Pathetic excuse for a fair. Even a small county fair…read more I love fairs. Big and small. I knew this one was small, so I had low expectations, but you can see the entire fair in about 7 mins. And....it's costs $15 to get in. And $5 to park. So $20 bucks for the world's smallest fair. I went soon after the fair opened, and none of the rides were operating and only half the food vendors were open. What did I get for my $20? Very very little.

Amazing fun great food cute animals and lots of fun. There's a lot of rides and different options…read morefor food. I'd definitely recommend coming to the county fair over the summer.

I was invited by a friend to join her for this festival yesterday. I was initially apprehensive…read moreespecially after reading some less than glowing reviews on Facebook but heck, I'm new to the country so I'm going to give almost everything a try (as long as it's within reasonable limits). The drive from Loudon to the festival site was beautiful. I went with low expectations and wanted to check out the food vendors however, the craft exhibitors were pretty interesting too. There were about 18 food trucks and stalls offering a wide variety of festival food. There was BBQ meats, kettle corn, ice cream, Mexican food, Asian food, waffles, espresso-based drinks, pepperoni rolls, butterfly potato, hotdogs, burgers and even an Oktoberfest-themed vendor. I had the Purple Piggy Pulled Pork Sandwich with Purple Mango Slaw, Smoked Mac & Cheese, and Baked Beans (made from scratch and not from a can) from Rolling Smoke Bar-B-Que's food truck. Cooked with wood fire, the tender pulled pork had a lovely smoky flavour. Don't miss the sides at US$4 each for a small portion. Though I've never been a fan of baked beans (scarred for life by canned beans), these were excellently smoky, sweet with maple syrup and was in all, a game changer. There are tons of food samples from dips to chips to slushies to coffee and wine (bring your ID) so you can get an idea of what you're buying. I didn't think I'd wind up buying anything but soon found myself buying quite a few soup kits, herbs, Chai tea, 3 bottles of wine and a handcrafted hardwood coin bank with an antique post office box door. The fair's on this weekend from 10 am to 5 pm. PS: Most of the vendors accept credit cards but bring cash as some only accept cash.

The Mountain Heritage Festival is an outdoor fall craft festival that takes place during three days…read moreeach September near Harper's Ferry. Besides crafts, there are fine arts vendors, music, wine, and food. Craft festivals are NOT my thing but I was invited on an outing and decided to try something new and I was not disappointed. Overview and Vendor Examples: There were close to 200 vendors onsite situated under large tents. Vendors sold items such as art glass, baskets, candles, bath and body products, clothing and accessories, dolls, dried flowers, furniture, jewelry, kitchen accessories, leather, metal, musical instruments, knives, photography, pottery, toys, etc. Some of my favorite non-food vendors were Forest Flower Jewelry which sold beautiful hand pressed flower necklaces, bracelets, etc. I also liked smelling all of the candle scents from the Pennsylvania Soy Candle Company. They went all out and transported a store full of candles to the festival. They had a large variety of scents such as Maple Bacon, Reindeer Poo, Nutty Taffy Apple, etc. There were lots of homemade soaps and lotions to choose from at various vendors as well. I did not intend to purchase anything but I bought a small bud vase, a pearl necklace, and three wine frappes. Food and Drink Samples/Vendors: At the end of the row of tents (or at the beginning if you wanted to start in a different direction), there are some great food and drink samples. I will mention a few favorites. A coffee vendor called Snookie Snookerwitz had vats of coffee and hot chocolate samples with flavors such as cinnamon hot cocoa (delish!), mint cocoa, hazelnut mocha, snickerdoodle latte, etc. Their station was really clean and inviting and the cocoa was great, albeit sugar laden. Meadowcroft Farm displayed a large array of relishes, pickles, salsas, pepper jellies, and jams. Their onion relish was really great. They had interesting items such as cinnamon pickles and cherry pecan jalapeño pepper jelly. One of the most popular vendors was Nectar of the Vine which served samples of mango and pomegranate wine slushies, or frappes as they like to call 'em. The pomegranate slushy was fantastic! I purchased several bags of the mix in various flavors (watermelon, pomegranate, and sangria). The bags were flying off the tables! The other food vendors provided samples of roasted nuts, dips and spreads, jams, syrups and a variety of sauces. You can look up any of these vendors via their website. Good to Know: You can consume wine samples on the grounds, but actual consumption of alcohol is prohibited on the grounds. Parking is attendant-guided, grass parking. Admission cost is $6- $7. The festival is opened daily from 10:00 am - 5:00 pm. I visited on a Friday and it was perfect. It was likely much more crowded on the weekend. I had plenty of space to move about and was not overwhelmed by the crowds except at one clothing station. The vendors were low pressure and did not push their items. In fact, it was quite the opposite. Many of the items are expensive. Plan a budget ahead of time. Even expensive items tend to look less expensive the longer you are browsing. Pack a lunch if you are trying to eat healthy. Food vendors are onsite but they serve items such as ice cream, fries, deep fried vegetables, and burgers. Bring a backpack. Do not try to carry a heavy purse all day. Wear comfortable shoes Bring sunscreen Restrooms are Porta-A-Potties only

The Thai New Year's Day is 13 April every year. If your New Year resolution did not pan out as you…read moredesired, you can always start new one with the Chinese, Vietnamese, Persian or Thai New Year. The Songkran, Thai New Year in Sterling temple exceeded my expectations. I did not expect that it will feel like you are on the street of Bangkok. Food and smiles everywhere! There is a food that you can find in a Thai restaurant and the one that you may not find in a Thai restaurant. I had grilled squid and Beef noodle soup that was made right there in front of me. Choice of noodles - noodles get dipped in the boiled water and 30 seconds later your noodles are done. Choice of meat - liver and other parts get put in. Green plants (lemongrass), salt and been sprouts and sauce is added and then another scoop from another boiling pot and your broth is poured over your ingredients with peanuts and spices on top of it all. I could not find Thai doughnuts and tasty curry puff was under $1 (6 for $5). At least 30 different meals (including a lot of fish) were offered. Besides eating Thai delicacies, you could listen Thai music, buy clothing or jewelry or get inspired by the Buddhist monks in orange clothes. Free parking, affordable food cost and jovial surroundings makes it an enjoyable festival.

Peruvian festival is a festival of happy and friendly Peruvians and friends of Peru that just…read morecelebrated its 30th anniversary. The parking was good, no entrance fee, a lot of free stuff (ice creams, water, bags, jello's, etc...), plenty of Peruvian food choices. Entertainment was rich and fun as you can tell by the pictures - they even had the horses do the tricks... I had food that I had never tried before: Anticuchos - marinated and grilled calf hearts, was delicious meal, with the taste and texture close to a calf liver. Picarones - Peruvian doughnuts were soft and sweet. I was expecting they will be soggy but they were perfect, melting in mouth. This festival is very colorful, and had all the colors under the sun, not just red and whites (their flag). The festival is family friendly and even had a NPS stand where kids can learn and touch objects. Only problem with that is the lack of alcohol (I would have loved a Peruvian beer) but that is a small price to pay for an excellent Peruvian experience.

This is a great annual festival with lots of activities, music, and food for all ages. Like most…read morestreet festivals, there are many different types of vendors: some selling products or services and others giving out info about non-profit initiatives and community resources. Kids can enjoy the large inflatables for free and participate in interesting crafts and games. There is usually a beach ball pit which my daughter loves. Adults appreciate the draft Dogfish Head beer on tap and the quality musical acts. Some unique additions include a Green Zone with live animals, Taste of Gaithersburg, and a MakerSpace, where art and innovation are on display. This event used to be called Olde Towne Day but the City changed the event from September to June and also changed the name a couple of years ago. It is a great day to be outdoors and enjoy some awesome food and live music.

From the owner: Sunday, June 12, 2016 The 34th Annual Celebrate!…read moreGaithersburg Festival will draw an entire community to Gaithersburg's historic city center. The one-day event is scheduled for Sunday, June 12, 2016, from noon to 5 p.m., and will include multiple stages of live entertainment, food, and themed activity areas for all ages and interests. Celebrate! Gaithersburg in Olde Towne street festival takes place in and around the intersection of Summit and Diamond Avenues. Free shuttle service is available to and from satellite parking at Lakeforest Shopping Center. Additional parking is available at the Activity Center at Bohrer Park, less than a quarter mile from the festival area. Please note that no alcohol, skateboards, rollerblades, bicycles, or pets are allowed at the event. All weapons, real or facsimile, are not permitted at City Events.

My family and I wandered into this festival, thinking it was a farmers market or street fair. Boy,…read morewas I excited when I found out it was a beer festival. It took me a while though--I first ran into The Gypsy Catwalk mobile boutique, which was next to a homebrewers' association tent. So I'm talking to the super nice woman, thinking if I donate some money, I get some beer tastings. She had to explain to me that it was a whole festival. The brew part: you can walk around for free. There's food trucks and other vendors, which is great. If you want to taste, it is $25 for five pours (ten tickets) and a small glass. There's a VIP option as well, but I didn't look into that. The blues part: different blues bands playing in one section of the park, and people brought blankets/chairs. The website lists over 20 different breweries, but I didn't count while I was there. However, I did find some new favorite beers, such as Pale Fire's Smokin' Scottish and Troegs' DreamWeaver Wheat. Each brewery was offering two different beers, and each pour was two tickets each. Plus, the homebrewers' association was offering tastings, and you didn't have to use your tickets (but I did donate). I tried a seasonal one from them and loved it, and got a pretzel necklace. I enjoy the blues, and the band we heard (Hypnotic Willie, I believe) was great. I could've stayed there all day, and would love to make a day of it (or weekend) and return next year. Yes, it's not as big as something like Snallygaster, but it's also not as crowded and I had a fantastic time. If I lived nearby, I definitely be here yearly, and if you are planning to visit, or need a day trip, you might want to time it around Brew and Blues.

It was a FUN day spending with good friends, music, watching Caps play, beer and having short rib…read moresliders from Trio. Port City Brewery had the Belgian white ale & India pale ale, but we went for the Belgian white ale (my all time fav) and it was the perfect drink on a beautiful day watching the Caps!! Everyone was out along with children, dogs & grandparents, enjoying the fun festival on a lovely Saturday! Definitely have to go check out Port City Brewery with friends!!!

This Festival goes under few different names: The church website calls it "Greek and East…read moreFestival", the host (Harris Pavilion) calls it "Annual Manassas International Food Festival," and earlier versions on the Facebook called it "Old World" festival. These are all good names for this Nativity of Our Lord Carpatho-Russian Orthodox church fundraiser. In a conversation with one member I learned that this is one of those orthodox churches that do not have the National denomination (Bulgarian Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, Greek Orthodox, etc...) as it caters not just to the first generation of immigrants but more to all generations and all people with the Orthodox fate, with no consideration of the national borders. I learned that they have one mass in English and Our Father prayer is recited in 7 world languages. The menu of the festival reflects the church diversity but caused a dilemma of many comers as far as what to eat because it is a long way from Ethiopia to Russia on the food road. People took longer time to figure out if they would rather have Ethiopian, Greek, Slavic, Romanian, Mexican or American food but once in line you move quickly with the food vendors winking and lifting their trays to entice you to get their food. Pierogi were very good, baked well; hard outside and soft inside so combination of dough, potato and cheese was properly melting in the mouth. While I was eating delicious plums with crème, my tongue quickly detected a harder object within the plum. I wondered why plums were not pitted like the most things in US are and to my pleasant surprise the object in question was a walnut half. Once I knew what I am eating - it all came together very nicely. Letdown was that the deserts did not offered any layered moist cake or crepes - which always make me anticipate any Slavic or Western Europe festival. Another letdown was that I could not have a Greek or Russian beer. There was just one Greek wine type but on a hot day a beer goes better with the lunch. The venue was perfect and enthusiasm of the host was energizing. I was happy to support in some way their church. The visit can be combined with a walk in the old town Manassas.

Haymarket Day 2024 was a huge success! First of all, the weather could not have been more…read morebeautiful. The entire event was extremely well organized, starting with the shuttle bus that took visitors to and from Tyler Elementary throughout the day. The parade began promptly at 10 AM and was well organized. Great assortment of vendors along the parade route and a fun Kidzone was set up in the park. It was an overall wonderful, fun-filled day for all.

Haymarket Day 2011 was held today - Saturday, September 17, 2011! (It's still going on as I type…read morethis). As in years past - the main route through Old Town Haymarket was closed to vehicular traffic for the all day event (Route 55/Washington Street). An awesome parade was held (pretty awesome for a small town!). Started the day with a nice cup of steaming hot delicious coffee from Cupcake Heaven, then found a spot along Washington Street to watch the parade and take photos. Lots of entertaining participants in the parade: The Battlefield HS Marching Band, cheerleaders, several local dance troops, several martial arts groups, the Fairfax County Police motorcycle officers (in precision formations), Cub/Boy Scouts, musical groups, local politicians, church groups, civic groups, local businesses, the Geico Gecko, the Chik-fil-A cows, Santa Claus, and a lot more! The parade was considerably longer with more participants than ever. There is also a large vendor area in front of Town Hall and down Washington Street with lots of vendors of all sorts, arts and crafts, games, food and beverages, stages with music, and a lot more! The weather was perfect, cool and overcast, no rain, the place was packed with local residents. It is a great event and it's so wonderful to see so many folks come out with their kids, many brought their dogs, and everyone seemed to be well behaved. I really like the small town atmosphere of Haymarket and the sense of community we have here!

This like most of the other Greek festivals in the US, is a fundraiser for the local church (in…read morethis case, the Holy Apostles Greek Orthodox church) in Sterling. (Currently, their church is in a warehouse.) The festival is usually over the Presidents' day weekend beginning at 4pm Friday and 11-9 Saturday and 11-7 Sunday. (webpage: https://www.facebook.com/TasteOfGreeceAshburn ). Traditionally, in Greece, festivals center around the church on important church days, and are day long outdoor events for the whole family that go late into the evening. Taste of Greece is held in the old Ashburn firehouse until they can get land and have a more traditional and larger outdoor festival. There is free parking with attendants to help. The atmosphere is warm, lively, the music traditional, there's a stunning collage of pictures of Greece on a screen, the decorations very tasteful and give a feel for the warm friendly culture. Go with friends and family, to spend several hours, relax, drink coffee or beer and have a good time There are 100-150 families trying to raise money to build a traditional home for the church, so the number of people that plan and execute the festival is very small. For such a small community this festival is amazingly well done and will certainly grow. It has become so popular that they are outgrowing the firehouse, so go and help them get their church built sooner so they can make the festival even better! The operation is very well planned, efficiently run, the food is plentiful, the dishes authentic, the music, costumes and dancing uplifting and festive. There is a raffle with multiple prizes. Local greek restaurants provide the kitchen services and cook staff and the church members serve their guests. The menu includes 3 tradition dishes gyros (pronounced YEE-ro not gii-ro) which is meat roasted on a spit and sliced into a pita with lettuce, tomato and thick tzatziki (or cucumber yogurt garlic dip); moussaka ( pronounced moo-sa-KA) which is potato, eggplant and ground meat, baked under a bechamel (white) sauce. Pastitsio (pronounced pas-TI-tsi-o) long hollow pasta in a lasagna like sauce, also baked under a bechamel layer. Both dishes are rich and flavorful. There's Baklava and Greek coffee for dessert. My personal favorite is the spinach pie (spa-na-KO-pita) Food can also be taken to go, an option if you go during peak lunch and dinner hours, when it's so crowded it's hard to find seats. The church has other fundraisers just before Thanksgiving where the women's group makes and sells pans of spanakopita and tiropita (cheese pie) and another before Christmas when they sell tsoureki ( pronounced ts-oo-REK-ee) a sweet bread with a lucky coin somewhere in the cake for new years.

To understand the Taste of Greece, one first has to understand the location of Ashburn in Loudoun…read moreCounty. About 40 years ago it was mostly the farmlands. Its population doubled in last 20 years. Ashburn is a part of Loudoun County, which is a wealthy county and about an hour away from Washington, DC (on a good day). Out of over hundred local ethnic festivals I have visited, this is the first one that was held in Loudoun County! The 8th Annual Taste of Greece was a rare opportunity to have an ethnic festival where the houses came well before schools, churches and recreational centers. It was held in the county firehouse, nestled among thousands of (over 2,000SF) houses. It is a fairly new church community (most of the things in Ashburn are fairly new) fundraiser and it is easy to understand how in this neighborhood the Taste of Greece can charge $12 for Gyro or $5 for a small piece of baklava. Good for the church, I say! The energy and desire of the "Greek Ladies" was contagious. They are kind and willing to talk about anything, and very agreeable. The space was too small, especially when the families started coming (after soccer games) with their children. The plastic forks and knives were positioned in the furthest possible spot to reach; wait for food was 10-15 minutes, parking was not available and seats were scarce. The food was good but not the best ever. There was music and dance. The crowd was diverse (like the county) and they took this rare opportunity to have a true ethnic food in the form of ethnic food festival in their county - without a long drive that they probably experience every working day. Taste of Greece is certainly a big deal for Loudoun County and I was happy to support the Greek American community with my Gyro meal and Mythos (Greek) beer. I hope they will grow and that many other ethnic festivals will follow soon.