While not a huge fan of live music, I accepted an invitation to go with some friends to this year's…read moreRTG at the Walker Art Center. My expectations were low, but it turned out to be a great time--Im very glad I was convinced to go. As I mentioned, Im not a music guru... But I like to think of RTG as an "event." Several local bands play, but to me, it's more about the atmosphere and comraderie. The venue is beautiful and situated in such a fashion that you can sit on the hill next to the Walker and look down on the stage--with the downtown skyline in the background. There are also a number of vendors and food trucks such as the Barrio taco truck and some of the best corn dogs Ive ever tasted. Of course, if you are a drinker you can partake in plenty of local Summit beers. So even if you arent familiar with some of the bands, I highly recommened experiencing this event at least once. The only drawback to this particular event is the price. Thankfully, my ticket was donated to me... But typically, the tickets are expensive. If you combine that with parking ($10) and food, you can expect to spend around $80 or more for the entire outing. I should also mention that the photography policy is confusing. The website is a little ambiguous about the types of cameras they allow. Thankfully, they let me in with my D3100 but they made me promise not to shoot video. Id check with security before bringing an SLR.

I have to say, this year was better than last. Better…read morelineup, better organization, more food. Some complaints if I may, and feel free to add your own opinions here. This is Yelp afterall! 1. Rules. They were conflicting. Facebook said bring a cooler. Get there and it says now outside food. What the F is the cooler for then? Make sure everybody is on the same page re: the rules before they show up for work at this event. We brought water and were told we couldn't have it. Then later, we were told we could. Too bad I had already guzzled it and had to piss. Same applies for the umbrella rule. It was 90 degrees and no shade. We are pale ass minnesotans. let us have an umbrella to block the shade. Makes me angry when I see other people were allowed in with an umbrella. 2. Food. Can I just say that Vincent must have the best burger in town if the burger at RTG was any indication? Wicked good. Seriously. I was happy to see Holy Land in the lineup this year. I was upset to see that there were two lines. One to order (shorter) and one to pickup (much much longer). No receipt, so when you go to pick up, dude asks you what you had. Seriously? I just waited 45 minutes for a fucking gyro (what else is there to do really?) and you have no idea what I ordered, so I have to tell you again. How many people stood in the pickup line w/o paying and just said give me one of everything and got it? Silly Silly Silly. Once I got my Gyro, I was tempted to stand in line for the bathroom because by the time you get to the front, you would be ready to shit it out. You can still hear the music and chat with your neighbors while in line, which makes it moderately ok. Conversation ranged from how stupid Holy Land is for not being able to manage with one line to how stupid Holy Land is for not being able to manage with one line. That and how there will never be peace in the Middle East with such a lack of logic...) I could have driven to Central ave and back and gotten my shit quicker. 3. Beverage. Just beer. Really? Oh wait, there was water for a buck (not a bad deal, actually. No hidden prices there) and watery lemonade for $6. I waited in line for what turned out to be a $6 lemonade. The sign said Lemonade $3. Refills any size. I ordered, thinking it was 3 bucks. Dude said: "That'll be six bucks to break the ice." I said: "Hard work breaking that ice, huh?" but paid anyway, because the lady needed something to drink since beer doesn't sit with her. Bourbon yes, vodka yes. Beer no. RTG, can you please allow better selections for drinks, better preparedness on message, and better vendor organization for a better experience next year?

I have been to both the dabblers this year, winter and highland. This was larger in size, but a…read morelittle poorer planned in my opinion which is why it did not get 4 or 5 stars. The pros - huge area: they did a great job with the locatation. There was lots of room so even though there were a lot of people it didn't feel too congested. The beer tents were spread out nicely helping to keep the lines down. - quick entry lines - divided up international regions - Large beer selection from MN brewers, micro, domestic, and foreign. Similar to the dabblers, but a little more selection. Although I am not a big Sam's guy, kudos to them for bringing a new beer not available locally to the beerfests. In this case it was the Hallerteu IPA. - Good live music throughout. - Lots of parking options in the area Cons - What you think you need for bathrooms double it and add 50% more!!!!! It was terrible. The wait was easily 15 minutes plus. Our group left at 8:15 because we didn't want to have to wait in line again, even though we all would have like to stay for a bit longer. Hopefully they learn from this blunder like the dabbler did after the winter fest. - More food carts. For the number of people there was too few food selections. The Chef Shack is great (love the pork tacos and bacon brats) but the line was constantly long. Same with Buffalo Wild Wings. - I think it is absurd DD's have to pay, but at least you should have some beverage options for them. I felt so bad for our DD. No free pop options we were able to find, only saw 1 non alcoholic beer (may have been more). Respect the DD's a bit more. Overall it was a fun time on a nice fall night. Hopefully they have it again next year and make a few improvements.

The Minneapolis Beer Fest is a bit different than a few of the other beer festivals in the Cities,…read morewhich is pretty noticeable when you look at the list of participating breweries (i.e., many macros, a few regionals and the occasional local brewery). In other words, it's not a place that you're likely to find many diamonds in the rough, but it's still enjoyable when appreciated for what it is. For the event's first year they were actually pretty well organized, with the one exception being the long lines for restrooms (which is a common ailment at such events). The presence of a number of food trucks was a great idea; any time I can get a lobster roll from Smack Shack will always make for a good evening. They also had live music throughout the duration of the event with solid local bands. All-in-all a good event for the non-die hard beer drinker and those looking for a fun night out during the fleeting days of fall in the Twin Cities (though Four Loko should never be present during a beer tasting).

If you're a true beer geek (and I am) the dabbler is an event not to be missed. On the flip side of…read morethat coin - if you're looking to expand your beer repertoire and try some new brews, the dabbler is the perfect opportunity. After attending the winter dabbler this past year, I knew I couldn't miss the summer dabbler. The local and craft beer scene is booming, and the dabbler showcases just that. We got some great weather this year even though it was a little on the hot side. No worries, there are plenty of beers available to keep cool and the beer booths were under huge tents for shade. The food trucks were a welcome addition, and cranked out a ton of tasty creations for the beer drinkers. My buddy and I actually bumped into actor Josh Hartnett at the Hola Arepa food truck, which we thought was kind of cool. My experience with the dabblers is that you can make them as low key or adventurous as you desire. If you want to simply mosey around and try beers, that's totally cool. Or you can follow the dabbler guide they'll give you upon entry and check off every beer on the tasting list while registering your notes and votes. If you really want to dive in, spend some time talking with those that pour your beers since they generally have quite the appreciation for their product. You can also try the single barrel brew available from the brewery that wins the previous dabblers first place - known as the prestigious "lord dabblers cup ", this is voted on by the festival-goers. Your beers are always served in your very own souvenir two ounce tasting glass, so don't worry about having to stumble home in a beer-buzzed haze. You can take it easy and still enjoy a remarkable assortment of beers. Overall there's a lot to love about the summer beer dabbler/highland fest! Cool scene, tons of craft brews, and everyone is customarily easygoing. The live music and food trucks certainly round out the experience. You can trust me as your Cicerone of all things beer related when I tell you that the Dabbler is definitely a great time. I'll see you there.

I've been to a few events put on by Beer Dabbler and to this event two of the three years it has…read morebeen running - it seems like they've figured out most of the formula for running a successful tasting event: - Staggered entrance times with plenty of volunteers guiding the masses. - Large beer selection (though only a few diamonds in the rough and mostly many of the usual suspects from liquor stores with decent selections and/or other tasting events). - Homebrew competition. - Live music during the entire event. - Food trucks (Chef Shack, Magic Bus, Fork in the Road and Cupcake were all in attendance for 2011's event). - A better showing of brewery and distributor reps that are knowledgeable of their wares. - The grounds at Highland Fest were large and accommodating considering the number of attendees. Other than the grounds being pretty muddy from unseasonable rain the night before and a lack of what I would call an awe-inspiring beer selection, this is definitely one of the better beer tasting events in the Cities for the price.

Unseasonably warm weather and fewer ticket sales did wonders for Firkin Fest this year…read more To offset making 30% fewer tickets available this year, the organizers increased the ticket price to $50 for regular admission and $75 for VIP, which is a fairly steep increase from previous years, but well worth it to have some additional breathing room. For the most part, the all-firkin beer lineup did not disappoint (though it does feel like a few breweries were phoning it in this year). One of the best parts of the event are all the brewery reps that show up to serve, discuss and enjoy their creations (most of which you won't be able to find at your local liquor store since most beers are made unique for this event). Hooray beer.

dont get me wrong it was fun, but Im pretty sure with enough beer I could have fun locked in a…read morecloset. The VIP tickets are the only way to go, the rest of us stood in line for over an hour (even though we were in line before 1pm, they didnt let us in until after 2pm). It basically felt like a frat party with older people. They oversold the shit out of the event.

Minnesota State Fair grounds are a fabulous location with many events other than the state fair…read more This review was written on the Back to the 50s event. The event was well organized and to get in if you did not have a ticket it was cash only and they had on-site ATM machines. The transaction was very smooth and painless. As we explored and gazed upon the beautiful classic cars we made our way to the beer stand to get ice cold beverages and mini doughnuts. The powdery sweet taste left us wanting more. We then saw a heavenly sign, the cheese curd taco sign. A combination of the best of both worlds and we made our way over. The taco shell had the perfect crunch while the cheese curds burst with salty flavors. As the day wound down we explored and looked at more cars and had alcoholic slushies to quench our thirst. We struck up lots of great conversations and had many good memories. We can't wait till next year's event.

We were trying to enjoy the nice day as we walked around the fairgrounds. However, the constant…read moretraffic made it very difficult to see the vintage cars because many of the owners of those cars were driving down the middle of the roads where we were all walking. We were almost hit several times because of them! We would have sued if they would have hit us! They need to be respectful of all of us! There shouldn't be any car show if they are in such a hurry to leave! It felt more like the Fair with all of those vendors who were selling various merchandise than a car show.

If you're wanting to taste and sample complex and/or obscure beers, you will be disappointed by…read morethis beer festival. That said, there are still many redeeming qualities that make this an enjoyable event: GOOD - Efficient entry process - Plenty of port-o-johns - Lots of eye candy - Live music - Mixed crowd (though generally a bit younger than you'd find at similar events) - Good location MEH - Pretty mediocre beer selection - Not many brewery reps on-site - Beer lines can get a bit long This is more of a social event than a beer tasting, but there's nothing wrong with that.

This was the second time I have been to this festival, I was also here in 2012. While the first…read moreexperience was great it was raining and storming this year which made it much less enjoyable. Pros -Beer -Fun people watching -Music and games (beer pong and bags) Cons - Selection is not great and seems even worse than it was when I went 2 years ago. There were multiple tables of stuff like mikes hard lemonade, come on, it's a beer festival! - Expensive: make sure to find a deal, they always sell tickets on sale, we did the city pages daily deal and got 4 tickets for $45 vs the $35 normal price her ticket - Food: in the past they had a few different food trucks, this time they made the parking lot smaller and only had 1 truck, one mobile pizza oven and one burger stand, it wasn't very exciting If you live close and get a good deal it's a fun way to spend a Saturday evening. If you are a beer aficionado and are looking to expand your knowledge, stay away, you won't be happy.

I attended the Twin Cities in Motion Kids Indoor race at this venue. I found that parking in the…read moreUniversity Ramp made it very easy to get to. The venue is a bit older which adds charm to the venue. The entrance is a little hidden and hard to find if you are not familiar to it, but it is right off University, just not very well called out. The lobby does house a lot of athletes who have done significant things (championships, olympics, ect...). The main part of the venue has a nice sizeable track. There are stands for spectators which is not large but not tiny. For the event we were at it was definitely sufficient.

Infinitely better organized than many of the other Pride festivals across the country I've attend…read moreover the years. The flow of the parade marchers was expertly maintained. Folks kept moving in an orderly way. The Mayor got booed at the corner where I was watching. These people don't play around!

I had a very disappointing experience with Bob at the Minnesota Twins Pride booth this weekend…read more On Saturday, we were told the jersey giveaway had ended for the day and were instructed to come back on Sunday. So that's exactly what my wife and I did. We actually left the Pride parade--something we love participating in--to make sure we arrived in time for the giveaway, knowing the line would be long. The giveaway was supposed to begin at 1:30 p.m., but when we arrived, we waited about 45 minutes because the Twins booth staff were still participating in the parade. We waited patiently, expecting the jersey giveaway to happen once they returned. When the staff finally arrived, no jerseys were being handed out. I politely asked why the giveaway wasn't happening after we had waited so long. Bob's response was, "They're free, geez." Whether the jerseys were free or not is beside the point. People gave up their time, left the Pride festivities, and stood in line because they were told to come back Sunday for this giveaway. A little respect, communication, and customer service would have gone a long way. Dismissing people with "They're free, geez" was unprofessional and unnecessarily rude. This wasn't about getting something for free--it was about honoring what people were told and treating attendees with basic courtesy. I expected much better from representatives of the Minnesota Twins at a community event celebrating Pride.