I attended an Iowa Wild game in late December at Wells Fargo Arena and had a terrific time!…read more The arena is very efficient; parking is easily accessible and cheap ($10), with plenty to do and eat around the immediate area. However, the customer experience and exceptional customer service provided by the arena and Wild staff made it an outstanding overall experience. There is no bad seat in the house, and everyone working the event was kind and focused on making it a positive visit. Loved the entertainment between periods, the music, and the fun things throughout the stoppages in play. Plus, the team is quite good, and our seats were excellent. I'm returning on a future visit to Des Moines.

Attending Iowa Wild Hockey is always a fun event. Win or lose, it is exciting and a quick moving…read moregame. This is a family friendly environment and I love how they come up with different theme nights to engage the fans. A couple of weeks ago, we attend Pucks and Paws and last night was Kid's night. I would give five stars except, in typical sporting venue fashion, the concessions are outrageously priced, lacking in taste, and variety. Take your family out for a night of hockey, but eat first!

Got to see some serious live painting from Tim from the H Studio gallery, and it was super fun to…read moresee how a giant canvas can be turned into something so beautiful it so little time.. I have always loved abstract art, Rothko is my fave artist ever ... so Tim stuff really speaks to me and it was so awesome to see him doing stuff live.. When an artist can make something beautiful look so easy it makes other people want to try their hands at things and that's the power of good art! Tim's got it going on for sure!

I do enjoy new opportunities to support local vendors. This…read morewas my first trip here and so happy I got the chance to do so. I ment to write as soon as I got home from the event but I was in a sugar coma from the delicious ice cream from The Outside Scoop. I lucky got to go down Friday evening. Parking is marked on the opposite side of the street of the venue. As we walked up the food trucks were feeding the masses. We entered the main door, here you purchase the entrance fee as make your way in. Right inside is a couple vendors and a bar where you can wet your whistle. From here you climb a couple flights of steps and enter a room full of magic. Here the magic is made by multiple vendors that are all local. There was everything you can imagine. Beautiful hand made jewellery, soaps, music, clothes, food, coffee, wood products and more and more. The vendors change a little bit with talking with a few I can see they all like the inside venue. It had great light add even a sky light. I think I'll be visiting this market again.

Saturday was my first Legit Local Market, and I loved it…read more. It was also my first time at the Barnum Factory which is an incredible space for an event like this! Lots of local hand made and crafty type vendors, selling goods and have a good time.. Records playing, free coffee brewing, and artist talking shop.. I rolled in with my son who is 2 and he loved running around seeing all booths full of unique and local items from local businesses that might not have a store front! There was a bar, there was a food truck, there was plenty to buy and to see! Awesome bi-annual local event that truly shows the local love!

I think for the price they charged me the bus was not good and the food they offer in the…read morehospitality tent was very low quality

Have attended two races with them now. Excellent customer service and LOTS of fun! A must for…read moreevery race fan!

At the Casey's Center for the high school basketball tournament for my oldest daughter. Parking…read morewas quick and easy. There were lots of restrooms. Concessions were a nice variety and prices were reasonable. Our game didn't go as we wanted-but it was still a great experience. Great Center!

This studio is AMAZING! Nicole and her team provide a well rounded, complete, and elite dancing…read moreexperience for your child. She has created a supportive environment for your dancer to learn, grow, and thrive in a positive space. Our family LOVES the studio dance family and hopes you will too!

The arena oozes, an Iowa long gone by ...Not the worst or best place, but favorite (old but…read morecharming): Buccaneer Arena in Des Moines is home to USHL Des Moines Buccaneers  Place is a barn in every sense of the word (good and bad). Built in the '60s, concourse and locker rooms are on the same level, so they have to curtain off parts of the hallways to let players on and off the ice. The seating is all wooden benches made for 3000, but they fit 3500, and the roof is plywood and iron. Everything else is concrete.  My buddy Simo  saw Herb Brooks's 1980 squad (that's right the miracle ice team) once play an exhibition against the Blues there, he said that there was a Rochester hockey connection between everyone at the time when hockey was a very small world indeed. The halls are clean....they have  upgraded the vendor areas, including local Iowa beers on tap. It still has the usual fare popcorn,  Iowa style pork tenderloin, various Pop and canned beers. . I love this rink. Love, love, love it. They keep it fairly clean, despite it's age. It belongs in a Slap Shot movie. It's like "letter Kenny's character Shoresy hockey  Arena " one of the last of the "great old barns" left, and it's where so many  young people  learned to play hockey and learned to love hockey. Of course, now they've got the fancy rec area and then the minor league team "the Wild" at the Wells Fargo arena... The fans that attend the Buc games are pretty funny and loyal.. They mock  the announcer all the time with chants ...they boo and chant against the referees . It's about the right size because it doesn't swallow. People up like the Wells fargo Arena.. There's been a delay in tearing this place down. I suppose it could happen any year now. They were gonna start construction of the new arena over at the merle hay mall, but that's been put on hold.  It made me smile to see lots of dads with kids and moms with kids having a fun, affordable experience. If you haven't been, you should go before it disappears. Like other lost things and all the memories of this place are gone. I have been when it's been pretty crowded, and it does get pretty rowdy.

"It's like being in a movie" is what my partner said the latest time we came to a game. The fans…read moreare dressed to represent the team and certainly seem like they are regular, season ticket holders with their enthusiastic cheers (and jeers when it comes to the referees). The arena isn't huge so there really isnt a bad seat. The game is played a lot faster and more physically than the majors. A really fun time and family friendly. Be sure to follow their Facebook or check the website for any specials (eg Friday is 2 for 1 arena tickets with a fareway receipt)

Oktoberfest is a great weekend in Des Moines, I recommend everyone should go have some fun and…read morepreferably dress up for it! Dressing for the occasion really makes it more fun. For a festival that is mostly about drinking the crowd is always nice and not too rowdy. Many men and women are happy to teach you to polka or even grab a stranger to share a boot of bier with. They always have great entertainment with live polka bands and several very entertaining contests for those in proper attire, such as the bier maiden competition. The limited food for venders outside Hessen Haus is always good, and the pastries from strudl Haus are always amazing. There are two things I think they need to improve on at this event. The first being they don't have many or even any sour biers most years. The second being they need more food vendors and variety. There is more to German food than just pretzels and brats. If they improved on these two items hands down this would be a five star review.

Love Des Moines Oktoberfest!! It's only 2 days long but I don't think I can handle much more. My…read morefavorite event is the tapping of he Golden Keg -- it's worth taking off work for!! Obviously the beer is the highlight of this event and there is plenty. Polka all day and night -- if you haven't tried to dance Polka it's easy! Just try!! Lots of friendly dancers will help you learn if you just step out and start trying. The rest of Oktoberfest is a blur -- but if I remembered it all it wouldn't be worth attending. Friendly people, great bier - eins, zwei, drei, gsuffa!!!