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!

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.

I have to write a shout out right away to Angela for the VIP tickets!! Thank you again, Angela!! We…read morehad a great time at the festival!!! It was a gorgeous day for drinking beer!!! Sun shining, not too hot and not a cloud in the sky!!! Everts park is also a TERRIFIC little park for hosting festivals, as I have now been to Inferno Fest in addition to the Craft Beer Fest. The circular layout is PERFECT for making sure you don't miss anything, and the little gazebo in the middle with an acoustic band jamming some classics...just blissful!! My friend and I arrived at 11:45AM b/c the VIP ticket entry was an hour earlier (12pm) than regular admission.....excellent, right? Well, one small issue is that when the gates opened and we walked around, about half the vendors were still setting up and told us the beer they had wasn't cold yet :-( bummer. So we walked around to the tents that were set up and ready and proceeded to drink!!! The quality of vendors at the event was AWESOME!! As mentioned by Michael and Ashley, Two Brothers was there as well as Bells, Oskar Blues, Rogue, Allagash, Lake Bluff Brewing Co., Lagunitas, Stone, Central Waters, Ale Syndicate,Goose Island and a few others I'm sure I'm forgetting. As far as variety goes though, mostly ALL the beer that was served at the festival was common and widely available everywhere in the Chicagoland area. My oh my have the times changed!! I remember around 2003 when Fat Tire first came to Chicago in those big half liter bottles....it was the biggest and best thing around!!! Now, if you're not serving high quality craft beers at your restaurant/bar or selling it at your liquor store, you're WAY behind the times. So, take for instance Bells....I was so stoked to see what kind of new or rare beers they were going to bring to the fest...but I was a bit disappointed to see that they were only serving up the Two Hearted Ale and a heavier stout. I mean, nowadays you can get the Two Hearted Ale just about ANYWHERE. I want to say that the only beers I had not tried that were at the festival was the Oskar Blues Imperial Ale and the Allagash Curieux, an 11% Tripel Ale that was aged in Jim Beam barrels....Holy Cow this one really went straight to the dome and was more like a full beer's worth rather than a 3 oz sampler. Oh and there was a Root Beer, Beer that I found to be quite good considering I don't normally like to venture out of the norm. One last thing, and it's not a complaint. But, a couple times I forgot to put a ticket into the vendor box after receiving a sample. In fact, towards the end, I was making sure to put a ticket in for each sample in order to try and keep track of my drinks.....definitely not a bad thing, but from the vendor's perspective for next year, they should try and make sure people are honest by collecting a ticket each time. I gotta say that, even for a seasoned craft beer drinking pro like myself, using all 25 tickets was NOT an easy task. I just hope no one at the fest overdid it, because I know for a fact I went home and took a little cat nap on my porch swing and watched the sun go down :-) Can't wait to check out the Highwood Craft Beer Fest next year!!! What a great event!!!

My fiancé and I volunteered for the festival and couldn't be happier with our decision. We arrived…read moreat 10am and helped set up the festival: set up chairs, hung signs, stuffed VIP lanyards, etc. Around noon, when the gates were opened to the VIPs, we told the director we wanted to pour beer for any brewery who didn't have their own pourers. Well, the beer heavens smiled upon us, because we ended up pouring for Two Brothers Beer all day! The festival was so much fun, there was a great turn out, as well as some delicious beer and food (Bridie McKennas!). We made a new friend as well, Max from Finch's Brewery. It was a lot of fun pouring beer for all of the festival goers, but even more fun sampling all the beers for ourselves!

Stopped by for Garlic Fest. I was expecting there to be more garlicky vendors but there was only a…read morecouple (from what i saw). Anyway, this was my first time here and it was not too bad. Although parking can be a hassle to find, especially during rush hour. There was a lot of beer venders, local restaurants, local shops, tons of people and a live band. Everyone seems to be having a great time! I stopped by and grabbed a turkey sandwich from the fat shallot. My croissant was kinda burnt. Other than that, it wasn't bad. In my opinion, $9 for this semi burnt sandwich was kinda expensive. If the weather was nicer, (it was so hot, sticky and humid out) the boyfriend and i would've probably stayed longer. I was getting attacked by mosquitoes the whole time there lol

What more do you want on a summer night...beautiful weather, a margarita in hand, live music, and…read morepeople smiling! The market kicked off the 2017 season with a bang tonight. Plenty of people, food vendors, and miscellaneous other tents/vendors. Tonight I noticed some new food vendors: a few BBQ places/trucks, a French place, perogie tent, hot dog stand, crave ice cream bar truck, empanadas van, Kings and Convicts, etc. it was wonderful to see new options. With that being said, it was wonderful to see the old stand by's: the Toasty Cheese, La Casa de Issac, Toadstool Pub, the Mean Wiener, etc. Of course we have our favorites, but we are open to making new ones. We LOVE La Casa de Issac's. They are always working their tales off on the griddles to get your food out fast. Margaritas are the best there. I love the Mexican corn on the stick with everything! My husband drools over their burritos. My mom was in town and order the steak nachos and enjoyed them. Toasty Cheese also yummy. They are slower in getting food to you. I had a delicious Crave ice cream bar. Yummy! Highwood did some work over the spring in Everts park and spruced it up a bit. Nice to see the upgrades. The parking still the same- mostly street, a few public lots, etc. read the street signs carefully! Now, the market is not necessarily a place to come for a quick take out or in you're in a hurry. However, if you want to enjoy the summer night...you better get on your way to Everts Park.

We happened to be in Highwood when the Annual Bloody Mary Fest was taking place. I am not a fan of…read moreBloody Mary's but it was fun and interesting to see all the vendors create unique drinks and competing for the 'Proud Mary' Award. Many thanks of the drinks were massive and garnished with celery, meats, cheeses, seafood, taquitos and sandwiches. Some of the Bloody Mary's were green ! There were so many options and varieties. There were food trucks and entertainment provided by Social Security. If you like Bloody Mary's and unique drinks this is the fest for you.

Just got back from this fest for the second year. Last year seemed to have more options, but that…read morecould also be based on where we were sitting. It was a hot one this year, but there were plenty of bloodies and other drinks to go around. Jesters popcorn makes a great spiked lemonade. Miss Mary Mix bloody mary's are my favorite there- and they have won the competition multiple years in a row. If you decide to go, bring chairs! Of course you can sit in the grass, but chairs are much more comfortable for people watching and listening to the live bands. Keep in mind the fest is only one day from 11-5, so get out while it's open!!

What a fun idea to have a redhead festival. I think I'd be doing my brethren a disservice by not…read morereviewing the festival. But for me, it was just okay. I think in my head I expected this to be something more. Sure, when redheads pass on the street you give a nod, or silently acknowledge one another. But an entire festival full of gingers? That I couldn't miss. I've always been proud of my hair color because it sets me apart. I was never bullied for it, and as a child I had the bright coppery color that all the old ladies seemed to notice. As I've grown up, it's gotten lighter and is more of a caramel color these days. Still, I'm very fond of it and am happy to stand out. So clearly, I belonged at this festival. But I guess I was expecting something else. I think I'd fantasized something like a dozen gingers running up to me saying, "Grant! You're here! We've been waiting for you." Not really, but I think the point I'm trying to make is that when we're by ourselves, we stand out. We're unique. We're special. But put us all together and we're just another redhead. It's humbling, actually. The festival itself consisted of about 10 booths or so. Mostly alcohol vendors, Yelp, a t-shirt tent, and I think there was carrot cake and popcorn. Aside from drinking (which kind of perpetuates the Irish stereotype, but I digress) there wasn't much to do at this festival other than stand around and talk to or look at other redheads, which got old real quick. No offense to anyone I spoke with. But there wasn't much food, and the entertainment left a little to be desired. I guess this festival just wasn't for me. I hope to see it grow into something amazing in the future.

What a great idea!!!!! I went to the one in holland a few years ago and it was so awesome!read more

Not a bad festival if you're in the neighborhood. It's quiet and peaceful compared to the ones in…read moreChicago so that is nice. I wish they would've put the carnival part with the food together. They had them on separate side of the train tracks which made it confusing even though they had signage glinting to the food and drinks. I think it would make it easier to have fun with friends and keeping an eye on the kids while they play.

We attend this festival every year. It's easily accessible by car or train, it is usually very hot…read moreand very exposed to the sun's UV's so come prepared with your sunscreen, spf wear, and/or parasol. There is a wide variety of art to peruse and take in. They also do a great job with the kids area by the DQ. If you need a bev or bite outside of the established surrounding businesses, follow the sound of live music to the west music stage and you will find vendor options. There are also some bite options at the north music stage but no alcohol. Thanks to Ravinia Brewing, we have beer at the festival, and since it's August, they usually have their Octoberfest on tap. Prost!

I'm always a fan of a great art fest, especially in my home town. It's been a few years since my…read morelast Port Clinton Art Festival, and I happened to be able to attend at the last hour of the show this year. Contrary to another review, I'm pretty sure this show is juried. I didn't have time to "shop" at the show, but I did take a bunch of cards from those I'd like to visit online. In truth, I think there was a wide variety of artists this year. Yes, it seemed like there were fewer, but I was happy to see some new ones mixed in with repeats. I don't know what I would do differently, but I wish it felt a bit more urban in flavor like the Old Town Art Fair. Even more variety? What I missed this year were the big crowds, since I came late. On the plus side I could get around a lot easier, but on the minus side, it took away from the excitement a bit. Next year I plan to get there earlier. I love and appreciate all art. Some of my favorites (so I don't forget), not included in the photos attached to this review, included: - Igor Menaker Fine Art Photography - Second Chance Art & Accessories - kudulah monsters - Tiny People Big Laughs photography out of Denver - Ezra Siegel - Bruce Jefferies Reinfeld with High Fidelity Gallery - Dotty Giraffe - Mark Hersch photographer (in photo above) Great job, and see you next year!