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.

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.

Another fun year at TosaFest. It was busier than I expected on a Friday…read more They had a lot of good and beverage vendors but still plenty of other vendors to check out. Same pushy vendors for home needs chasing people down. Some were more respectful than others. Excellent music this year! Really loved Valley Fox. They also had a lot of options for ticketed events like dinners if you wanted a more involved experience. Appreciate this free festival in the village.

Okay festival in the Village. My son and I came here on a Saturday night to see my friend's band…read moreplay. There's a good mix of kids' activities, food looked better than standard fest fare, and there was craft beer and wine, although I hate having to buy tickets for drinks, and the beer workers were pretty unorganized, and also ran out of a few kinds of beer fairly early. Then I saw that we could just have bought good beers from Cafés Hollander and Bavaria for cash! (Not from the Festival, itself). The headlining music acts were good, although the two main stages seemed miles apart, especially in 50-degree weather. We probably parked too far away down the Menomonee Parkway, it's a pretty popular festival, and nice "for the area", would come back for a music act I really liked.

The food. Omg the food. Cream puffs , the ice cream in the Wisconsin building. The cheese and…read moresausages. Do not forget the corn. And the music is great too ! The people of Wisconsin are so kind and fun ! There are bands everywhere. Totally loved checking out the animals in the barns and watching the pig races. So much fun! The only thing that did not like is that we parked in the handicapped area on the race track and assumed we could get a ride or wheelchair nearby. We walked very carefully to the gate but the wheelchair rentals are inside the gate up the hill. So when we were done I had to take my aunt out of the gates , sit her down and return the wheelchair. I personably think they should be more easily available.

I hadn't been to the Wisconsin State Fair in almost 20 years and I went on a Saturday morning, the…read morelast weekend they were open. I got there about an hour after the fair opened at 11AM and left by 3PM. Because we got there early, we parked across the street from the fair and didn't have to deal with the long parking lines. I was pleasantly surprised with the fair and I had a great time! Why I say I was surprised is because it was a lot bigger than I remembered and I thought it offered a lot- from carnival rides, to food, to music and drinks. There was something for everyone, children and adults. My favorite part of the fair was a delicious gyro, the goats, and a little girl and her prized cow!! The animals were absolutely adorable and I loved petting the goats, I really felt like a kid again! My husband also had a nice time, he enjoyed a corn dog and he liked seeing the animals. I also appreciated the security. Purse checks, metal detectors, and right when we walked in we saw a security guard watching from a stand. I don't stay at fairs after dark because I know there are drunk people and fights but I felt very safe during the day. I look forward to going back next year!

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!

Love the large display of great cars and trucks. Only wish is to have more Food vendors (trucks)read more

This was the 27th annually classic car show held in downtown West Allis where they block off…read moreGreenfield Ave for about six blocks and the side streets that are off of Greenfield Ave. The area was full of various cars and trucks is from origin barn find looking to car show quality vehicles with a Dj rocking the misic and a few food trucks. The area had a nice crowd and it was hard to move around at times and forget about taking any pictures with out people in them. Parking was a little tough because the area was packed with all the people attending but I found a spot a block away after circling the whole area. Overall the show was pretty cool if you like cars that were all across the board, if you get it there you can show it. The crowd was a nice mix of people from the youngest to the oldest with people walking dogs around the show.