Year THREE and the rain could not stop thousands of filling the park for taster after taster of…read morebeer but it still falls short of it's potential. The vibe has changed each year The food was a let down. The pizza was what I'd expect to eat on the streets of New York at 4am when the bar closes and the burrito was almost meatless. A beer fest is not about the food though. While I fail to understand how organizers could run out of sampler glasses when the tickets were sold out for weeks. You can count. Right? What they did right was apologize and offer a more than generous gesture. This is what was received via e-mail. "If you were one of the people who arrived after we ran out of glasses, we would like to either send you a replacement glass, or offer you discounted admission (20%) to next year's Brews at the Beach." Now that's how you make amends. Not my fave fest in town but it's drinking beer on the beach and that's more than 28 other states can do so for that, I'll come back.

I reviewed Brews at the Beach last year and gave them four stars. They did better this year. I…read moream not sure but it seemed like this year they had a few more Breweries. My absolute favorite was Indian Wells Whiskey Barrel! Loved that beer so glad I didn't discover it until the end of the day if you know what I mean! For the IPA fans they should have been in IPA heaven, seemed to be an IPA festival more than a beer festival. The food might have improved just a touch as well. Giovanni's pizza, two slices for $5. They also had burritos and Tri Tip. This year they allowed people to bring in their own food if they wanted as well. And everyone's biggest complaint last year was the excessive bathroom lines, no problem this year, I think they had four times the capacity and the lines were no longer than a couple of minutes. Great event! $35 last year $40 this year, hope that it doesn't go up next year.

Santa Barbara Beer Festival 2017 was a huge event that apparently has been rooted in this community…read morefor years on end, I had just never been in the loop? Very glad to be looped into the festivities this year and see many familiar faces out there having a blast and supporting local breweries. The staff at the entrance of the event were all rugby player volunteers, from what I understand, and while their heart was definitely there, they were a little less professional than they could be. Very glad, though, the festival is set up to help a good, local cause and think they should promote the rugby foundation a little more in the festival advertisements. The beer samplings themselves were great, of course. A lot of the same vendors from the multiple September/October festivals this year were there, including: Captain Fatty's, Rincon Brew, Island Brew, Sierra Nevada, Draughtsmen Ale, Brass Bear, & 3 Window. It was awesome to see, though, the surprise michelada option at M Special and chips and salsa from Mesa Salsa Company. Oh my gosh that green salsa was to die for! The VIP blow up tent was fun and festive and the pizza bread inside was nothing like I'd ever tasted before. I also loved seeing all the men walking around in kilts throughout the event. I wish I got the memo, I'd totally be on board to dress up Oktoberfest like. Next year they should invite everyone to, the pictures would be hilarious! There was life sized Jenga, cornhole opportunities, lots of space to dance or picnic, multiple port-o-potty locations, and live music throughout the day. I thought the venue was beautiful but a little too spaced out for what it contained. I also wouldn't recommend driving unless you get there way before opening and don't mind paying $5. The Uber or Lyft will be safer and well worth the money.

The Santa Barbara Beer Festival is as good as it gets when it comes to beer festivals. It's a…read moregrand ol' time to eat, drink, be merry, hang with friends, and make new friends. The 2010 Santa Barbara Beer Festival is upcoming, and although it's about 4 months away, I'm already getting excited. 2010 Santa Barbara Beer Festival details: Saturday, October 16, 2010 from 12 - 4 pm at Eling's Park. Tickets as well as the list of brewers are not available yet. Parking is $5 and available along Jerry Harwin Parkway. Designated drivers can enter the festival for free! And Bill's Bus will offer free rides. When the list of brewers becomes available on-line, I will edit this review to reflect that update. Santa Barbara Beer Festival 2009: October 17, 2009 My friends and I, all UCSB alumni of course, arrived at Eling's Park about an hour or so before the scheduled opening time of the festival. We turned over our tickets and were given a wristband and a small beer glass, and then waited. As noon approached, the crowd had grown substantially, and included a man in a gorilla suit. It was obvious who the veterans were; those were the ones equipped with necklaces customized to hold the beer glass. Maybe I will try to fashion one this year. Tents peppered the lawn of the park, and my friend's and I devised the strategy to start at the tent farthest from the entrance. It really didn't matter though, because although there were a lot of people at the festival, the lines weren't long, and moved so quickly that it wasn't a hassle. There was plenty of time to try each brewery many times over, and also stop by the sponsors and food vendors as well. The weather was beautiful, clear, sunny, and hot. Definitely apply sunscreen. The food was great; award winning chili, sausages, etc., and the prices were not inflated. The portable bathrooms were not a nightmare, but were surprisingly big and clean, and there were sinks set up outside the restrooms as well. Overall, a great experience at a great venue with great friends. 2009 Santa Barbara Beer Festival Brewers: The Brewhouse Downtown Brewing Company Hollister Brewing Company Island Brewing Company Santa Barbara Brewing Company Telegraph Brewing Company Union Ale Brewing Company Firestone Walker Brewing Company Alaskan Brewing Company Anacapa Brewing Company Beer Guy Blue Moon Brewing Co. Bootlegger's Brewery Cal Poly Brew Crew C.A.R.P. Homebrewers Chau Tien Pale Ale Deschutes Brewery Einhorn Beer Company Karl Strauss Brewing Co. Kona Brewing Company Lagunitas Brewing Company Leinenkugel Lost Coast Brewery MateVeza MillerCoors Moylan's Brewery Nakhon Premium Beer Nectar Ales New Belgium Brewing Company Peroni Pilsner Urquell Samuel Adams Santa Barbeerians Sequoia Brewing Company Shock Top Belgian White Skyscraper Brewing Company Widmer Brothers Brewing Company Wolf Creek Brewing Company 2009 Santa Barbara Beer Festival Music: Debra Farris Band The Kicks The Brewery Boys 2009 Santa Barbara Beer Festival Vendors: Judge's Sausages 2009 Santa Barbara Beer Festival Sponsors: Montecito Bank & Trust 99.9 KTYD Discount Party Rental DSR Audio Santa Barbara Independent SportFence Allied Waste Service MarBorg Industries Santa Barbara Ice Company Santa Barbara Sailing Center Twiin Productions

I was able to volunteer a couple years ago for the Santa Barbara Film Festival. It was pretty cool…read morebecause I got an all access pass since I volunteered for 40 hours selling SBIFF merchandise at the Metro 4. I was really happy I got to watch the documentary on Vans and meet the son of the original owner. Staff was pretty cool at Metro 4. I also got to meet a professional skateboarder thanks to Vans. It was nice meeting directors of films. Some of the board members of SBIFF not so much since they would ask for free items and I didn't know who they were lol. If you go 10 minutes before a film and there is still seats you can get in for a fraction of the price. At the time it was 12 dollars but I would only chance that during the week when everyone was working. It was a cool experience but I would never be able to do it again since I am back to working full time and as recovered as can be from a couple carpal tunnel surgeries.

Since I was about 15 I've been making it a priority to try to get tickets to the Santa Barbara…read moreinternational film Festival. My interest was first peaked when I was working as a Cashier at South Coast deli on Chapala where Roger Durling, executive director frequently came for lunch. I heard news that Penelope Cruz would be visiting Next door at the Arlington for a tribute seminar and as she is one of my favorite actresses for her roles in Pedro Almodovar's films, That first year I attended it just as a bystander and watched Penelope walk the red carpet into the Arlington with so much admiration and excitement swirling around the city felt alive with culture and art. The next year I rolled in SBCC's film study class with Nico Maestu ( currently the program director for Sbcc see film studies department) so that I could learn about what made film so special. There was an option to attend SBIFF as a volunteer so I was able to work the festival and see films on my days off. The festival is incredibly culturally rich and well put together. This is an opportunity to see films from around the world that you would otherwise not be able to access in Santa Barbara throughout the year. As years past I've been able to join as a guest, invited to some of the film festival after parties, and even seen some friends show their movies with Youth Cine Media, A program that teaches youth the art of documentary filmmaking. The panels, films, and tributes are a lovely edition to Santa Barbara's art and culture scene and some thing I look forward to every single year.

VIP is a HUGE rip-off. These money grubbers invited us for a brunch and expected us to pay for…read moreeverything. We already paid for the VIP. the only real thing you get is a toilet that doesn't flush in an Air conditioned trailer. I wish i did not get VIP. i wish i paid for everything in cash just so DoLabs don't get their cut, but moreover, so i would not have spent so much money on my credit card. Be careful with the cashless bracelet. they can scam so much more money than you're willing to give, by the end of the event. Plus the venders punch in the tip before they show you the tablet to conclude the purchase and you don't even realize you paid even more.

this year was the 1st tme for us. cant believe ive never…read moreheard of this shit before it was incredible. at first i didnt want to go cos it was kinda pricey for an event that the headliner is glitch mob or booka shade (i like both of the djs, but really, $200 for them being headliner, i dont think so) but wait!!! all of a suddne they unleashed single day tickets!!!!! we went saturday 05/29/2010 for what i thought was the best day anyway!! we got to see nosaj thing, jon tejada, march fourth marching band, lucient dossier experience, govinda, adam freeland, an-ten-nae, and a bunch of others. i know u probly didnt recognize any of those names, but trust theyre all badass. the crowd was superchill, a bunch hippi lookin peoples all over the place, people were peacefully blazing, chilin and drinkin. O ya, there was firestone on tap all over the place and the beers were like $5. there was not even the slightest type of a search at the entrance, i literally walked in with a Hoegaarden beer i was drinking while in the parking lot. i walked right past the sherrif, the cop looked so miserable it looked like he wanted to arrest everyone but he couldnt make sense of how everyone was just chillin. hahaha fukn coppers anyways, the shit was $65 for one day which is well worth it. warning: if u dont eat vegan, u better have some shit in yr car because from what i remember, all the food was vegan. we were rollin on the X so we wanted to try some shit, noticed an vegan pizza counter and walked up to it, but i didnt notice an oven to which homegirl workin there said that it was vegan and raw.i was like RAW PIZZA WTF@!!!!! homegirl said that it wasnt even really pizza and was actually like a bunch of grains compressed or some shit wiht sliced cucumbers with chili on top. as nutty as that shit sounds, that shit was banging!!! i asked homegirl for some refreshing drink , to which she gave us some crazy super anti-oxidant thick juice that was literally like crack. every sip made us feel more and more fucked up on x!! it was great! there were three stages, one was actual performance music, one was the degenerate beats djs stage and the last one was the rave stage which was superawesomely located the shit was at the far end of the event which is right next to a medium sized lake and there are mountains n the distance. the sun was setting over the lake while jon tejada was dropping rave beats fukn awesome! the whole event is so degenerate, that the rave stage is also against the far end of one of the parking lots so close that the people can actually walk in for free right there!!! the fence is a short 3 foot chain link that had a large section completely laid down and i was freely walkin in and out of going closer to the lake to chill and blaze while a badass rave was going on!!! try to convince me that coachella beats that!!! ya right! coachella keeps becoming more and more policed and regulated and this shit allowed us to go in n out like it was nothing, no one cares. i am for sure going back next year! o ya and the ticket prices also get u a camping spot which is located against the lake on a little hill. as well as entrance to all the yoga shit that goes on. we dont have time for shit like that, we practice kush extasy yoga and we go venture with yoda to another realm saw all kinds of youngsters havin fun too, im talkin three four year olds with their fam bams camping. fukn unreal

This event took place during the Buellton Fall Fest and was the perfect compliment to that annual…read moreevent! Three and a half hours of beer, wine, and kombucha tasting on Avenue of the Flags. You get to experience all of the fun rides, entertainment, and food vendors while tasting a variety of beverages! They had local drink makers and some who traveled to be there. So many tasty drinks. The event wasn't overly crowded, but was still well attended! You could even get your tickets day of, which was cool. I hope Buellton continues to make this an annual event.

This year was the 30th anniversary and we were pleasantly surprised how the festival remains a…read moregreat afternoon event in July although you may have attended the last 30 years. I watched a few musicians on the three stages including listening to French jazz and accordions! The joust with the knights was a hit; a few friends wanted to join the team. A first hand view of knights and their armor in action included the sounds you would imagine occurring when someone attacks another in metal with swords!!! To go, we grabbed a few baguettes from the bakery vendor from LA, which was a hit in the evening when our family used the bread to make fig and Brie burgers!! Mmmmmm!!!!

Great food and dancing..perfect day to celebrate the French world cup. Crepes are wonderful and the…read morebaguette are rich. Oak Park is a beautiful venue with oak trees and perfect weather

The Santa Ynez Valley Wine Country Association puts together the Winter Pass once a year…read more You pay $40 and you get to visit 14 wineries located in Santa Ynez, Los Olivos, and Solvang. If you paid individually for each of these tastings it would cost $140. The wineries are lovely little places where you get to talk to the wine makers and learn about what you are drinking. All include seating and some have food to purchase and outdoor spaces to enjoy a picnic. With your pass you get a full wine tasting, usually of a selection of whites and reds, and sometimes they include sparkling wine, rose, or port. The best way to manage your pass is to break it up into at least three trips, one focused on each place. You can ride bikes between the Santa Ynez; you can walk everywhere in Los Olivos and Solvang (and there are lots of places to eat and shop in both). The pass is good from November through January 31st each year.

What could be better? The worlds best professional volleyball players coming to my own town to…read moreplay on a spectacular day, and it is FREE!!! They do this every year and every year it is different. This year there are no stands, just plop a towel down next to the court and enjoy world-class volleyball! They have a lot of vendor booths and some food, not overpriced. The event is always Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the finals are in the mid afternoon on Sunday.