On my birthday weekend, I went to the 2024 Arizona Strong Beer Festival on 2/17/24 with my parents…read moreand my boyfriend, who also had a birthday a few days ago. Though there were about 175 different vendors at the festival, there was no way that we were going to end up trying all of them. The festival took place at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick in Scottsdale. Because we had a wristband that we picked up at the college baseball game that took place the night before, we entered the festival at approximately 11:30, which was an hour and 30 minutes before the general admission entrance time. At the entrance, we were given 24 booth tickets and a complimentary 3 oz sample glass to use at all the booths. We later realized that some of the booths didn't ask for our tickets, so we believed that only the VIPs got unlimited samples. We had access to their VIP lounge, which was located under a giant tent in the middle of the field. Because we didn't want to lose our table at the lounge, we agreed that one person stay at the table while the rest of us went to the brewery tents. It was really nice having a table at the VIP lounge, though while the shade did help sometimes, it did get a little hot as the festival went on. Some of my favorite samples that I tried here were the brand new Monster hard tea (yes, Monster now makes alcoholic drinks), OHSO's hard seltzer, and Pedal Haus' day drinker lager. Free water was also available with lots of ice provided. We agreed to stop for water after every two beer samples. Also making an appearance at the festival were a lot of food trucks. We ended up getting a lemonade at The Funky Pita food truck and pizza muffins from Floridino's food truck. The pizza muffins were so awesome and I feel that I should find them again so I can have them again. The lemonade was also refreshing on an unusually warm day in February. Other food trucks that were at the festival were Leo's Ice Cream, Sally's BBQ, and The Corn Dog Company. Though we couldn't make it to the end of the festival because of the unusual heat, we still had fun trying out new beers and talking to new people. Looking forward to next year, if applicable!

So this is pretty much THE beer festival for AZ. All the state's breweries are there along with…read moresome from the neighboring states. You get 40 sample tickets (2 oz. per ticket) which is plenty, trust me. The beers come strong as the name implies, so pace yourself, stay hydrated, and don't show up on an empty stomach. The only real gripe I have on the festival is the organization at the point of entry. I showed up a good 5 min late and had to wait in line 20 min to get in. This should not happen when an even larger beer festival in a Denver (GABF) can get you in pretty much instantly when you show up like 15 min early. Someone needs to contact those guys and figure out how they do it and replicate it for sure. Anyways, have fun!

An exciting festival at a great value, Viva PHX should be a priority for music fans of almost any…read moregenre. Several roads, most notably Monroe, are closed off to showcase vendors, outdoor stages, and other entertainment. There's a lot going on without feeling the area is too crowded or chaotic. Many of the can't-miss acts have their own dedicated venues, and your wristband allows you to hop between them. While I mostly stayed in Crescent Ballroom, other noteworthy spots like Valley Bar, Last Exit Live, and even Comerica were prime destinations. With almost 100 bands performing in roughly 5 hours, you'll be sprinting across various roads in an effort to see them all! One criticism levied against this festival might be the quality and relevance of the acts. Although there were definitely solid indie and emo choices for the young, hip connoisseurs, some of the headliners were...dated. In the future, this will likely expand to include artists that have been mainstream within the last decade. Because it's only one night, it isn't aiming to be up there with the big spring music festivals, and it doesn't need to be. It's ours and it's fun and I can't wait to go next year.

If you're a local music fan, downtown Phoenix was your Mecca last night. When I say local, I don't…read moremean the band that fills a room with 5 people, but the bands that bring along a hundred or so doting fans. There were also a few anchors that brought people out like The Neighborhood and Sir Mix-A-Lot. Setup across 13 different venues in downtown Phoenix, such as Crescent Ballroom, City Scape, Hard Rock Cafe, and Last Exit Live - something like 60 bands rocked the night until 2am. Music from hip hop, rap, folk, rock, electronic, indie, dance, singer/songwriter could be heard in 30-60 minute sets. Make your choices, or don't and just wing it. It was a fun night of music, hanging with friends, strolling downtown, dancing, and chillaxing and I can't wait for the next one! FYI tickets sold out about 8pm ish. If this event happens again, buy your tickets early -- like I did. ;-) Happy Yelping Phoenix! Time to get your groove on.

I've been attending the downtown Chambers series concerts for years and years and years fantastic…read moremusic incredible creativity music musicians instruments that you would never hear in an ordinary concert.

The Downtown Chamber Series is a very small Group of Musicians from the Phoenix Symphony that…read morestarted doing small chamber concerts in Art Galleries downtown Phoenix, Mark Dix a young hip guy founded this group to combine classical music with the visual arts! I have to say I haven't missed a concert. The tickets are always just $10 ! there is free wine and apps at intermission while you browse the funky downtown art space ! They select challenging music for their repretoire !! It's a hidden gem !! its always casual, artsy people in jeans typically..........As a classical music lover, I have found these concerts to be the BEST!!! Check out the website.. www. Downtown Chamber Series.org

Really gays? What has happened to us? We've become so serious. So mainstream. So. Oh dear. How do I…read moresay this...so, so heterosexual! GASP! Strollers. Parents. Pets. Lacoste shirts. Topsiders. Soccer moms. Soccer dads. And in my best Sarah Palin voice, "Joe 6 packs". Just normal folks don't ya know. You betcha. Where are the inappropriately dressed men in Speedos, glitter and nipple tassels? Dykes on bikes? Minors tripping on E? What has happened to our luster people? Have we become....um, boring? Well, I"m not sure. But the Rainbows Festival is darn fun. A small town feel, in a lovely urban setting, filled with the usual food vendors, t-shirts booths and local organizations hawking their wares and services. But overall, the genuine feeling of fun, love and celebration permeated this event. Lots of smiles, hugs and waves. And yes, lots of families of all types. And, really, that is what it's all about right. We noshed on turkey legs, tacos and swilled Bud and fruity vodka drinks. Ten bucks to park, but free to get in. How cute and small town is that? Well, not the parking maybe. But who doesn't love a free party? Rickie and I had a blast and at the end of our Rainbow, we found a bag full of condoms, lube and free minutes for a gay sex site. Ahhh, my people! Girls and gays just wanna have fun! See ya next year. And don't forget the nipple clamps!

A smaller version of the Pride Festival, Rainbows is a good way to introduce someone who has never…read moreattended a Pride event before. I find it interesting that a previous reviewer took issue with the "strollers, walkers and kids" and called the gays "mainstream" and "boring." It's unfortunate that someone from our community would actually begrudge others in the community the chance to show off their families in a safe and (supposedly) accepting place. Yes, there are kids. There are dogs. There are babies. There are families. It's a very family friendly event, and not as overwhelming as the big Pride Festival in April. There's entertainment by local drag queens and drag kings, dancers, singers and DJs. There are informational booths and food booths. And, unlike Pride in April, you can actually bring your dog with you to Rainbows. So pack up the kids, the strollers, the diaper bags and the family dog and get down to Rainbows Festival and celebrate your fabulocity!

Great shop with local artists on display. Got to see and chat with Cora while she was painting…read more Picked up a variety of post cards, stickers, and art. I support local (eventhough Phoenix isn't my hometown).

Since I work in the area, I decided to walk in is right across the street from the Hyatt Regency…read morehotel. They serve Matcha and other desserts inside as well as a lot of Latino culture art attached to a store and looks like they play music in there as well not for sure if they do live performances or not overall they were spacious a lot of great art Firm artist and the store where you could purchase items and or coffee drinks

We always have a great time here! We came around 7pm on Saturday and the band Synthesi was playing,…read moreI loved their music so much that I bought a couple of their CDs. If you like Greek music, definitely check them out. The dancers were great as well, lots of traditional dances in traditional clothes, as well as modern dancing. Then of course there's the food. We had the Moussaka (eggplant & ground beef casserole, $7). The Tiropita (cheese pie, $4). And for dessert, Loukoumades (Greek donut holes, $5), Karithopita (spiced walnut cake, $3), Kourabiedes (shortbread cookies with powdered sugar, $1), and Melamakarona (spice cookie, $1). My absolute favorite was the Karithopita (spiced walnut cake) because it was so incredibly moist! The runners ups would be the Kourabiedes (shortbread cookies with powdered sugar, and the Melamakarona (spice cookie). Examples of other dishes included, Saganaki (flaming cheese dish), Souvlaki (grilled pork), Dolmathes (stuffed grapevine leaves), etc. There were many other desserts too. Oh and there's tons of parking, entrance fee is $3, and there's tons of food, sweets, coffee, and alcohol to choose from! The ones I listed are just a few, love the variety here! There's also a Greek booth with imported Greek items.

Semi-smallish festival held basically in the churches backyard. It consists of about 10 arts-like…read morebooths, a music stage and the rest is food related. The most time you really could spend here is about 90 minutes. Most of the greek dances occur in circle form and that is entertaining to watch for a few minutes, but the food is why we are all here. Oh, on the website, it is 2-1 admission, so two for three bucks was a good entry deal. My favorite food there was the $7, flaming cheese served on a pita. OPA! We tried just about everything and the Moussaka slightly edged out the Greek Lasagna in the main dish competition. The rice pilaf and beans were average, but the spinach pie was flaky and excellent. Finally, the deserts are famous in Green culture, but the Baklava wasn't the best at this festival. There were so many desserts we had to buy the $15 assorted package. The best one was the spiced Walnut cake and Baklava sundae (only pieces of Baklava). The powdered sugar cookie was messy, but probably will try to Lokunado's next year - fried dough with honey.

"I've only been in love with a beer bottle and a mirror." ― Sid Vicious…read more Sweating my metaphorical dick off but I'm drinking samples on samples of beer and I'm having fun! There's some shaded seating and misting fans around along with water stations so stay hydrated folks! It's a hot hot May and you're drinking so make sure you grab your free waters. There are so many brews to try (250+!) in such a short amount of time. Come with a designated driver, Lyft, or Uber folks! I think I have tan lines and that ain't cute! Thanks for the tickets, Yelp! *pour some beer for the ducks*

Amazing beer fest!…read more It was a beautiful day, I had amazing friends in tow, and I got to drink drink drink my most-adored, most-loved Indiana beer, Sun King Brewery Sunlight Cream Ale. When your favorite local beers from back home cannot be shipped to AZ, you wait for them to come to you, a la beer festival [or drink a lot of it when you visit home]. A lot of the places were more than generous with their pours, especially if note was made about how awesome their beer was/is. It was a little on the hot side temperature-wise, but there were plenty of water stations and fans and a nice batch of trees along the food truck sidewalk. A few of the bigger breweries had large large tents so a few times my group and I sampled those particular beers to cool down. Just a handful of the beers I really enjoyed were Shipyard's Sea Dog Sunfish and Melon [don't judge a melon beer until you try it], Great Divide's Orabelle, Citrus Mistress IPA, College Street Brewhouse Big Blue Van, Borderlands Citrana + Moche Dulce and Maui Brewing Coconut Hiwa. This part of Hance Park was perfect. I'd never been to that area and for the number of breweries present, it was a great amount of space for the crowd and all the stuff happening on the inside. Everyone was genuinely in a happy mood, happy to share their beer and chat it up. Can't wait to attend the next one!

Cool fest to taste the food truck flavors of the Valley…read more The food festival was a Friday/Saturday affair. My wife, little girls, and I attended on Saturday. Bought a stack of sample tickets at one of the tents and we were on our way! The assortment of food trucks and vendors was a hoot. Our sampling included Cajun BBQ, Hot Mess sticky buns, kettle corn, cotton candy in crazy flavors, panini, sorbet, and even a piano lesson. There was a ton and I'm forgetting a good portion. Certainly worth a visit with friends. Traffic and parking weren't absurd and the Glendale Police folks were friendly. Afterwards, we stopped in the comic book shop for a couple comics for the girls with a Black Friday type sale they were having. Critiques: 1) ATMs charged a $5 fee, plus your banks. That's crazy. I walked to Bank of America across the street for a $3 fee... and less chance of card skimming. 2) A number of vendors stopped providing samples. And drink samples were very hard to find outside of tent areas where alcohol was served.