Another typical suburban festival -- carnival rides, mixed with music stages, and food tents, and…read moresometimes, business vendors. To be honest, I enjoy em, and this one, called Buffalo Grove Days, or what the cool kids call it -- "BG Days" is A-OK with me. I do like how this is well laid-out. There are shuttle buses to take/drop you to where you need to be. I didn't bother looking for parking and ended up parking at wherever the Buffalo Grove Days parking signs pointed to, which ended up being at the Buffalo Grove Metra station, which was free. I do have to say that the offering of carnival rides BG Days have, compared to the other copious amounts of suburban festivals, was less. It was actually hard to use up our 22-tickets (this year it was 22-tickets for $25) and I'm glad I didn't go with the unlimited rides for $25 each. The carnival games included pop-a-shot, lucky ducks, and other typical games. Food-wise, the food tent was actually pretty big. Lots to choose from, from pizza, to Mexican, to Dairy Queen. Food prices were A-OK and definitely not like the $40 for a piece of lettuce prices you'd find at the Taste of Chicago. BATHROOM REVIEW: The couple of port-a-potties we visited were actually pretty clean! Many to choose from and there was no line on the evening we went. Sit or squat? It's still a port-a-potty after all. Squat.

Free to enter. There are various shuttles (bona-fide school busses!) to bus you from parking lots…read moreto the fairgrounds and back. Tip: Make sure to note whether your bus says COOK CO or LAKE CO on the side window so you can get back on the right bus route. Bring chairs or blankets for the parade (starts at 1). The north side of Lake Cook has craft fairs and food, while the south has rides and games (and a few food options - mostly cotton candy, elephant ears, corndogs). Ride tickets amount to about $1.25, and kiddie rides are typically 2-3 tickets. There are two sections of rides: the kiddie ones and adult. Food vendors included a lot of pizza (Nancy's, Wapaghettis...), Jersey Mike's, JD's BBQ, Culvers..also mac and cheese, chicken tenders, burritos, pretzels, etc from various other vendors. There's a covered picnic area to chill and take a break from the sun and heat, as well as a misting tent. Prices weren't TERRIBLE. My steak burrito was $7 and my custard sundae was $3. Pop cans are $1.50 and water is about $2.50. You can bring your own beverages, water, coolers, whatever (non-alc), too. There's an abundance of portra johns, and we even saw some being cleaned! Clean sh!tters?! Score!

We love going to Art in the Park in Northbrook at the Village Green.  This year it happened during…read morethe Mother's Day weekend on May 9 and May 10.  There were over 80 artists covering many categories.  I have observed that there was more art in the homey and traditional style and less modern art, targeting a more mature and senior audience.  Of course, it was suitable for art-goers of all ages, even for kids.  There was even a Kids Art Zone that featured  bingo, spin art, and sand sculpture.  When we were there, there was live music by a 2-men band on stage belting out songs that were rhythmic and very pleasing to the ears.  For us, dog spotting is always fun!  Many dogs walked in the art fair with their humans.  We love getting to socialize with some outgoing ones.  There are many eateries and restaurants around the park, and it's not hard finding free parking nearby.  This year the weather was perfect, making it a very enjoyable walk in the park!

Too many dogs. Need more different medias. Much too much jewelry. More music venues. All in all s…read morenice day to be out.

Interesting art and exhibition enjoyed the atmosphere and would go again. Looking forward to my…read morenext visit.

Always a fun event with music, entertainment, vendors with a variety of items, a few (pricey) but…read moresolid food vendors, and activities for kids; all along our beautiful Evanston lakefront. One year my daughter and I partook of the Zumba class, and they have various demonstrations as well. It's also refreshing to see all of the cultures and the diversity that comprises Evanston. We enjoy browsing for the jewelry, accessories and ethnic items, incense, shea butter, as well as scented oils, candles, and miscellaneous artwork! This is an annual event always in July, and it's usually super hot! If you're a people watcher, it's definitely a nice place to be. People come from all over, and I feel blessed to have grown up here and experienced this event year after year, right in my hometown.

This was a top notch event. So happy Yelp (and our amazing North Shore Manager Angela!!!) hooked it…read moreup with tickets. I dont know where to start. Delicious wines, great beers, filling and absolutely delicious food. And. It. Was. All. Free. We brought Quinn with us so we couldn't get as weird as we wanted to, but we still enjoyed ourselves! The biggest surprise was the food at the Glenview Golf Club table. I know I'm mislabeling the gold course, so I'm sorry! It was the golf course that hosted the event. They served fried macaroni balls and some buffalo chicken dip or popper or something. It was sooooo good!!! There was also a really good meatloaf and chocolate brownie from Teds Montana Grill. Definitely good choices on their part to sample those. We will check their restaurant out because of their participation. We had s couple samples of Revolution Brewing and many wine samples. Not enough to get buzzed though, c'mon we are responsible parents!!

Man, I love a good event! We found out about this brews and bites from our Yelp manger, I entered…read moreto win tickets, and we won! We love tasting local foods, but we have a 1 year old, and if we got a sitter every time we wanted to go out, we'd never see our baby! This event was the perfect way to taste some of the local restaurant's fare and be with our little one. The food was phenomenal, the drinks were great, but most of all the staff and samplers were so nice! We really had a wonderful time! Thanks Yelp!!

The Taste of Highland Park is huge and a fantastic thing for the city! It ran in conjunction with…read morethe 34th Port Clinton Art Festival so it was just streets and streets full of art with just a bit of food, music and other booths. You can take the Metra and hop right off at the fest. It ran Friday night, Saturday & Sunday over an August weekend. There is free parking & free admission, ah how I love 'Burb fests. Plus they don't have a bunch of weird carnival vendors carted in. The food was all from local Highland Park restaurants. Loved that! In the art portion, they had 260 artists selling their stuff ranging from classic to unique to sculptures. Saw a lot of cool stuff I wouldn't have minded purchasing. There was a stage with live music! Loved that and so cute seeing the little kids bopping around. We really enjoyed the entire fest and wouldn't hesitate to go back!

I have been to a few of these community taste festivals and many were meh. But Highland Park, you…read moretook things to another level and blew my expectations! A small festival but packed with people, well organized and great atmosphere! We went there during the evening after work (5pm) and unfortunately, the art vendors were closing down already. The art festival should run till late as well, for this is the time most people and family can make it there, especially in summer/fall time when the sun is still up. Nevertheless, we were there for the food. Even though the vendors were few, they were good quality vendors and this is what counts. Many festivals would only have budget vendors wtih food that you don't really wanna try. But these were the renowned restaurants in Highland Park and it was just a good opportunity to see their menu and taste them. My favorite was Siam of Ruby. We've heard of them but never been their restaurant. We tried their curry and it was SOOOO good! The curry was fragrant and had a good kick. Pity the amount was small, as we licked it up pretty quickly, a little too quick than we would have preferred! Guess I have to make time to visit you guys! Another highlight was Back Yard Grill. I never knew they had souvlaki and gyro. The gyro's rice in particular was very nice, the balance and flavor of the lemon+tumeric was YUM! Of course, BYG always get their meat right! Environment of the festival. The festival was located on the main street of Highland Park wth the road closed, which was nice. Then the tables were nicely set up on the side, with white tents, tables and chairs. These were a nice aesthetic touch and thoughtful, as people could really stand and eat, but if you want people to enjoy, mingle and be comfortable, you go the extra mile to do these. Music. The band was a good choice too. Not too folky, not too disney, not too heavy-metal, but a great selections of songs that was fast paced, high energy, and doesn't ruin your ears. Simply a quality band that connected well with the crowd including children! These are what sets Highland Park's festival apart from the rest. The attention to details and the thoughtfulness! See you next year!

Best craft beer fest I've been to in quite some time!…read more Normally when a new beer festival gives it a go, there are some logistical issues and things that need tweaks. Well this was the first time they threw this festival, and I honestly didn't find much to fault them on. Parking was well organized. There was a free parking lot across the street and buses taking people from the parking to the fest. Demographic skewed slightly older but it's to be expected in Glenview. Glenview is my hometown and I had a strong feeling most fest goers would be a bit older than my friend and I. Awesome selection of breweries including many local favorites and others from around the nation, 35 in total. I have a feeling they could get even more breweries on board next year! They could also add some more food vendors for next year. Tickets were $35-50 depending when you purchased them and proceeds went towards supporting The Grove. The Grove was a perfect venue with vendors spread out enough so there wasn't congestion and I never had to deal with lines for beer more than a few people long. I did wish there were more rare beer offerings, but was still happy with the selection. Also, even though the fest went until 10pm, most places ran out of beer at 9pm and they ran out of the good/more rare/fancy beers just a hour in around 8pm. Other good points of the fest is they had ample seating, way more than enough. I've been to so many beer fests were they simple did not provide anywhere to sit and it was torture. The live music was really good with many solid covers being played - everyone was having fun! When it got dark out, they brought out huge lighting - they were well prepared. We actually had volunteers come up and ask us what we thought of the fest, how they could improve, etc. Never have I seen such a thing at a beer fest! Loved, loved, loved this! The Grove Craft Beer & Wine Festival was so well organized, well spread out, great music, great beers, beyond amazing staff and just was a win overall - great value for the ticket. I absolutely will be going next year.

This was the first year we attended the Grove Craft Beer & Wine Festival in Glenview, which…read morehappened this past Friday. My partner purchased a super early bird VIP ticket. The VIP ticket allowed her five extra drink samples -- in addition to the twenty you already got with general admission purchase -- early entry, as well as the ability to park closer to the venue. She bought me the Designated Driver (DD) ticket, which was considerably less expensive and allowed me free water, according to the Grove website. I understand this event is to help support the efforts at the historic Grove location, but the tickets are still exorbitant for what you get, in my opinion. When we first entered, no one bothered to even check if we did indeed have VIP tickets in order to park closer. If we didn't have the tickets, we could have just said we did and gotten in. The volunteers also weren't very good at explaining where they wanted us to go. After parking, there were no signs anywhere that should have directed us to a field across a road from the VIP parking in which we had to pick up our event passes. We had to ask a random person where they got them. At the registration table, the volunteer mistakenly gave me a VIP wristband as well as the three-ounce sampling glass, despite having a DD ticket, I guess because my partner had the VIP ticket and she put both of our tickets on the table together. I didn't quite understand what was happening until after, so didn't question it. I didn't matter as I wasn't drinking. But I essentially got an $85 pass for $20. Tents were set up in the middle of a large field, which is surrounded by woods, where each of the breweries had their samples. What is supposed to happen is that every time you get a sample, the brewery should mark off a punchcard given to you at registration. Except it got so busy that most of the breweries didn't bother with this. This means that the VIP ticket is essentially worthless unless you simply want to park closer. You can drink as much as you want. If you're a vegetarian, make sure you eat before you come. There were four food vendors, and two of them sold bratwurst (Whole Foods offered bratwurst and chicken-and-apple sausage). One had pizza, and another had chicken sliders and chips and salsa. My partner ate chips for a meal because there was nothing else she could eat. Of course, this being late July it was very, very hot. I asked two different volunteers where the DDs were supposed to be able to get free water, and one said there was a water station set up near the tents. Nope, there wasn't. Food vendors were selling water for $1. There was an air conditioned part of the building only VIPs were allowed to enter, where they had tables set up. I guess if you're prone to heat that might be worth paying for. As the sun started to go down it became more crowded. It would be better to come after the sun goes down because it's cooler, but then you have to deal with more people. Also, you REALLY need to bring bug repellent if you plan on staying after dusk. If you plan on going next year, don't bother wasting money on a VIP ticket. Buy general admission, drink as much as you want, and bring bug repellent. It was good to experience as we had never been to the Grove before, but I don't know if we'll bother next year.

Edison Park Fest is a fantastic weekend neighborhood festival located in, well, Edison Park. If…read moreyou're not familiar with Edison Park, it's a neighborhood of Chicago north of Harlem Ave, on Northwest Highway, just south of Park Ridge. Edison Park fest spans several blocks and runs parallel to the Union Pacific Northwest Metra line. The festival totes two music stages, plenty of port o potties, several good vendors, a kids section, traveling carnival games,and several business vendor tents. There's pretty much something for everybody. Edison Park fest was well organized and spaced-out. I really had a good time walking around, sipping a beer, and perusing the many business tents. Metal barricades stops any temptation to trample on any residential front lawns running along this neighborhood festival, so make sure you get in on either Oliphant Ave or Ozark Ave. I had a really good time. So if you are in the north side and looking for a street festival without the crazy amount of crowds, definitely check out Edison Park fest.

Edison Park fest is a decent street festival located on the far North side of the city. The fest…read moreruns in mid August and always draws a healthy crowd. Edison Park is home to many police / first responders so you know it is going to be safe here. The crowd from here can get a little sketchy, but it is always a good time. The fest is between the Metra stop and Moretti's and spans a few city blocks. The food here is standard carnival fare. Nothing too great that I saw, but I enjoyed the fresh squeezed lemonade. They have vendors that serve up everything - most unhealthy, but delicious. Prices aren't too bad and the lines were pretty short when I went on a Saturday. There is a giant area of kids bouncy castles. These are pay as you go and is managed by an outside company. Some rides are good and take a few minutes, others are over in 30 seconds. They all cost $2-$3 each, so choose wisely if you don't splurge on the $30 day pass. There are several live music acts performing all weekend. It isn't my cup of tea, but people seem to like the 80s/90s rock cover bands. Rock on!

Love this festival…read more Pros: -Free to attend. -Lighted pumpkins wall for festive Autumn Instagram pics. -I live around the area, 10 mins away, know it well so it's easy for me to score street parking but they have free shuttles via Fort Sheridan reserve parking. -Great bands on at least a couple of different stages. -Lots of food trucks, lines run from no wait to 20 min wait. It's also located on the Highwood restaurant & bar strip. Plenty of food options & you could easily score a bar seat to take a break. -Safe crowd & police presence around. -It is right at the Metra stop should you decide to leave your car behind.

It's a must see event for fall! Endless pumpkins to…read morecelebrate the beginning of the season with many activities for families in the heart of Highwood! There's many restaurants near by to explore while enjoying the arrival of pumpkins.