This was a cool event that I assume will get better from year to year. I was able to meet some…read morefellow Yelpers and had good conversation and had my tasting glass "customized". Some of the tasting lines were slow moving. But with so many vendors it didn't slow down my tastings. I have to admit that I only visited half of the stands because once I found a couple of bottles that I liked, I was done. I purchased a few bottles, stretched out my folding chair near the stage and enjoyed a beautiful day out. I purchased four bottles and left with one :) The entertainment was very enjoyable; the SB Band really kept the crowd hyped! The down side was the food situation. Porterhouse was there and they never disappoint. But with only 2 trucks, 3 if you count the pizza slice trailer, the wait was ridiculous AND outside food was not an option :( I expect better next year, I can't wait.

This was a great event! My friend and I had a blast!…read more The parking was a little rough. We had to park in the grass, and unfortunately when we tried to leave, the entrance to that parking spot was blocked off so we had to drive very carefully off the median onto the road. They do have carts that will transport you to and from your car, but we decided to walk. The line seemed extremely long when we first got there, but we got in pretty quickly. Make sure you bring your ID's because they do check before you enter. They give you a complementary wine glass, along with a brochure listing all of the wineries in attendance, which was nice. There are a lot of wineries, but I expected to see more than were there. We skipped a few because they had just typical wines. I'm not usually a big wine drinker, but after spending the day tasting different kinds, a few have definitely won me over! If you ever go in the future, be sure to stop at Southern Charm Winery's tent (if they're there). I literally loved every single wine they had to offer. My favorite was the Edisto Black. It is amazing! I'd have to say they are officially my favorite winery. Shadow Springs Vineyards has a very good strawberry wine. The lines were a little long, but that was to be expected. The band was great! I also loved the location, being it is in the same parking lot as one of my favorite restaurants (Moose Cafe). Be sure to stop there on your way out!

September 24 2022 we went to our first NC Apple festival here at historic Bethabara and it was so…read morequaint. It really felt like fall has finally arrived just being here. It's not a big festival for sure but it is worth the time and effort. You had the vendor who sold Apple cider syrup that was slap yo mama delicious, I just want to smother it all over biscuits or pancakes. You could see PIG RACES so that made my day. And there was great festival food options to choose from like the good ole roasted corn on cob, funnel cake, candy apples, chocolate, bbq, and of course, apples and apples and more apples. Plus there were other vendors that sold candles and jewelry. You can bring your dog too. Great parking and tree lined street. It is worth putting it on your calendar for next year. I know I'll be back. And it's freeeeeeee!

Have more Apple vendors 2 apple vendors is hardly an apple…read morefestival Really not worth the effort Nice park Bethabara but an apple festival it was not

I went this year and we had a fabulous time. Be aware that it has now been renamed to "Carolina…read moreClassic Fair". The food is everywhere and as exotic as you might expect from a fair (fried Oreo's, anyone?), but is high priced. Can you go to a fair and NOT get a funnel cake? They're $15, but it's once a year... They have a good selection of rides though the lines were long on Friday night and I would expect they would be even worse over the weekend. Parking is $10 at the Wake Forest Coliseum (a short walk), which is safer than parking in someone's yard (for the same price). It's $10 per person to enter, if you order online, and then you'll spend $20 every 4 rides (roughly). It can add up quickly, but so can the level of enjoyment.

Nice family time on a weekday afternoon. We decided to go on Thursday afternoon before the evening…read morecrowd and it was perfect. It was a breezy day and the sites gave me such a nostalgic feeling of old timey trips to the fair when I was young. I especially enjoyed watching children enjoy the rides and families just strolling happily and peacefully.

This is a turnoff from the Blue Ridge Parkway. I was impressed that the commitment was made to the…read moremusic of the mountains. There are daily small-scale performances in an open section of the visitor center, which I stopped to listen to for a bit. An outdoor amphitheater offers larger scale performance opportunities, which I wish I'd found the occasion to come down for. Additionally, there are a couple of miles of trails on the site which run through bucolic hilly territory and offer a variety of sights and sounds. There is no charge to visit the site, and an abundance of reasons to be driving on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Note that the musical performances are seasonal.

This was a great place to stop while I rode through the Blue Ridge Parkway on my motorcycle. I…read moreneeded to take a break, and as somebody who likes to play the guitar (calling myself a musician might be a bit of a stretch) I couldn't pass this one by. They have a wonderful little museum on the history and development of Appalachian music and instruments. Some of it is interactive as well. I was there on a Saturday and they had local musicians playing some of the old Appalachian music outside in a little covered area, sponsored by the BLM I am assuming. In a smaller building they have a whole section pertaining to the old moonshiners of the region, explaining their craft and their inevitable run-ins with the revenuers. I didn't make too many stops along the way but I am very glad this was one of them as it was totally worth it!

fair foods and local talent is here. there were plenty of crafts to buy but my hands were full of…read morefood. BTW where were the beer tents? it was a good way to enjoy a few hours out and about. I enjoyed the band Citizen Shade while I chowed down on Porterhouse fries and a funnel cake. This was great prep for some evening BBQ and fireworks. see ya next year (if you have adult beverages in the streets). Adult beverages would have up'd the rating.

In the '90s I worked at a bar & grille downtown. It was full of entertaining moments most days, but…read moreamong the best were during Fun Fourth, when so many who otherwise never would have come there would file in all day to avoid the heat and their kids (the kiddie area of the festival was across the street). The bar comfortably accommodated about 40 people and most nights wouldn't see more than 20 at a time, but would have a steady population of around 60-70 on the 4th. These were the days before Natty Greene's, when any other day of the year one could lie in the middle of the street at 8 pm and not worry about cars. This particular day was like most Fourths, but got interesting later in the night, when Johnny Van Zant walked in. Lynyrd Skynyrd had played that day down the block from the bar and late in the evening this hayseed came in, sat at the bar and asked for a Budweiser. At first, I had no clue whom he was, so I mocked him for asking a 14 year old to serve him a beer. Eventually, he was served and after a few bemulleted congratulated him on a good set, I realized it was Van Zant, who had taken over vocal duties for this hemorrhoid on the asshole of southern rock after his brother's plane wrapped itself around a tree. I disregarded him for an hour as he got progressively drunker, but he couldn't stand being ignored. Primarily, the bar was a black purlieu, making good ol' Johnny's next few statements all the more sage, and hilarious. Upon spotting one of the Malcolm X shirts that were so popular at the time, with "It's a black thing. You wouldn't understand" printed on the back, he began with a description of his big idea to make money (was his band doing so poorly?). "Wanna know my idea fer a milyun dollar bizness? T-shirts." His speech was already slurred as he answered his own question without giving me the chance. "You know how they got their shirts?" he said, ever louder, "The ones that say 'It's a black thing. You wouldn't understand'?" I knew what was coming, yet he continued. "Well, I got an idea for shirts for us!" He paused several seconds, allowing me time to catch up to his intellect before he delivered his payoff. "It's a WHITE thing. YOU wouldn't understand," he blurted out while pointing an angry finger at no one. "Yeah, I think you're a little late there. I've seen those." "And d'you know how they got their X? We'd have our X. A rebel flag!" "I'm telling you, man, they already sell those." "Well, I ain't never seen one." I have never been to a Lynyrd Skynyrd show, but it would be difficult to convince me that vendors didn't sell these t-shirts at every one of them in the '90s, or now, in fact. Rednecks are notoriously behind the times. At some point during the hick's pitch, a trailer-park blonde had stumbled in, already drunk. She sat a few seats down from Johnny Too Bad and demanded a beer. Upon informing yet another rocket scientist that I was too young to serve, she began a lengthy diatribe about how I shouldn't be working there if I couldn't fetch her beer. I asked someone else to get it, and she asked for a few case quarters. She spent several minutes doing the Axl Rose sway in front of the jukebox while trying to decide on a song, and then suddenly she stamped her feet and exclaimed, "There ain't a god-damned thing on here worth playing!" "You don't like 'Mr. Bojangles'?" I asked. "I don't see- Oh." So she chose some Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and some contemporary country that had never been played, and returned to her seat for most of her first selection before heading to the restroom. Moments later, she cracked the restroom door and yelled, "Y'all ain't got no damned toilet paper in here! I gotta drip my ass dry?" A co-worker took a whole 8-roll pack to her. I like "Mr. Bojangles"; it's a decent enough song. But after it finished, while she was still drying out, her next song began. I don't know what it was. I'll just assume Garth Brooks or Alan Jackson. It was one of those typical, "Why'd that truck driver not take a rest the night Junior was coming home from the war and driving to meet his daughter for the first time at Christmas?" songs. So I turned the volume way the fuck down before she returned. She took her seat and nursed the bottle for a while, until, "Can't that thing get any louder? I can't hear my god-damned song!" "Yeah. Let's see- " and I pretended to turn it up for her. "How's that?" "Still can't hear it." "Hmm... I don't think it goes much higher, but I'll try," and this time I nudged the switch slightly. "That's as high as it goes. Must be the record." "Well, God damn. I still can't hear nothin'." "Yeah, I'm sorry." She finished her beer as the song faded to an end, and then she walked toward the exit as one of my favorites, Clarence Carter's "Slip Away", began to play. I cranked the volume good and loud just in time for her to slip away herself, with such grace, flipping me off and cursing as she stormed out the door. I love America.

We went to the festival on Saturday evening and it was a great experience. We were able to find…read moreparking a block away so that was convenient. To purchase food from the booths you had to purchase tickets. One ticket was the equivalent of $1. Wrist bands for beer were also $1. There were tons of options for food. BBQ, sandwiches, sausage, wings, spring rolls, tacos, desserts, ice cream, the list goes on. I really liked the variety. It allowed everyone to get something to their liking. We wanted to try a couple different things so my boyfriend and I grabbed a couple different items to share. We got a hickory smoked slider and mac and cheese from Camel City BBQ, spring rolls and wings from Milner's, and a wrap from Bib's. Everything was really good! We brought chairs and a blanket to sit down and were able to find a nice place in the shade to sit down. We stayed long enough to enjoy Bob Margolin's hour long set and have our dinner. There were a lot of people there but it wasn't so overly crowded that you couldn't move through the crowded smoothly and the wait for the food booths wasn't very long at all. Overall it was a great experience.

We came to Woods of Terror for their annual Krampus event. They had a 25% off fast pass discount…read morefor Black Friday that brought the price down to the same price as a regular ticket. Unfortunately, this did mean that a LOT of people had fast passes and the wait for the normal line was longer than usual as was the fast pass lane. When we arrived, we had to pay $20 CASH for parking. In previous years, they accepted cashapp so we did not have cash and were directed to the ATM on site (so $20 turned into $30 quickly). We should've read the website better but I wish the tickets/email to us stressed the cash only portion in bold and all caps and made it clear that payment apps were no longer accepted. The lady collecting parking cash was very nice and helped guide us, but another attendant treated us so horribly and verbally attacked us that we had to ask to speak to a manager (something we really only do to compliment people who are good at their jobs). The security supervisor assuaged our concerns very well (Caleb) and completely turned our experience around. The scare actors at this location are very interactive and there are plenty of photo ops before you go into the houses which do not allow photos. The houses were the same as the normal Halloween houses with a nice twist of snow and Christmas decorations and Christmas themed movies like the Nightmare Before Christmas. The scared are great but really it's the sets that are unbeatable. It was a nice touch that they had fire pits between houses where people could stop and get warm on a very cold (freezing) night and take a breather. Overall; would highly recommend, but the line and parking should be better organized as well as notifications of cash only parking.

We went on a Saturday night which tends to be their busiest. My biggest piece of advice if you have…read moreto be home by a certain time, upgrade to fast pass. The entire walk through all the haunted houses will take about an hour and half in addition to any wait time to get in. We did general admission and waited 2 hours till we got our text to get in line. We got in the virtual line around 8pm. I will say the person I believe is the owner, the one with the red Mohawk, is super sweet and saw us waiting around and cleared us to enter early. We got our text to get in line 10 minutes later, but we truly appreciated the gesture to get us in line earlier. Also don't forget to scan to get in line bc I talked to too many people that had completely forgot. The houses are absolutely amazing and so incredibly well done. The attention to detail is crazy. Plenty of jump scares, but overall I did way better than I expected. Be prepared though to walk what felt like a mile or more. Also the fact there were so many different options to go through made the experience even greater. One character scared someone that she fell on the ground but the character then helped her up which was sweet. The security and staff in general through the whole experience were sweet and you knew they enjoyed what they did. I think at first I thought the tickets seemed expensive, but after going through the experience, the price was truly worth every penny. I would definitely bring my friends here in the future.

How I managed to live in North Carolina this long and not know we had a Cheerwine Festival is mind…read moreboggling to me. This was my first year attending the event. It was advertised that you could take a train to Salisbury, NC and then the festival was in walking distance. If you drove, you'd have to look for parking in the area and walk to the event. My friend and I arrived around noon. This. Was a good time, but in the fire I'd ago In my opinion they spaced out the different vendors well so it wasn't too crowded. You were able to move through the areas easily. At times, you would have to wait for people to move, but this is expected with any festival. I liked that their website listed the vendor participating and if the vendor created a Cheerwine themed item/dish. I believe it would've ben helpful it their website also included a map of where each vendor was so you could head to the vendor you wanted immediately. There was a main location at the festival that sold Cheerwine merchandise such as: beach towels, stickers, hats, t-shirts, and displays. They had a cash and card line. Some vendors took cash, but not all so it is good to have both on you. There were live performances occurring in their center city park. I was not prepared well for the event as I literally decided to go day of. In the future I'll make sure to pack a lawn towel or small chair to sit in the park and come earlier in the day when the event first starts so it's not as hot outside.

Bottom line: The Cheerwine Festival in Salisbury is a busy and popular street festival to celebrate…read morethe regional soft drink favorite. Saw lots of Cheerwine merch/logos everywhere but not Cheerwine itself. This festival is extremely crowded and there are long lines for absolutely everything, do know that going into this one. Bring cash, you'll need it. The Deets: My friends and I made plans to hit the The Cheerwine Festival in Salisbury, NC this year. Cheerwine is a local/regional soft drink favorite, a black cherry flavored soda. Cheerwine has been made since 1917 and has been produced by the same family in North Carolina for all those years (big accomplishment in the food/beverage industry). I've been a Cheerwine fan since childhood so I was up for going to a festival bearing its name. We went down and back on Amtrak as there is a train station near to the downtown area the festival is held. I recommend going by train if possible as finding parking is not that easy for this event. Salisbury is not a huge town so you would expect that to be so. If you are not a fan of big crowds and long lines, then this festival is not for you. This festival is very "people-y" and there are long lines for EVERYTHING...food, beer/beverages, merchandise, craft/art/novelty items, cash machines (bring cash, most things here are not cheap)...everything. Of course the sound stage had a crowd around it as well. We even ducked into a local bottle shop to find some peace (see my prior review for this business) which we indeed found. My pics I took are from a pocket of peace I found outside of the crowded area. Of note, I did see that there were plenty of port-a-potties everywhere, even down alleys between buildings. While I saw Cheerwine logos and merchandise a-plenty at the festival, I really can't recall seeing any actual Cheerwine itself. Sad face. Lots of beer opportunities...not Cheerwine though. If you love those crowded street festivals, this event is your golden ticket. I found it was great to visit and experience but I'm not sure I would go out of my way to come back again.

What a wonderful festival hosted here in Greensboro. For 2025, I enjoyed it as a listener and…read morevolunteer. It is certainly worth going to all weekend if able. It's a free festival featuring a very walkable downtown Greensboro. During the event, the whole place felt like a massive city. All sorts of food can be found, and the festival tents sell drinks as well. However, more options can be found at all the participating establishments and local breweries. The music of course was amazing. With 6 major stages, and a few other smaller spots, a listener is bound to find what they like. Music was a 5/5 and the vibes too!

The NC Folk fest is always so much fun! This free event is every fall in Greensboro, NC. This year…read morewe found the BEST kettle corn. The butter kettle corn and caramel kettle corn were sooo good! The kettle corn vendor is St. Popperville Kettle Corn. 10/10 recommend.

This was the first time this event has been held and I will say they did a pretty good job. They…read morehad an information stand and maps available for visitors. Considering this was also our first time to Rocky Mount the map was very helpful. The reason for only giving a 3 star rating was because of the lack of actual moonshine. Though I have never been to a moonshine festival before I had hoped that there would be actual moonshine to purchase to take home and moonshine distillers to talk with. This was not the case. The only place that had moonshine available at the festival during the day was at the Bootleggers Cafe. You could purchase a flight of 4 moonshine cocktails for $8. There was a night time ticketed event called Shine and Dine that we did not attend where according to the website you could "Enjoy an enchanted evening with a moonshine and local foods tasting under the stars. Sample fantastic "shines" in several flavors from local and state distilleries along with a selection of foods and delicious desserts prepared by local chefs". I just wish this option was also available during the day. The good: 1) Pretty well organized 2) The event is free (free entertainment and displays) 3) They provided shuttle service & ample parking lots around town 4) They had a kids zone (not sure whats in there since we don't have kids) So what could make this a 5 star event you ask? Here are a few ideas: 1) Blocking the street off to traffic 2) Having a distillers/tasting area during the daytime 3) Getting more vendor booths...specifically Virginia artists/crafts men - especially the Franklin County Moonshine distillers (not sure what the ABC laws are regarding this) Though this event was not quite what I had imagined, it was not all that far off. It just needs times for the word to spread and for it to grow into the larger, bolder event it was meant to be.