Just got here....lots of fun and interesting booths and entertainment.... More to see than the HOT…read more WEATHER will allow. 3 quarts of H2O down... more to follow

This was my first year at the olive and lavender festival and I loved it! I was so impressed by how…read moremany vendors were present. Of course, there was olive oil tastings as well as sample giveaways. There was tons of lavender products such as soaps, sachets, and teas. - In addition, there were specialty booths selling woven baskets, clothing, accessories, HomeGoods and a lot of information on gardening. There was a private section for 21 and over which included wine tasting. It was very peaceful and relaxing. - There were other freebies such as lavender honey iced tea, stickers and goodie bags as well as small bites like hummus and crackers, as well as guacamole and chips. You could also purchase olive oil gelato. - The entry to the event is free and local shops and restaurants celebrate with themes food and beverage. This year, parking has become free in Paso Robles, so it was definitely packed, but I was able to find parking within 10 minutes. I suggest bringing your own bag to carry your goodies and leave plenty of time to visit the information booth which provides a free guide to the vendors.

This is one of the best events in Paso Robles-- I encourage everyone to attend. Experience amazing…read moreart, music and wine in beautiful Paso Robles. Make sure you stop for lunch or dinner at one of the many amazing restaurants in the Downtown Square. The kid's events are also spectacular! If I could give it more than five stars, I would ;)

I love this event! it showcases the talented fine artists of Paso Robles and the greater Central…read moreCoast and it spawns budding little fine artists too!! The level of creative progams and talent, especially the Plein Air Quick Draw was amazing. Art, music, wine and fun in downtown Paso...need i say more?

Awesome little fair! Concerts are always fun. A lot of fair food. Great atmosphere…read more *wish they had a quicker way through for prepaid tickets*

I'm fairly new to Paso Robles (a year), and it was my first time going to the famous Mid-State…read moreFair. Last year, it was 106+ degrees all-week, and I was like, no way. This year (or last night), was in the 80's and it cooled off nicely in the evening. So, I went. Well, I have lukewarm feelings about it. I like the small town and rural feel of it, a little bit cowboy. But I feel it is 90% overpriced crappy food vendors. Kinda what you want and expect from a fair, but still. My gal and I got in at 615pm, and perhaps the highlight would be the barnyard animals...and all that we saw were rabbits. Ugh. We didn't go for the music, as most people do, but on this night were the 60's band, Herman's Hermits. They did a few of their hits, and covers of others from that era. Good performers, but not my cup of tea. All in all, 2.5 hours and we had enough. Best part: parked at Lowes, and took a bus to/from. A beautiful clean bus at that.

I may have romanticized this festival in my head. I imagined buying a strawberry balloon from a…read morestrawberry mascot... grabbing a strawberry infused lunch from a trendy and innovative food truck... eating a homemade (organic and fresh) strawberry shortcake dessert... Ok, I definitely romanticized it. We walked down a street with standard fair-food options (corn dogs, funnel cake, towering fried foods) before deciding to skip out on lunch. I caved and got the kids a snow cone. I didn't want to pump them full of Red 40, but I was committed to the theme and ordered strawberry syrup. They loved it. I passed several shortcake options but the cake portion was the yellow store-bought circle kind and the strawberries were more of a goop. I found a homemade strawberry shortcake from an adorable little downtown store and it was okay. Not bad, not impressive. It was $7 and I ate about $4.25 of it. The area set aside for families and younger kids was a hit with my 2 and 4 year olds. The green tractor racers was a huge hit and the turns were impressively long. It's a busy festival with lots of people but they have set up many side areas/venues so the crowds are dispersed (to take full advantage of his festival download a map and plan out the music or acts you want to see) Beside my disappointment in the level of strawberriness, it was a solid family outing and the weather was perfect. If you don't have other epic plans, I can't think of a good reason NOT to go.

Signed up for the Strawberry Stampede 10k to kick off our first time visiting the Annual Strawberry…read morefestival. Other than the race, I can't believe how big of a dissapointment it was. The festival was more of a small-scale alternative to the mid-state fair including the same fair vendors, fair food, cheap craft booths with clothing and jewelry from national brands and a few from Fresno. The festival closed down about 4 blocks of streets for vendors, entertainment, and a couple for rides and bounce houses/games. There were a few booths from the same company that offered strawberry lemonade, strawberries with whip cream, and strawberries with angelfood cake. There was another booth that had cheesecake on a stick with strawberries. It seriously the strawberries to non-local gimmicky booths was about 25:1. At least there were a few local vendors offering BBQ sandwiches, but event burrito and Greek vendors were from out of town. Here's how you can make it better: get local restaurants to commit to participating and making an amazing strawberry dish! Ex: strawberry glazed meats, strawberry vinegarette, strawberry pie, strawberry sangria, sooo many options! If you could have closer to a 5:1 ratio of random vendors tobstrawberry vendors and get more local input this event could be amazing. Alternative option: don't call it the strawberry festival.. call it the AG Annual Fair Looked like a lot of the kids had a decent time, but talking with other adults in the area who voiced a similar dissapoitment from years past with no plan to return.

Firestone knows how to throw a beer festival! This was my fourth year attending and to be honest,…read moreit was the one I enjoyed the most. More live music than other years, delicious food from local businesses, delicious beer, and the weather was absolutely perfect. Security is tight- they check everything and then double check everything. Tickets are a hot commodity, so if you plan on buying them...get all your devices ready when they go on sale. These babies sell out in a hot minute. 5 stars! See you next year! #fwibf

I was a little hesitant to come given the price tag but my friend has gone every year and swore it…read moreis worth the cost of admission. Once you get inside everything but merch is included so there is no other costs once you're there. The breweries here represent the best of the best. There will be lines for those places but there are plenty of other great breweries that had no lines and equally as good beers without the hype. Fidens was one of my faves and I visited their tent often to get a line beer for other popular spots. There are 4000 people here but you'd hardly know that from the efficiency and the way it is spread out. The food was so good too. One pizza spot just kept putting out whole pies to take slices from. The next day we went wine tasting at two rooms that charged $30-45 per taste! Given that $80 got me 8 "samples" of wine the cost for this all inclusive beer festival doesn't seem that outlandish.

Pioneer Day is an event not to be missed. It occurs every year on the second Saturday in October…read more The parade in 2014 had 276 entries . The antique tractors are part of the parade some of them over 100 years old. And they are operational. there are many equestrian entries in the parade and they are top flight. They're marching bands from all over the county. There are people who travel hundreds of miles to be in this parade. Its marvelous. Then there is the free bean feed they cook hundreds of gallons of beans and give them all them away free . The tagline for the event is leave your wallet at home. The museums are open with so much history. They are free too. All in all a good day was had by all.

A shop of Local artists in a museum type retro, classic atmosphere. Just stroll through and browse…read moreamid a day of wine tasting or after dinner. Art for purchase or just admire local talent. & after dark you'll have a backdrop of the trees all beautifully lit up in the park.

--What's red and smells like blue paint? Red paint…read more --The art show is coming up and I'm etching to go. --Why is it hard to talk to an abstract painter? They never go into detail. Every year towards the end of the months of April and October, Art In The Park is held in downtown City Park on 12th and Spring streets. The large grassy, oak studded park offers a nice venue for this free event. This affair draws artists from multiple states to showcase and promote their art forms. All artwork is available for purchase by attendees of the event. A plethora of art forms are available to enjoy - ceramics, clothing, fine jewelry, acrylic & oil paintings, photography, sculptures, glass works, metal artworks, woodworking, and much more. Parking is generally hard to find surrounding the park. Remember to check the parking signs as regulations have just changed again. Register your license plate with the parking kiosk as the first two hours are free and $1/hour thereafter. A few blocks in either direction, there are hundreds of free, non-metered spaces. The Art In The Park show at the downtown City Park is surrounded by a multitude of restaurants for a snack, lunch, or after-show dinner.

I'd been looking forward to finally attending this festival... and, although I had a great time, I…read morewas slightly disappointed. There were VERY few items that were actually avocado or avocado based. The margaritas were good and there were a few different options, so that made up for it slightly. On a good note, however, the Avocado Lime Popsicle was, hands down, the very best Popsicle I've ever had in my entire life! So delicious!!! I wanted to buy her out! Someone get this woman and her business into the stores! The high school cheerleaders made amazing guacamole with fantastic chips... we went back for more a couple of times! Thick yummy chips and huge scoops of guac! Thank you!! The "hints" posted on Instagram (upcoming food to get excited about) were nowhere to be found. I searched out 2 items but they were not anywhere. Really a bummer. Lots of vendors and advertisers, which is typical. Fun picture taking spots. Great music and dancing all day long! Super high priced foods and drinks. And Mother Nature made 2019's festival a wonderfully warm and sunny day! I had hoped to make this a tradition, but it bumped down a notch or two when it didn't quite meet my expectations. I'd go again but wouldn't make it a necessity. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Morro Bay and it's festivities... this one just fell short of my expectations. I'll update my review should I attend again. Still a great day, don't get me wrong... just fell short. CHEERS!!!

This is always a fun day in the sun near the sea. The crowds are awesome and the vendors so nice…read more Found some great make ups, ate fantastic guacamole from the MB HS cheerleaders as a fund raiser. Entered the sombrero contest (wore a huge Piñata on my head for hours) didn't win but it was all good fun. Had many good beverages! It's not a huge event but big enough to have a great day and the ticket price to get in is only $5 - listening to good music from the large stage, and yes we sure did dance our butts off - shout out to the Jammies they had that crowd rocking. Ii am such a fan I already bought my tickets to this year's event. Go at least once it's a fun fun day! Some lines but better than prior years! Oh and the addition of seating was a huge plus. Loved the white couch things. It falls on my birthday this year, so it's going to be my party!!

The Central Coast renaissance festival was amazing! The food was good, the vendors were great and…read moreso many festival-goers went all out with their costumes. There are some changes I would suggest for future years -- more shaded seats, an additional parking lot and more spaced-out food vendors. But overall? Those complaints were so mild compared to the AMAZING time I had walking around the grounds. The vendors were all so helpful and so kind -- the performers were well into character and the Knight Fight was the most committed I have ever seen a set of actors get into a show (shoutout to the knight who fought so hard he got a head wound! hope he's doing okay now). For a $35 ticket and $10 to park I couldn't have chosen a better way to spend a day out with friends. Some of the other reviews mentioned difficulty getting out of the park -- it was slow for us to get into the park (maybe 15 minutes in the car line at 11:30) but getting out was a breeze when we left around 5:15. I would highly recommend bringing a refillable water bottle (it can get hot!) and showing up 20-30 minutes early if you want a good seat at the Falconeers bird show or at the Knight Fight. If you are concerned about long food lines, my group and I got brunch before the ren faire, got lunch around 2:30 pm and got dinner after we left. We waited maybe 10 minutes tops for our food and some vendors had no lines. Special shoutout to the Bard who was performing all over the fair! He handed out trinkets to festival-goers and was great with the little kids.

It is what it is :) Payed $151 plus $12 for parking online…read more The advertisement stated use code to save $4.00 per ticket. When i ordered, it added $4.36 per ticket for Fees. I paid for parking at $12 plus dollars. I saw bring $10 cash for parking unless you payed online already, I already payed online before seeing the discount. The traffic was backed up for awhile, instead of parking there, we parked accross the street and walked. The lines for food were crazy. It would be cool if they would fix these problems for next year to go smooth. Prices are way too high for what is there. Lower the prices for entry, so the vendors can get more on sales.