis definitely on the list. So I am going to come right out and say that I was extremely disappointed this year when I went. I could almost rate it a 1 or 2 star. So here is the skinny on why I was so bummed. The food was just not what I expected. Now don't get me wrong, I love Eva's with a passion. They pretty much made this review a 3. What I was upset about was the utter lack of variety there. I remember there being Eva's, a pastry place that was meh, the fair style Philly cheesteak place, and maybe one more place. I honestly came here because I thought I would find a variety of delicious Polish food. I dragged my wife down there with the promise of a yummy cultural adventure. What we got was just Eva's. Again...love it there, but I don't need Polish fest to have them. We go there all the time. I wanted to see multiple restaurants/vendors/people selling delicious food and try new things. Instead we ate Eva's on a picnic table and watched dancing. I hope they improve this next year.

A small country festival with enough activity to last the whole family all day. The morning parade…read morewith so many pipe bands was amazing!