The 2nd annual Choctoberfest (CF) took place yesterday in ChocolateTown Square on a perfect autumn…read moreday. The music from local bands was playing, beer was being poured, bites were being eaten and -most importantly- the chocolate was sweet. All of those things came together for a family-friendly fall festival. I heard about the event on Yelp and decided to check it out. I'm glad we went on such a gorgeous day. Admission was free and parking was easy at the lot across from the theater. One of the nice things about a small festival is that you don't have to walk for miles to see everything. The area for listening to the bands was a great spot for viewers; they had haystacks for seating and tall tables throughout the park for drinking and eating. The lights strung from the trees were a nice touch. However, the tents area was cramped, crowded and not where I wanted to be. I wish they had a better space to spread them out. Luckily, once people got their items, they were able to move over to park area. The lines weren't too long, thankfully. I didn't eat any of the bites, but I did try one of the beers and it was good. In the back, they also had some activities for the kids. There was a bounce house, chalk drawing, free pumpkins and bags to paint, Frisbee Toss and a few others. They also had some portable toilets along with a hand washing station, which was good for those chalky fingers! I would definitely go back next year and I bet they will continue to grow. It seemed like a well-organized event and Hershey is a nice town to visit. I'm not a fan of festivals in general but CF is my type of small-town festivals. I'll be back!

From the owner: oin us for Choctoberfest 2023: A celebration of bands, beers, bites, and chocolate!…read moreThe 8th annual Choctoberfest will be held on Saturday, October 14, 2023 from 11:00 am – 6:00 pm in ChocolateTown Square Park, located at the corner of Chocolate and Cocoa Avenues in Downtown Hershey. Join us with family and friends for a fall afternoon full of great live music, local craft beer, delicious food from downtown restaurants, and, of course, chocolate! Choctoberfest offers an array of activities for all ages to enjoy and is free and open to the public, with food and beverages available for purchase. Check back as we detail more of the events for the day!

"You come on like a flame Then you turn a cold shoulder…read moreFire and ice" (Pat Benatar) Lititz is one cool little town with a vibrant downtown of 60 shops, 20 restaurants and a pretty little park. To promote winter tourism, in February they host an annual 10-day bash known as the "Fire & Ice Festival". Local businesses sponsor the creation of an ice sculpture for public display, and we saw dozens of them on Main Street, Broad Street, Juniper Lane and at the entry to Lititz Springs Park. Some of the sculptures we saw were fire trucks, tow trucks, a snowman, Mr. Moneybags from Monopoly, an angel, a unicorn, the Liberty Bell, Mr. Potato Head, a bird, a dog and various other animals, a train, a bicycle, praying hands, and a palm tree. The Fire and Ice Festival also has food trucks, music, kid-centric activities, a photography exhibit and a Lititz pub crawl. We enjoyed looking at the ice sculptures, fed the ducks in the park, shopped at Wilbur Chocolate and the Sturgis Pretzel Bakery, and visited the town's Visitor Center to chat with Earl - one of the coolest ambassadors any town can possibly dream of having. Well done Lititz!!

Fun to see. Lititz has lots of interesting events through all the seasons and I live close enough…read moreto walk there.

Great place to take kids, they have 2 giant slides, tug of war, some farm animals to pet, corn…read moremaze, corn pit, tire swings, jumping pillow, tricycles to race, water duck races, hayrides to the pumpkin patch, a zip line swing (which was closed when we went), and other things. They have a snack shack where you can buy apple cider donuts, slushies, kettle corn popcorn, etc. and they do take credit cards. Be sure to confirm the hours of the Snack shack. Parking is across the street. Cute place, will return!

We went on a particularly wet weekend, after a week full of rain. Still had a total blast! The corn…read moremaze was challenging but not too hard to do and took about 30 minutes for us to go through. Had fun going through the petting zoo, playing with bubbles, and competing with each other in the duck races. We spent a little over 2 hours here and had a relaxing fall day.

It's a small fair that comes to the town of Malvern every July to benefit the local fire…read moredepartment. I've gone every year for the last 10 years. They have fun rides for the kids and some more exciting rides for adults. Mind you it's not Hersheypark or what Walt Disney World, the rides are small and a bit rickety, but it is a fun time for a small-town. The zipper, roundabout, swings, etc. The fair usually starts midweek and runs through Saturday night. On Friday each year they have a good fireworks display at about 9 PM. Like most small fairs, you can buy single tickets, books of tickets or a wristband that's good for the night. Although it's quite expensive to buy the wristband, you'll go broke trying to ride rides with tickets so just pony up for the wristband and have a good time. Plenty of food, but rides on an antique firetruck, and more. Note that this is really a kid centric event. Of course as an adult you could go and do the bigger rides, but there's no alcohol served and you will be surrounded by mobs of teenagers.

This is a fun three day event that the Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church puts on every year. I…read moretried the chicken dinner which came with green beans, rice, a roll, and garden salad for $11. For dessert, I was hoping to try the baklava cheesecake, but they had sold out. Instead, I went with the loukoumades garnished with nuts, honey, and cinnamon. Yum!

I was soooooooo excited to check out the annual Whoopie Pie Festival! Who doesn't like these moist…read morecakes, with a nice creamy icing in between?! Held on the grounds of the Hershey Farm Restaurant & Inn, this festival offers cute events such as a Whoopie Pie Treasure Hunt (hundreds of them are all hidden on the grounds in brightly-colored foil); a Whoopie Pie Race (you just grab a pie and run AHAHAHA); watch a Whoopie PIe Long Launch (whoever hits the target/gets close enough, wins!); play Whoopie PIe Checkers (if you're a checker master, you can go through the Tournament Rounds); participate in a Whoopie Yell Off (in your loudest voice, giving a shout-out for some Whoopie Pie love); watch/participate in an Amateur Whoopie Pie Eating Contest (watching who can eat dozen the quickest?); watch the participating chefs make the largest Whoopie Pie ever, and even get the opportunity to decorate your own Whoopie Pie :P There are also local artisans and craftsmen in which you can check out their items to purchase, for yourself or as gifts. If you're hungry, you can grab a meal at the Hershey Farm restaurant, or just stuff yourself silly with the variety of Whoopie Pie flavors they have available :D The variety of flavors they had for these pies were quic amazing - when you walk up to the main tent, you are given a plastic bag. There long aisles of compartmentalized wooden crates with labels of the flavors (such as Lemon Poppy Orange Cream Cheese, Oreos, Rocky Road, Death by Chocolate, Confetti with Strawberry, Banana with Orange Cream Cheese, etc.). I was a little disappointed that the pies have been refrigerated, and even though they were saran-wrapped, they were dripping with water, making them a little soggy T____T Once you fill your bag to your heart's content, you pay at the cashiers by the exit area. The place was definitely packed to the brim, and moving around was a little tight. Parking on the Farm was not allowed and needed to be done at nearby establishments (such as the outlet store); from there, a free shuttle (school bus) came every so often for a pick-up (this was another adventure, as so many violations were violated - the driver forced about 4 people per seat, trying to get as many people in the bus as possible :O We actually walked back from the festival, as the traffic was horrendous, in addition to some of the construction that was going on. An interesting festival to check out when you're in the Lancaster County area! :D +annual Whoopie Pie Festival :D +parking at nearby establishments +free shuttle offered

I need this in my life…read more Amazing old building with dozens of food and specialty boutiques. I strolled all the aisles, got coffee, a donut, a cinnamon roll, and a bacon egg and cheese sandwich surprisingly on a pretzel. Everyone was friendly, lovely scene, amazing smells. I just wish I had something like this close to home. Can't wait to go back.

This was so fun to walk around during a busy Saturday morning! Despite the 80° weather, the place…read morewas packed. My friend and I had fun touring not only the inside, but several shops that had set up outside the day we came. Plenty of fresh produce, homemade goods, flowers, and fun things to look at. I wish the air control was a little better, coming on such a hot day! We preferred to be outside as it was very stuffy inside. Still a very fun spot to walk around, and a much bigger farmers market than I am used to. We ended up, leaving with several items, and were very happy with our purchases!

Firebird Festival has been on my radar for years (tickets in the past sold out too quickly), but I…read morefinally made it this year, which luckily was the first year it was open to all / free to all! If you want to do the Firebird Festival, here are some tips from my experience. First, get on their email list. All the info will be emailed, including updates on building the bird, ways you can help, and volunteer opportunities. When they say they light the bird at 8pm, YES IT WILL BE LIT AT 8pm, AND IT WILL HAVE BURNED DOWN TO ITS FEET BY 8:15pm!!!! My last photo was taken at 8:13pm, as I walked away, and the structure had burned, collapsed, and was just a big bonfire + phoenix claws. And SO MANY PEOPLE were still descending on the park, thinking "it's only 8:15, I've got plenty of time" ummm, no. I passed at least 300 people wondering if any of them understood that all that was left was good live music and some drunk hook-up options. But the party continues until 11pm, so for the childless crowd, there you go. If you do care to see the bird, be there at least a half hour before 8pm. The drum procession into the field happens at 7:30, and is very cool to see, plus is a part of the ceremony and theatrics of it all. Then, dancing, chant music, fire dancers, etc. all circle 'round the bird. You can really see all they've developed over the years in the choreography, creativity, and attention to details. There were a lot of kids there, babies to teens, all ages. I was worried about my preschooler being afraid of the fire, or the idea of burning an animal figure. I made sure to show some kid-friendly YouTube videos ahead of time, and educate about this mythological creature, and it's meaning. I stressed that a new young bird rises from the ashes, according to legend, and that this bird was pretend, made of wood by volunteers. They ask for people to bring lunches to the volunteers in the months (yes, building starts in SEPTEMBER) leading up to the festival, and if I'd had time I would have done that and taken my kid to see that process. It's my plan for next year. Anyway, it went over pretty well. No kids were crying. Mine was a little sad at first, but then pretty fascinated by the fire. I don't recommend positioning yourself close to the fire with kids; it's scary and overwhelming for them. My preschooler was a little nervous when we were somewhat close, but did better from afar, where we saw a lot more kids as we walked out. The show really is something worth checking out at least once. They make a different style of bird each year (always a phoenix, but in different poses and styles). The bird is always about 25' high, made of wood. This year the bird had rainbow lights as eyes, and a mechanical beak that opened and closed. It also had a plume of branches sticking out its head. It looked partridge-y, but still I could distinctly see a phoenix. It was beautiful! As you can see in my photos, they projected a colorful light show into the body of the bird, which was equally beautiful. In addition to the phoenix, there are vendors, food options, and live music. A Boy Scout troop was selling hot chocolate ($3/cup) and offering apple bread and brownies but asking for donations on those. Sadly, a lot of people just took the baked goods and gave nothing, which was totally despicable. Those kids were working so hard, and giving up their own leisure time to enjoy the festival so these greedy drunk-high jerks could rob their baked goods. Ew! The live music was really very quiet. I had a hard time hearing it 50' away. There are residences all around Veterans Memorial Park, where it's held, so I guess noise had to be kept down. Stinks. Speaking of, there were a row of port-a-potties available, and the scent of weed every 3 square feet, with a cop every 10 square feet. Multiple fire engines were right nearby and ready. Everything was extremely well organized. There were police officers controlling traffic, guarding blocked off roads, and there to assist in the crowds. Shuttle busses ran from three different municipal lots (all full very early), and walking was possible from the downtown area, if you were up for a 1.5mi journey. We had best luck parking by a church in a nearby residential neighborhood, and walking from there with a stroller. I definitely recommend the Firebird Festival! But make it your focus of the evening. Everyone who thought they'd have a nice dinner downtown and then catch the shuttle or walk over to the festival was sorely disappointed to arrive when there was nothing left to see.

I love fire, it can be very theatrical…read more Generous volunteers make this awesome free event happen each year. It's the family-friendly, East Coast mini-version of Burning Man. OK, maybe not but still a great time. Fire dancers? Check. Live music? Check. Local artisans? Check. Happy friendly hippies? Check Comfort food? Check Large wooden object burned to the ground while revelers clap and cheer with joy? Check.