This was a super fun event! I believe this is the first year for the event (2022) and it was so…read moregreat to see the small community of Buellton offer more activities. Attending this right at the beginning of December really helped get me into the holiday spirit! Lots of people were there. The park had activities, including pictures with Santa, roasting marshmallows, hot chocolate for purchase, a beer garden, and food trucks! Lots of kids running around and families creating memories. It seemed a bit pricey for $25/ticket for 13y/o and up, but they did a great job with the lights and it made for several photo opportunities!

It was a cozy event, wasn't too bad to walk in heels! Great for a date night or a fun little trip…read morewith the family. There were opportunities for photo ops throughout, a couple food trucks, cotton candy booth, hot chocolate station and fires to sit down/warm up near. The field of lit up flowers and the lights that made it look like a river flowing was my favorite part of the walk!

This year is the seventh annual Scarecrow Fest in Santa Ynez Valley. How did I just hear about this…read moreevent?? This was so much fun!! I had a few hours to kill so I wandered into Solvang to window shop. Quickly I noticed the adorable decorations and window displays. What could this be about? At one of the displays I found the information on the ballot sheet. There are over 100 businesses participating in Solvang and surrounding areas in the Santa Ynez Valley. On the ballot sheet is a map to all the participating businesses and organizations so you can be sure to not miss any. Voters can walk around (or drive for further out scarecrow locations) and enjoy all the different scarecrow and holiday displays. Voting categories include Most Danish (cuz it's Solvang after all), Best Photo Opportunity (you are encouraged to take pics with displays when possible and upload to FB or tweet them), Best Use of Business Theme, Most Humorous, Spookiest and Best Use of Recycled Materials. There was an incredible variety of displays showing different strengths, themes and artistic interpretations of Scarecrows. I felt like this was kind of a scavenger hunt as I ran through the streets trying to find all the different scarecrows. Unfortunately I didn't see too many others walking around participating, but I did notice that almost all the tourists (and some locals) were really enjoying the displays. Some of the window displays were difficult to take pictures of because of glare issues. I was in the city early in the day and not all businesses had their scarecrows out at that time, so I noticed a few extra as I was on my way out of the city. Scarecrow Fest this year goes from October 7 - November 7. Ballots need to include a name, email address and zip code for the votes to count. There are ballot boxes throughout the city to drop your completed ballots before the last day. The grand winner will be announced at the Haunted House and Street Fest on October 29th. Category winners will be announced on their website www.syvscarecrows.com at the end of the voting period. This was a ton of fun and a creative way to get visitors to explore the culture and climate of Santa Ynez Valley. I would definitely recommend checking it out, especially if you are an autumn junkie like me. This is something I will look forward to for many years to come.

SAME THING ONLY DIFFERENT…read more Ah... festivals. Always different. Always the same. Everything smells like weed. Except the guy standing in line beside me. He smells like sardines. And weed. Out-of-town dudes in man-buns crowd alongside pretty young women dressed vaguely like Native American princesses. Not sure Indians had bubble-gum flavored lip gloss though. Everyone is 'Gramming. A giant beach ball passes by with intention. The volume is concussive. The energy palpable. When the live music starts, I picture my 9th grade English teacher Mrs. Delaney, hands on her hips, shouting back grammar corrections. "Cause I'mma pimp you up" "'BE-cause I am GOING TO pimp you up', young man!" "Cold split you in two" "COLDLY split you INTO two!" "Then let you catch it in the du-rang" "OK not bad..." "Take the Bentley back to school" "YOU GOT THIS! WOOO!!" Good music, passionate people, and great alcohol-- the keys to success for all festivals. But after a while, an existential question rises out of the chili pot smoke... Use the filth-laden portable toilets, or risk sobering up too soon by discontinuing the refreshing beverage routine in the hot afternoon sun? Maybe we'll just go find sardine dude to pick up some herring-infused indo... Pro tip: Had a great time. We sampled a lot of chili dishes, enjoyed copious amounts of local beer and wine, and clapped a lot because... well like most white people, we have no idea what to do with our hands when we dance.

First timer and was hesitant because of the weather forecast, but glad I came!…read more It was outdoors in the camp grounds and surprisingly it was warm with a slight breeze and only sprinkled a little red here and there! There were many vendors just selling merch like novelty items, kitchen towels and trivets, jewelry, and soap. At the entrance there was a stage where a band played for the first half then a DJ took over for the second half! Music was great and the crowd was lively! A lot of the vendors say this was much bigger than last year. There were many vendors some large breweries we'll known breweries like SLO brew, Fig mountain and smaller local ones as well. Really enjoyed the sparkling rose and the rose from a veteran owned stall (there's a pic included). There were tastings for wine, seltzers, gin, and whiskey!! Each stand either had an entry in Chile verde, red chili, salsa, or alcohol - some stands were were entered in multiple areas. Some stands had toppings you could add like corn bread, sour cream, cheese, and onions and the chips were all served with the central coast favorite taco works tortilla chips! One chili that stood out for me was a ground turkey butternut squash one made by the rotary club - it was hearty and had a slight sweetness, didn't think I would have liked it but it was one of my tops! So at end of your tastings you vote on best choice! Overall would deff come here again!!

Such a fun annual event! Nestled right in the heart of Buellton once a year on Avenue of the Flags…read more Easy to walk to from most anywhere in town. They block off a lot of the road, so there's a fair amount of space to maneuver. They've got drinks, rides, and tons of food vendors! It's a multi-day event. Great opportunity to gather with friends/family and enjoy the local community!

Definitely recommend going to the solvangfestivaltheater! I was really interested in going to see…read moreFrozen at the solvang theater but wasn't sure how it would be and even if my hubby would want to go. We were going to solvang and then to the beach and only had one day we would be able to attend the show. Luckily they had availability and once I told him they had $25 tickets available My hubby said go ahead and by the tickets...if we don't like it we can leave during the intermission and at least it wouldn't be a lot of money wasted. The show was awesome! We were really impressed, the singing, the acting, the choreography, the sound system and the costumes were all really good. About as good as any Disney production we've seen. Our seats were the cheapest you could get and weren't horrible. They were on the first row and we had less leg room than other rows. Also our view was more at the foot level of the stage but nothing was blocking our view. I ordered the tickets online and received them by email . It was easy to show and scan at entry. The theater is outside and as recommended we brought sweaters and glad we did. They offer drinks and snacks to purchase during intermission but we opted not to get anything. We both enjoyed our evening watching Frozen at the solvang festival theater. So glad we chanced it and went! If we get the opportunity to go again we will.

We saw Beehive. What a wonderful venue. The staff were pleasant and helpful. The musical was a…read morecollection of songs from the 1960s. The talent of the young women singers was exceptional. The costumes were fun! The band was great. It was a fun and happy experience. Highly recommend!

This review is for the opening party. I was super excited…read moreto attend this party, all you can eat and drink in solvang? How could it go wrong? Well the party was set for 3 hours, 6-9:00 pm. I arrived around 630. Check-in was a breeze. We got our souvenir wine glasses and made our way in. There were two rooms with food stalls but one had tables to actually sit, a cocktail station and a photo booth location. The other had a stage with room to dance, cocktail tables and more food and wine stalls. At 6:30, two of the restaurants were already out of food. I don't understand how 30 mins into the event anyone can be out of food. That's frustrating. To the event planners: please ensure with all restaurants participating that they make enough food to last for the entire event. Of all the food stalls I did get to try, Surprisingly, my favorite were these buckwheat noodles with burratta. The burrata was creamy and there was a bit of a crunch from some salad mixed in. Delicious and I probably went back for 3 more servings. The band playing was quite fun, they had a country vibe but played a bunch of cover songs. Overall, I had a good time. Free flowing wine and beer, and the food I did get to try was pretty good too. I'd say it's worth checking.....out at least once.

We love coming up to the Santa Ynez for wine tasting so we bought tickets to the Taste of Solvang…read morewhich includes a bunch of food & wine tastings. We bought the Grand Tasting which was $35 and included food tastings from 11-4 on a Saturday and then the Beer & Wine Walk ($40)which was from 5PM-8PM on Saturday and 11-4PM on Sunday. I do want to caveat my review by stating that I really dislike (more like HATE) desserts so if you do like desserts as most people do maybe you want to read my review with a grain of salt. The Grand Tasting basically included 40 locations that were serving snacks and desserts in and around downtown solvang. The concept is great except the website states this - "Hob nob with your foodie friends, and our World-Class Chefs at the newly redesigned Grand Tasting." Now i love pizza like the next person but i don't think getting a small slice of cheese pizza would be considered eating with world class chefs. I was really hoping Root 246 or Panino Solvang would have a stop but they didn't. I really loved the meatballs/cheese from El Rancho Market and buttermilk biscuit from Succulent Cafe though. Also all the Danish meatball samplers were yummy but my biggest problem is the crazy amount of desserts that were served: danishes, ice cream sundaes, chocolate covered strawberries, butter cookies....on and on. These were definitely not gourmet samplings of desserts but if you are a dessert lover, you def may enjoy this tour. I had to go back and order another pizza because i skipped more of the dessert stops and was a bit hungry. The Wine Tour was pretty fun....basically you walk around Solvang and visit designated wineries who have pared down tastings for you. Its also a great deal at $40 since there were maybe 12 or more wineries on our list. Since there were over 500 people who bought the Taste of Solvang, sometimes there were long lines but def a good way to meet and greet the different wineries in town. We love Tocatta but loved it even more that there was a 10 year anniversary sale and the three wines they had on the tasting menu were all $10 (reg parice - $24). The wine tour is super fun because everyone is getting a bit tipsy and super chatty so its super fun. Tour ends promptly at 8PM (starts again on Sunday) and the town pretty much empties out around then. Wouldn't mind doing the wine and beer walk again but i'd prob skip the grand tasting. not really my style.

One word to describe.... HEAVEN!!!…read more One entry fee, ALL YOU CAN EAT & DRINK! You can taste all the sample and try out all the beer & wine~ SWEET!!! If you like bacon... THIS IS YOUR EVENT! Bacon in all kinds of dishes, in salad, appetizer, sliders, etc. They give you a souvenir glass, you just go around the vendors and try out any beer/wine you like. We stayed there for hours! Basically eating 3 meals there already~ :D Great choices of local restaurants. Many different varieties. Live music, great crowd, fun day! Just one suggestion for the organizer.... we need more shades or umbrellas and table/chairs. Thank you. Will definitely attend the event again next time!

Solvang Farmer Pumpkin patch is absolutely perfect. The parking is free & the entrance is free…read more They are so many pumpkins too choose from and so many in perfect condition. Great prices and they have a corn maze $10. They also sale Kettle Corn and Waters. If you finish the corn maze and find all the Signs you get a prize. We sure finished it and found all signs. We showed proof and the staff was nice enough to show us our prize a mini pumpkin (how cute). we had such an amazing time.

The pumpkin patch is charming! I felt the maze was quite expensive! There's no shade offered…read moreanywhere so even though we wanted to hangout more, there was no place to do so. They had a lot of pumpkins in all sizes! The staff were friendly! I wish they would have thoroughly explained how everything works when we first arrived. PS-the maze is definitely a challenge!

A memorable experience seeing a danish home and see how Solvang was built. The family that lived…read morethere had a lot of traditional exterior and interior and items which was cool to experience for a low price of $5/person. The employee was super awesome explaining the history of the home. In the outside shed, it contained the solvang in the early days of 1920s or 1940s. Look for the little danish rubber ducky throughout the rooms. I really enjoyed the historical items in the home and architecture style

Great little museum with so much history! The Elverhøj Museum & Art Gallery offers a fascinating…read morelook into Danish immigrant history. Walking through the rooms and seeing how people lived back then was incredibly interesting and well done. We also played the Hidden Gems Garden & Patio game, which made the visit even more fun we found all the gems and even got a prize! Such a nice interactive touch, especially if you're visiting with family. Admission is only $5 per person, parking is free, and the experience is totally worth it. We learned a lot and truly enjoyed our time here. Highly recommend if you love history, culture, and charming local museums. Great customer service.