Bottom Line: A good beer festival but I hope to see some improvement in 2016…read more I've been to various beer festivals, mostly centered around craft beer meccas like San Diego and the Pacific Northwest, so I weary about a non-craft brew town throwing a craft beer festival. Even though Annapolis is not a strong contender in the craft beer scene their festival did not disappoint but there is some room for improvement. Here are some observations from the 2015 festival that I hope will let other Yelpers know what to expect in 2016 and steer the organizers towards an even better event in 2016. - Parking and Logistics: Parking is only $5 and there was plenty of it. The gates opened at noon and the line started forming about fifteen or so minutes before hand. I actually had a "voucher" rather than a ticket but we relieved to know I did not first have to stand in a Will Call line to get my ticket and then stand in the entrance line to turn in my ticket. However, there is a second line for ID checks and to pick up your glass. - Beer Festival Only: This event is billed as a beer and music festival and there is even some mention of art. Really, this is just a beer festival which is ok with me! The music was hard to hear unless you sat right in front of the stage and the art was few and far between. - 1/2 Price Tickets a Must: Tickets for unlimited tastings were priced at $40 but I suspect most people used Groupon, Living Social or similar to pay about 1/2 price. Admission is worth $20 but not $40, in my opinion. $10 for DD ticket seems way to steep as this really is a beer festival and a DD would probably be bored here. - Brewery Diversity: The diversity of breweries was great! Most of the breweries that advertised were there and I would say 75% of the advertised beers were available too. I thought that was a great turnout as breweries and beer lists often do change between publishing of the list and the actual event. I am understanding of that and was ok with the no-shows, additions and overall beer selection. I really enjoyed trying beers some some local breweries like Long Trail (awesome pumpkin beer), Calvert Brewing (delicious creme ale) and Assawoman Bay Brewing (Angry Brown Clown is pure delight) with which I was not previously familiar. Most booths were supported with volunteers but a few breweries did have their own reps there. - Generous Pours: For a tasting event, I found the 5 oz. pours to be very generous. It would be easy to get wasted here but I really wanted to taste beers so I usually asked for a 1/2 pour or a splash. I tasted 42 beers in about five hours and left mostly sober. It seems many other people were largely tasting too as no one seemed obnoxiously sloshed (just hungry and dehydrated). - Draft Pours: Sometimes when you go to beer festivals they are pouring from bottles or cans. I am glad to say that most of the breweries had their product on draft. -Optimize with a List: As a beer nerd I went with a list. Make all the jokes you want. If you are serious about trying certain beers, or just want to be the butt of your friends' jokes, then check out the beer list in advance and make a list of what you want to try when you are there. I proudly carried my list around me and tried almost my entire list plus a few bonus beers. A couple people even asked me where I found my list. :-) - Operation Dehydration: The event rules said no outside food and drinks. As a rule follower, I did not bring my water. I guess I am a sucker as many people brought water in, as they should be allowed, since bags were not checked. I think if you are hosting a beer festival it would be smart to allow people to bring water. I am sure the event was proud to be charging $3 for a bottle of water but let's be smart about this and encourage hydration. - Dismal Food Situation: As other Yelpers have noted year after year, the food situation here is dismal. There is only one vendor with real food. This translates to very long waits for mediocre, over priced food. I am trying to figure out why the food situation is so bad. Maybe its because all of the good vendors are tied up at the concurrent Renaissance Festival? For those wanting chow at the festival, I recommend you order a pizza and have it delivered to the fence. Maybe for a generous tip the pizza guy will shove it through the chain length fence into your mouth since outside food is not allowed. -Port-a-pots: There was plenty of port-a-pots and there were zero to little lines. Thank you! Unfortunately, there was only one or two port-a-sinks and of course they ran out of soap and water very early. More hand-washing stations would be awesome. Despite intermittent rain I had a good time. I absolutely believe in the City Dock Productions and the Annapolis Craft Beer and Music Festival and hope to see improvement in years to come.

Love this event. Rain or shine it has been great. Have gone the last 3 years. Continue to bring…read moremore and more of my friends. Looks like this event has changed to Amps & Ales. Google it. Being held at the Bowie Baysox stadium this year.

It's great to see Annapolis finally start to embrace a little cultural flair. This town has been…read moredieing for a while and I am happy to see that there is still a little life blood left in it'. Let's hope this is a trend that will continue.

Wonderful youth music... great food ... wonderful people and I am able to take my dogsread more

Variety of Vendors. Setting. I met some amazing artists and crafters. Easy to get to and parking…read morewas free and close to the event.

(This is probably 3.5 stars to me.) The festival has a large selection of MD wines available --…read moreserved by vineyard staff or, in some cases, purely by volunteers, depending on the vineyard -- but I found few that I really enjoyed. The lines for tastings varied widely -- for some reason, the lines at the two tents nearest the entrance were the shortest (10-15 minutes), while the lines for tastings at the tents farther back had much longer lines (25-30 minutes). In general, the tasting pours were very small -- think 1- or 2-sip pours. The large 'market' area in the middle of the festival grounds included many creative booths, with artisans selling paintings and photography, jewelry and hats, pottery, stained glass, etc. There were also several dessert and snack stands, but limited 'actual' food for lunch, which surprised me. The festival had live jazz, but it was very quiet in a small corner tent. A couple other large tents were set up for people to relax under. Around all the tents, it was clear that many people were clever enough to bring their own lawn chairs, which was a great anticipatory thought since there was nearly no other seating. The Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium grounds had plenty of parking. And the festival provided lots of water, which was great.

We enjoyed this festival at Anne Arundel Fairgrounds. A good assortment of organisations' stands…read moreabout Irish, Celtic, and Scottish cultures. A stand featuring Irish Wolfhounds. Cute gigantic dogs. Good brews (sláinte!), other drinks, and foods. We liked the bands. Also a drums & pipes band. I opted for the Jameson Whiskey Tasting session. Got to sample some of their rarer (and more pricey) whiskeys. Really good opportunity to get a taste of them without spending hundreds of dollars for the bottles.

Fun!!!!! I didn't know that I like Irish music so much…read more Tickets: cash or card. $25 VIP $110 with free beer, wine, cider, soda, and water. Customer service: awesome! They give free sunblock at the gate. Stage: 3! Now at the biggest Shamrock stage. A great band is playing. The vocal makes us laugh a lot:D Drink: Nice beer:) Healthy smoothy:)) Food: fantastic! Shepard's pie, BBQ, grilled oyster, popcorn, etc. Shopping: Green t-shirts! Leather bags. So many cool things. Parking: Free. Kids friendly event:) So many cute fun kids playing around.

It was a nearly perfect day on Day 1 of the Annapolis Greek Festival (it was a bit windy, so paper…read moreplates and napkins were flying everywhere). The turnout was pretty good, and I had no trouble finding parking. Perhaps the part I loved most was the tour of the Church. The iconography! A sight to see for sure. The priest has been there for 40 years and gave a lively, sometimes funny, explanation of the items found in a Greek Orthodox Church. The festival continues tomorrow so check it out.

For $15, you would think you would get a nice plump gyro., but I t is tiny. The fries ate good.read more

This is my super delayed love letter to the Maryland Renaissance Festival. As a DND/role player, my…read moreSaturday in September at the Ren Faire was incredible. I went with my DND group and we had an amazing time. There is so much to do, eat, and see here. You can easily spend an entire day at the MD Ren Faire. INSIDER TIP: Come early and bring plenty of cash with you. The earlier you come, the less insane lines you have to fight. And if you already have cash on you, you don't need to wait in the never ending ATM line. I hadn't been since I was a child and the space was still magical. It's all in a forest with a bunch of unique buildings and stages to really bring the magic alive. The map is your friend. It shares where everything is and it also shares all the showtimes. We immediately met some charming acrobats and saw both of their shows that day. We learned that fire isn't allowed in shows here (probably because the forest), but all the performers impressed us with very sharp knife juggling. This ren faire has it all. You can get crab pretzels, beer, oysters, crepes, and more. You can buy corsets, masks, daggers, tapestries, and more. You can watch jousters, jugglers, acrobats, AND MORE. My favorite part of my visit this year the the miniature Venetian museum. If you're interested in attending, be sure to look at the correct dates to buy tickets in advance. They will put you in an online queue that can take up to hours to get through, but it's so worth it.

I've been to Renaissance festivals before, but nothing like the Maryland one. The festival grounds…read moreare well designed giving it a very immersive feel. It's also set back in the tree line a bit which really adds to the experience. There's a variety of entertainment options from Shakespeare to jousting and some very fine vendors. The best part though was definitely seeing all the attendees in costume, people really go all out! I tried to go last year but sadly missed out on getting tickets. I learned my lesson though and added the ticket release date to my calendar so I was ready! I bought my tickets the day they dropped, which was a good thing since they sold out quickly again this year. So my advice is plan on going and also get tickets asap!