I didn't know what to expect, but I know I wanted to go to a chocolate festival as soon as I saw…read morethe poster. Parking: there's paid parking in the convention center but if you go on a Sunday, you can find street parking a little further out from the center. Event: there were a ton of free samples from all the vendors that were there. I don't think they advertise the samples enough. I feel like I didn't even go in expecting a ton of samples, but there were a lot so get ready to eat a ton of chocolate. Even though all the pieces were cut into small bites, after so many samples, you will definitely get your fill of chocolate. I like that they had variety from different countries and type types of chocolates and beverages as well. I appreciate it that there was a lot of different talks in different rooms on both days. You can almost spend the entire time listening to the talks. You get to learn a lot about chocolates, where it comes from, how to make truffles, and how to use chocolates. Lots of different topics for everyone. The price tag is pretty high, but I was able to find a Groupon so I'm very happy with that. As with any of these two day festivals, the first day is very crowded but you will be able to buy things that are not sold out. Sunday was super chill, but many things were already sold out . I will be back next time for sure!

First time attending this festival and there was definitely a lot that I enjoyed about it and some…read morethings I would do differently next time. The other reviews are from many years ago and mentioned issues with the location but it's in Bellevue now (not sure how long it's been there) but had no issues with the location. Obviously if you live in Seattle, that would be a different story but it was super convenient right next to the light rail station. SO much chocolate to taste. I appreciate the tables that have self service tastings where you can grab your own. The ones where you have to ask for them to hand you samples, is not efficient at all. Some of them were too crowded that you couldn't even see what was on the table because of others tasting and chit chatting with the employees. The presentations are interesting but they don't necessarily make enough samples for everyone so everyone on our side of the rows didn't get anything and had to watch the rest of the room taste their samples. So get a seat near the front, in the middle. They are an hour long so they do take up a good chunk of time if you do more than one if you are doing general admission (which is 11am-5pm). You can bring your own water bottles, there are refill stations, or your own snacks. Just know that your taste buds will be shot after all those samples and you will need a chocolate break for a while after the event. Bring a reusable bag for all the chocolate bars you'll end up buying!

The Dragon Fest was once a day time summer event, focused on the Chinatown portion. Because of…read moreCOVID this year, it's instead evolved into a day and night C-ID Night Market, representing all of Chinatown-International District - an 8-hour event from 1pm to 9pm. I must say I am impressed with the turnout. While it has always been well attended, we arrived at 8:50pm, expecting to see a mostly closed street fair. Instead, all the booths are still hopping. Shoppers are shopping, and eaters are ordering food and drinks. There may have been such a HUGE turnout that the food lines were very long. When we arrived so late, the vendors were still merrily cooking while some food trucks had "sold out" stickers on selected items. How exciting for them to make up for the losses during COVID closures. As this is a C-ID market, the crowds gravitating towards the booths that sold cute Asian themed items, east Asian to be exact. Food choices were also predominately Asian, including SE Asian. I am not complaining. Hehe. The food truck that caught my attention is YS Street Food Group selling their Sizzling Squid at $12. I also bought a Thai Iced Tea at $4. It's been at least 2 years since I had their well marinating tongue numbing mala squid. It's also very tender. I love it! Folks were buying 3 or more of them! Their Thai iced tea is quite good too, not too sweet and flavorful. Even though we just had a big dinner, we managed to consume more. LOL!

For what could have become a hectic food festive the people who organized the event did a great…read morejob. There were performances every 30 minutes and the groups that performed clearly practiced and put on a show. There were a lot of places to eat and the food walk that offered $3 menu options were awesome. I was so happy to be able to try places like Tai tung and kau kau bbq which were places on my list. There were a lot of vendors and stalls and I was super impressed by the dragon dances! One thing I will say is I think they would do a lot better if they put their informational booth more prominently as a lot of people asked me where to get the maps and food walk pamphlets I was looking at in passing. Overall will be back next year!

The best way to describe a night at upstream music fest is an art adventure in an outdoor museum…read more It seems like the majority of people I talked to only recognized One or two of the performers. But there's something magical in that mystery that leads to a serendipitous evening. Each stage was like stepping into a new world curated by a different team for a different purpose. We watched a stop motion film with live music scoring, then caught a Hawaiian guy playing solos off his ukelele, the can can showcasing their new dance routine femme fatale, and at the main stage of course humbling vibes and feel good music from Miguel. Overall pioneer square was never crowded, and the people who were here were very friendly and open to be influenced by their surroundings. The staff was well organized and prevalent. If I were to make some changes, it would probably be to have more food present or list food destinations on the map. Also, some advice for myself next year; research the artists!

I had way more fun than I thought I would at upstream!!!! It's like.. music fest and bar hopping…read moreAND eating!!! I can see this being way more popular in the coming years. Miguel headlined last night and he was amazing! I feel blessed to have seen him live and in the flesh! lol. Got in a little late right about 9:30pm when Miguel just started.. it's really easy to maneuver around/ get to and from the different venues (we rode bikes for portions of the night). And my favorite part is how intimate all the spaces are! One venue we were got drinks, on to the next venue and we got bean dip and chips, another venue we were jumping around! So happy I got to experience this.

One of the most interesting, fun and beautiful cultures in the world. The performers were awesome…read more It was good to hear the Island Style music. And to see the dancers. You don't have to be Polynesian to attend, the festival is open to everyone. Good shows, good peeps, good grub... good times. The event is free to attend! The line for the shaved hawaiian ice is always long! Although I do wish they had more vendors and the lines aren't so long for the food. I'm always hoping to one day see Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson there lol or like Troy Polamalu... sweet! If you've ever been to Hawaii you know there are some very great quality Hawaii brands (such as Island Heritage) that you can only get over in Hawaii, or ship with steep shipping charges. I bought beautiful towels, lunch totes and jewelry. Hearing the Hawaiian music as you stroll into the festival and seeing all the dances really makes you feel like you're at the best luau in Honolulu. All in all a good time to be had!

It's a pretty small festival right in front of uwajimaya in downtown Renton. Theres performances…read morethroughout the day as well as a couple of booths such as tshirts, arts and crafts. For food, they have a variety of entree such as kalua pig with rice, they also have shave ice and malasada. I wish they have spam musubi. They also have macadons which are serving macarons, macaron ice cream and pinks push pop. It's my first time attending this and for some reason, I thought it would be bigger.

This is a local carnival held every year with some rides, lots of vendor booths, food trucks/tents,…read moreparades, and love music/events. it's exactly what you'd expect from a local carnival, and they have some nice big open park space for everything so it's all close together. As you can expect, carnival vendors are of mixed quality goods/foods, but it's nice to get a chance to check new things out. The event is also extremely packed, so you'll be pretty much back to back with people most of the time. It's worth checking out at least once though.

Fun in the sun! There's also a park & ride nearby! Lots of booths with different types of food to…read morechoose from! A great place to be outside and enjoy the sunshine today! It's going on until 9pm 07/15/23

Annual September event for my desire to find the ultimate meatballs and sip a ice cold Peroni…read more. Yes, the streets of Georgetown become one giant festival of celebration of Franks heritage and a quest to mingle with fellow Paisanos.... For you Yelpers let me fill you in that The San Gennaro Festival in Seattle is a free, annual Italian street fair held the weekend after Labor Day, featuring Italian food, music, vendors, and and a procession for the saint...Yes just like in The Godfather except no mayhem in the streets from mafia thugs.. Can't wait to celebrate again a wonderful festival..

Okay I am always looking for something cultural to do and I I decided to check out the San Gennaro…read moreFestival. It was much smaller than I imagined, I had visions of the San Gennaro festival in little Italy in Manhattan where I grew up... It was much smaller and intimate. They had some local musicians on stage and some vendors. I was disappointed with the food selection because the two things I wanted to eat were both not available and they are staples of these kinds of Italian street festivals. Sausage and peppers was my food choice and zeppolas as my dessert. They had some mini conolli though. Some of the vendors had done nice Italian gifts, so that was the most interesting thing to me. This is the third year I think so there is plenty of room to grow...

Omnivorous 2011 was the first fundraiser supporting the Capitol Hill Housing Foundation. Cost was…read more$75 per person which allowed you unlimited plates and wine. Participating restaurants included Anchovies & Olives, Café Presse, Fran's Chocolates, Lark, Marjorie, Monsoon, Oddfellows, Poppy, Poquito's, Skillet, Spinasse, Stumptown Coffee, Tango, Terra Plata, Zoë and Quinn's. These 16 restaurants present signature hors d'oeuvres and desserts designed specifically for this event. The ballroom was surrounded with a good amount of tables and chairs but still not enough for everyone. You may be left standing so I'd recommend you pack light, leaving your hands free to sample everything...twice! Our favorite offerings were provided by Poppy, Zoë and Monsoon. Restaurant Zoë smothered a rich and extremely addictive albacore ceviche over a toasted baguette, Monsoon poured out these savory cups of pork belly congee and Poppy had a sweet spread of sage tarts topped with spiced fig, onion and blue cheese (which I believe is on their menu). The sage tart was a huge hit with the fiancé! I think he made about 4 rounds and would have had more if they didn't run out. Sadly, Molly Moon was unable to attend but generously gave everyone coupons for free scoops at participating locations. Food was served till 9:00pm or until they ran out and closed the night with music and dancing provided by KEXP disc jockey DJ Rhythma. The only negative that evening would have to be the beverage situation. I appreciated the complimentary wine and flavored water but charged for plain bottled water. :( I'll just have to bring a bottled water this time around! Problem Solved!

It was great being able to attend the Thai festival in Seattle. They had this over at the North…read moreSeattle college campus and there was plenty of room for all the venues with lots of parking, even though it still filled up. There was so much food, clothing, drinks, desserts, and Asian condiments being sold. Prices were a bit high, but that's what you kind of expect at these festivals. So glad that it did not rain while we were there. it was a nice experience and hopefully they'll do this again.

First time attending Thai Festival in seattle, not sure what to give 3 or 4 stars. Parking is free…read more There are portable toilets, area to eat, entertainments like games, Thai dance, Thai boxing demonstrations, face painting, and fake tattoos. Now to the food part that what I would give 3 stars, the line was long and not organized by the vendor. Food options were similar, there was no mango sticky rice or pad Thai or pad se ewe. There was a lot of som tum and grill sticks. It could have been a map of all vendors or directory on the facebook page. Overall my friends and I have fun so that is why I decided to give 4 stars. Price of the foods are from $6-$30 depending on what you ordered. Som Tum was $12, 4 grill pork $12, $3 small bag of sticky rice, and $12 for Thai sausage.