Dan Jansen Family Fest occurs annually on Memorial Day weekend (Friday night, Saturday, and…read moreSunday). It's the official, unofficial beginning to festival season, I'm told. We drove by on Friday evening and noticed the lights, music, carnival rides, and overall merriment and decided to head back with the kiddo in tow later in the weekend. If you arrive between noon-4pm (Fri-Sat-Sun), you can enjoy their $20 unlimited ride wristband special, which is a pretty sweet deal. We, unfortunately, arrived on Sunday evening, so spent $25 on 30 ride tickets (which was plenty for our family to enjoy as many rides as we really cared to over the course of 2+ hours or so). They have your typical carnival rides (bumper cars, the zipper, etc) as well as typical carnival activities (fun house, house of mirrors) and games (darts, basketball, goldfish). They also have food vendors slinging typical fair-like food (corndogs, hot dogs, funnel cakes, ice cream, donuts). They also offer nightly entertainment. They have a different band playing each night as well as a family movie night on Saturday. The festival offers free entry, which is nice. I mean, obviously, you spend plenty on food and fun but it's nice to not have the extra entry fee on top of it all. The proceeds from the festival (100%) go to fund projects for the City of Greenfield Parks Department (in past years it's funded fountain projects, updated park signage, etc). Awesome perk to have a little fun while at the same time know the money spent is going to support local green spaces! Definitely a fun way to start the summer!

One of the best festivals I've ever been to. I go to this festival every year and I've been going…read moresince the 2016 spring season. The prices can be pretty expensive but it is totally worth it with what you get out of it. You can bring kids with you as well because they have kids rides. The food is great and a little pricey but once again, totally worth it. The only thing that isn't the best feature is that if you leave past 9, you cannot re-enter which I hope that changes in the upcoming years.

I like to review churches based on the strength of their festivals and St Rita's is a pretty good…read moreone. It's big - big enough for 2 separate music tents, both of which hosted cover bands. They were pretty good too - one did Classic rock and one did hair metal (because it isn't a church fest in Stallis until you've heard a Stryper song). Beer ran about $1 less than other fests ($3 for a tall boy) which earns St Rita's an extra star and a special place in my heart. The people working were nice, the crowd was having fun and there's plenty of food on offer. (Of course Friday Fish, Saturday pasta and Sunday Chicken). Cheap beer and Def Leppard covers aside, St Rita's also excels in the games of chance department. There's liquor raffles, that game where you bet on the color a ball lands on, some goofy President game (IDK), pull tabs and a 50/50. The Mister won the last one and netted $77 so he was certainly happy. St Rita's is definitely doing the Lord's work with this fine Fest.

This is one of those events that we never miss. It's different every year and thoroughly enjoyable…read more To get the best experience, we come before dusk to fully see everything in the daylight hours while enjoying the flowers and landscape. Then, we walk around a second time when it's dark to fully enjoy the beautiful lit up structures. We also watch the stage shows and enjoy drinks and snacks from the vendors near the stage. They've improved some of the paths making it wider and easier to navigate with the large crowds, strollers, wheelchairs, etc.

I've been to China Lights on a couple of occasions and have always found it delightful…read more China Lights tansforms Boerner Botanical Gardens to a glittering display. You can wander at look at the lights and there's also occasional classic Chinese arts performances to enjoy. We didn't try any of the food but near the performance area there were several vendors offering a variety of food to purchase and dining tables where you can sit and enjoy (very much food court style vibe). One thing I will note: where we were directed to part required traversing very uneven ground. Not a problem for my husband and I but was glad my parents opted to stay home as I think they would have found it difficult. If that's the case for you as well, my suggestion would be to inquire about any sort of accessible parking. Beyond that, a wonderful time. We don't go every single year but when we do go, we so enjoy! Get to it!

My daughter, her boyfriend and I came to taste of Egypt this past weekend and we sampled almost…read moreeverything. The food was phenomenal! The mango juice was so sweet a fresh tasting. The chicken was grilled with just the perfect amount of char on it! The kofta (beef skewer) is my favorite and they were fresh off the grill and perfect as well. I forgot to take a photo of the gyro but it was delicious. It's not like a Greek gyro but it was actually even better! I met with Verina and Mina Girgis and Marian Awadalla. All wonderful inviting and gracious people. I felt like I was with family! Set a reminder for the beginning of summer to watch for the dates in 2027 so you don't miss it!!!

This is a tiny little festival that is trying sooooo hard!…read more We finally went (first time, ever) on Friday and there were a total of 5 tents outside: one selling food tickets, one serving the food, one covering the DJ/ music man, one for dining in and one selling Egyptian coffee. There were also 2 inflatable kiddie castle type things. Upon entering the parking lot (free parking and admission), it looks like pretty much nothing worthwhile. We approached the ticket tent and were told a little bit about the festival: donkeys and camels were arriving on Saturday, there is a small booth in the church basement selling Egyptian iconography items along with religious items and nonrelated knickknacks, there are cooking demos and church tours. Being hot outside, we decided to head inside and check out the merchandise. I think the vendor was from the Sphinx shop at Southridge Mall, but I could be wrong. There were books, anhks, jewelry, scarfs and other merchandise laid out on tables and in what can best be described as hutches. The cooking demos were every other hour with the church tours being on the other hours. The church tour wasn't really a tour, but kind of a lecture on the history of the church and a description of the paintings and various items within. It was very interesting and we learned a lot of new information. We didn't stick around for the cooking demo, but headed outside to eat. Macaroni beschamel, gyros, kofta, chicken and dolemades (stuffed grape leaves) were a few of the menu items, along with baklava and other Egyptian desserts that I didn't recognize. Soda, water, and mango juice were available also. The worst part of this festival is that we had to hike across a driveway and then a rather large expanse of straw covered grass to get to the tent where we could sit and dine. They should perhaps plan to put the dining tent adjacent to the food tent in the future. The kiddie castle things were in the process of being inflated while we ate, but there were only maybe 4 kids there, and they appeared to be members of the church. The coffee tent was a small little thing, with 4 cushions for seating. The coffee was described to us as being akin to espresso and it was. Tickets are $1 each, but for every 10 that you purchase, you get 1 free. There is also a very short survey that you can fill out to get an additional 2 tickets for free. All in all, for a new festival ( I think this was only their 3rd year), it was pretty nice. I would have preferred more shopping and perhaps a few more historical exhibits, but they have time and room to grow. If you've never been, I recommend that you give it a chance and help support a newer member of the Milwaukee festival scene. The food, alone, is worth it! 107/2015

South Milwaukee hosted a 2-day fest to unveil a statue of beloved local wrestler The Crusher - how…read more'bout dat? I am serious when I say that this fest was just about the most Wisconsin thing ever. There was plenty of sausage, fried cheese, Lions corn (the best corn, duh) and of course BEER. There was a polka mass. And then polka bands. On Sunday, you could get hot ham sandwiches, because that's what you eat after a polka mass. I was told that Saturday was incredibly crowded, but Sunday was more mellow. There was a full sized wrestling ring, displays featuring The Crusher - and of course his life sized statue carrying a barrel of beer. The cost was entirely crowdfunded to the tune of $40k! I don't know if this will end up being an annual event - if you missed out, you can always drop by and grab a selfie with The Crusher. Check it out, ya turkeynecks!

I drove up to South Milwaukee with my 19 year old son and we had an incredible time at Crusherfest…read more We attended the 3 pm wrestling show as well as the Mr. Saloon contest earlier. The wrestling went 2 hours and was awesome. The music is great as well as the vendors. I highly recommend Crusherfest for families who want to see a wholesome show and have some fun without breaking the bank. Well done, Crusherfest.

For many years, the Holiday Craft Fair from was held at the State Fairgrounds on 84th St. the…read moreweekend of Thanksgiving from Friday through Sunday. For the past 2 years, the show has moved to the Milwaukee County Sports Complex in Franklin. It is probably close in size to the previous venue, but with free parking and easier getting in and out compared to the fairgrounds. Year to year, the shows can vary - some craftier than others. While it is targeted for the middle-aged types who like to decorate their homes with handmade crafty items, it is pretty diverse. Among the vendors you'll find gutter guards, insurance, basement waterproofing and windows. Then there are vendors offering non-crafty items like candy, nuts, even a homemade ice cream stand. For the record, 2013 was not one of the craftier years. We managed to cover the floor pretty quickly. Some of the vendors we always love to see, like "The Nut Man" who sells bulk nuts and chocolates, were there. Other vendors we liked sold hand-crafted ornaments, pillowcases or decorative magnets made from vintage-looking bottle caps. It's interesting to see, even if you're not in the market for something decorative for the home. Still, we always leave with something, a gift, even if it is small. For us Thanksgiving weekend is craft fair weekend and this is usually one of the better ones out there.

St Francis Days is run by the local Lions chapter and feels like a big community picnic (with the…read moreaddition of a few sketchy carnival rides). Both the bandshell and a large tent are used for music (a Vegas style lounge act or a polka band on our visit), and several vendors dish up food. The stands run by the Lions were very reasonably priced (think $3 for a burger or brat) and the other 2 suppliers had higher "Fest" prices. $7 for mozz sticks?? This ain't Summerfest, yo! Beer prices were on the higher side for a community event ($4 domestics) BUT you could PRE ORDER beer tokens and save some money. Never heard of that before, but props to St Francis for embracing the digital age. Bathrooms are a choice of park pavilion bathrooms or portajohns - both were reasonably clean. Not a fan of the pony/camel rides on offer - not many people were doing it and the animals looked sad. Otherwise, a nice community event - pretty low key compared to some others.