On time opening performance. Plentiful of seating to relax and enjoy the music and the Crystal…read moreGarden venue. Dance floor available for those who don't mind the public eye. ;-). It's amazing that Daniela Nardi will be playing 3 sets for the festival. CDs available for purchase.

First a clarification. This place is called the Allstate Arena these days and no matter what you…read morecall it the acoustics were TERRIBLE last time I was there! But perhaps there is hope. Not too long ago I met a guy who said that he worked with a company that designs acoustics for large forums and he told me that his company had recently reworked the United Center. I didn't ask him about the Allstate Arena - but perhaps they worked things out there. Seems like quite a challenge as this building was not designed for concerts!

Huge convention center! This is a great place to catch a show. However, since it so large, tickets…read moreto sit near the front row tend to be expensive. They have good food and decent licour prizes. I saw one of the best concerts here in my life: SADE. Amazing.

I went to this event yesterday and ended up spending more time there then I originally anticipated…read moreI would! It was such a well put together event and such a fun, relaxing time. This event celebrates street food & artistry in Chicago, just as the event title suggests. It brings together art, music and delicious food! This was the first year the event went out and it was held at the Galleria Marchetti. This was a great location with an indoor section, fancy tented area that was wedding reception-esque, and two outdoor areas. I loved the outdoor areas! The weather was perfect so it was so pleasant to grab some bites, listen to some music and soak up the sun in a decent temperature! They had a silent auction going on and I wish I knew it was because they had some great items for sale! A signed Justin Bieber album!??!? Ummmm amazing!!! And other artists on the same level as him like Michael Jackson! hehe I'm only kidding! Half kidding. Really some amazing items with low starting bids. Seriously wish I had known! Tickets were $31 and I think well worth the price! They had a kid's cooking demo, some amazing musical acts plus an awesome hip hop tap dance group M.A.D.D. Rhythms! I loved all of the music and bands that played!!! On to the yummies! There were some food trucks & carts representing and the best part for me was trying new ones I haven't tried before! I had never had any of these before! The coolest part was talking to the people who ran the trucks & carts. It's not often you get that privilege and for a foodie like myself it was a good thing. Homage Street Food - New food truck to Chicago! The owner was super nice and enthusiastic about what he is bringing to the city and how different it is. Both dishes we tried had some kick to them. I had the buckwheat noodles and really enjoyed them! Arrf Scarf Cart - Treats for dogs! Friendly group and have yet to say how the dog likes these treats. I got treats to give to one of my BFF's dogs Minion...I'll keep you posted on how Minion likes them! Bergstein's NY Deli Truck - I tried their slider and potato pancake. Both were yummy! Puffs of Doom Cart - Super friendly people here! I'm not a huge fan of cream puffs but these little guys were cool. Interesting choices in flavors and I opted for the oreo, yum! Uptown Pie Company Truck - I think they were a no show! Sad. Herby Pop - Gourmet popcorn and it was tasty! I just had my onion & dill popcorn sample after dinner tonight and really enjoyed the savory taste of it. Dawali Mediterranean Kitchen - Now that was some good naan! The hummus was some of the best I've ever had! Everything on this HUGE sampling plate was delicious! Adding this to my list of restaurants I must visit. English & Porkchop both had pulled pork sandwiches. Both were good but it was kind of funny they had the same dish and were right next to each other. I have been to English a bit for the bar aspect of it so was interesting to see them at a food event Old School Root Beer Float Carts - Awesome! Root beer floats are the bomb diggity! A root beer float sitting outside on the grass was the perfect treat! Dark Matter Coffee Company had hangover coffee! It doesn't get cooler then that! Wow Bao is always good! They had pulled pork buns and some other flavors which I didn't get to try! e.leaven had some yummy food plus amazing brownie bites! They were so thick and delicious! Macy's Chefs A-Go-Go Tour - Takashi!!! My friend and I are big Takashi fans and it was so cool to see him there and walking around the event. I wish I would have had more courage to ask for a picture! Either way, I ate his cold noodle dish for lunch today and loved it! Yum.Yum.Yum. The Macy's truck was also handing out Bananas Fosters Pops from Emeril! They were beyond delicious and I don't like bananas! Forever Yogurt Truck - Ended the night with some strawberry lemonade frozen yogurt with no toppings. Delicious and I loved the cute, colorful truck! All in all, a fantastic event and I hope they throw it again next year!

Festival in early July. Very nice and upscale; expensive items, but you might want to take one home…read moreanyways!

This was my first time at this fest and we had a great time. There was a great selection of…read morevendors who had a wide variety of dogs and most also had a traditional Chicago dog as they should! We were there for 16 Candles and they are just pros at the festival circuit. I loved the Depression Dog from Enzo's, the Rahm and Obama from Chicago Doghouse. The Snoop Dog from flashy was good but I felt they were a little skimpy on the toppings and their lines were very confusing as they made people wait to order. And don't breeze past Taco in a Bag as they have fun takes on dogs! We did not go to the bouncy houses but that are looked awesome! There does need to be more porta pottys. We hit them at 730 on night one and was almost full and no tp! Would also love for there to be hand washing stations especially since hotdogs are eaten with your hands. Signage for having to purchase dog dollars and where to do it need to look different than the rest of the signage so people notice, or have it mentioned an beverage tent signage. I saw so many wait in line order drinks to have to leave them due to no dog dollars (although I also thought "have you never been to a festival before?"). All in all fun event! Glad there was Goode Island Green Line and happy to see the Chicago Dogs baseball team doing marketing there. Hope to be back next year!

This was my first time at the Chicago Hot Dog Festival, and I'm so glad to have checked it out…read more PARKING: It's close to Lincoln Park Zoo, so street parking is pretty much non-existent unless you get lucky. There IS a $20 lot directly across the street. We used Spot Hero to find something cheaper. EVENT: There is a $5 SUGGESTED donation. We didn't. :X Highlights: - Many jumpy/climby houses for the kiddies - Some craft/goods vendors - Live music - Tables w seats/umbrellas AND tall standing tables - FOOD, incl. ice cream, but c'mon: hot dogs. Duh. Aforementioned FOOD: Lines varied Sunday afternoon. The longest wait time was 10 minutes or so. 1/2 size hot dogs are usually $4-5, with fulls $8-10 (except Fatso's $5 Veggie). Bottled water is $2. Tip: as with any fest, bring your own water to cut costs. I had two halves: + Char Dog (Fatso's) - 4/5 flavor, 3/5 value Standard Chicago-style dog but charred. The char taste was great, but the size? An absolute teeny tiny "half." I'd argue the dog was 1/3 size a regular link. + Momona (Chubby Weiner) - 4/5 The dog was wrapped in BACON and topped with pineapple, bleu cheese crumbles, and a drizzle of some sort. Very good. The line backed up easily, though, since the two girls taking orders ignored customers and just meandered for a while. No joke. Very annoying. The only full-sized dog I ate: + Veggie (Fatso's) - 3.5/5 Panko-crusted eggplant, sweet potato, and bell pepper hotdog, Chi-style. It had good flavor, but was total mush to eat. That's not atypical since some veggie burgers can be like that, too, depending on the ingredients used. The amount of mustard and onions they put on overwhelmed the "dog" flavor. It's nice to see veggie options, though - and for only $5! I shared some fries ($4 for a massive portion at Edzo's), water, spent UNDER $20, and left STUFFED. I'm not quite sure how people can drop $50 unless they're spending it on alcohol (it's about $6 per beer) too. OVERALL: Great event to get your encased meats fix!

I'm taking part of this review directly from their website to give you an idea of what they're…read moreabout. HouseHold Arts Collective is a not-for-profit organization which produces artistic and educational community programming under 3 divisions - Open House Dance Collective, Second Floor Dance, and Fusebox Art. Each division specializes in its own unique events in multidisciplinary arts and involving the arts community and community at large in different ways. I participated in Open House Dance in 2008, which produces yearly summer dance concerts in downtown Chicago. Community members, regardless of skill level, rehearse with professional choreographers, giving them the opportunity to perform in a professional public dance concert that they may not otherwise have. A portion of the funds raised through ticket sales is donated to a charity. OHD was fun for the most part. It allows inexperienced dancers to learn from some great choreographers and perform on stage in front of a few hundred people. If you are a trained dancer, you will probably not enjoy it as much since the choreography will be too easy, you'll barely break a sweat at practice, and you won't be challenged by the dancers around you. If you're looking for something to do during the summer or if you want to meet new people while trying something new, it's worthwhile to give this a try.

If you are lucky enough to work in the food industry - a producer, manufacturer or processor, then…read moreyou might be able to take part in this industry-only trade show. It takes place on the last week of October once every 2 years. A joint show featuring meat industry equipment, dairy products, ingredients suppliers and building maintenance/construction services, this is THE premier show for the meat & dairy industry. Admission relates to your connections, whether you can obtain a pass or not. Since my workplace is a major exhibitor at the show, I was able to obtain a free pass. Really, the whole place becomes a giant buffet, with different exhibitors giving away different foods, drinks and yes, ICE CREAM and plenty of it! I recommend skipping lunch, and ultimately I skip dinner as well. The show features new food processing technologies, automation, and introduction of new products. Several years ago, I got to taste the fluffy "whipped" yogurt a few month before Yoplait introduced Whips! line of yogurts. Similarly, I have seen bottled water in collapsible plastic pouches that look more like Capri-Sun than the traditional water bottle, which is bulky waste. Ingredients manufacturers give out marinades, seasoning salts, spice packs, or drink mixes. Meat processing people give out free hot dogs, ham cubes, cheeses, pork loin slices, and even whole burgers made of 85% lean beef! It's amazing all the things offered on the floor. I got to sample the #1 ice cream sold in Scandinavian countries. Another place put a scoop of ice ceam into a donut-shaped brownie. And this roving food orgy went on for about 3 hours till I covered the North and South exhibit halls and my belly was full. At the same time, there's a bit of a dark underbelly to this show. Back in 2007, I tasted a 70% soy burger that when flavored properly deceived even me into thinking it's all beef! This was a vendor that sold to the school cafeteria folks. And then there's a company that makes slaughtering equipment. You get to see the hoof cutters, saws and drills used to chop up cows, pigs or sheep. And if you saw "No Country for Old Men," they even had one of those stunners like the one the serial killer was using. The place also played a video loop of some pretty graphic animal slaughtering. Definitely not a place for PETA folks or vegetarians/vegans but a nice overall experience trying new food samples and seeing what will be in the marketplace in the coming year(s). While 2009's show was a bit tame compared to previous years and the number & amount of freebies was a little bit down, I did not leave disappointed. If you're lucky enough to attend, make an effort to see it and your tummy won't be disappointed.

No Music, selection of beer wasn't that great, cold and wet out, on concrete parking lot, so…read moreVendors didn't even show up. Was it worth it? No. Summer is way more better with it being on the grass, but hopefully they have music again the in Summer.

A bit disappointed, claimed to be a "WINTER" ale fest featuring winter ales…read more Weren't many - possibly 5-10 out of the 125 beers they claimed to have. Many of which were cans out of a variety pack. No water stations, and only one barrel burning wood for taking the chill off. The group that runs this sure rakes in the $$$.