With credit to the poem, "Ozymandias" by Percy Shelley…read more I met a traveller from an antique land, Who said--'Two vast and trunkless legs of stone Stand in the desert. ... Near them, on the sand, Half sunk a shattered visage lies, whose frown, And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command, Tell that its sculptor well those passions read Which yet survive ... Okay, my inner Irish and mostly Irish heritage could not resist that poem piece. So, I love the Irish cultural center. It is an unexpected treat. Every day while I drive up and down Central Ave I look over and see this gem. Seeing this marvel always makes my heart happy. It still surprises me to see a mini castle in the middle of downtown Phoenix. A very cool structure that works mainly as an event center and cultural library. I have been here several times and I am due for another visit soon. I went here most recently for a St. Patty's Day themed or Irish themed magazine photo shoot, The small grounds are simply beautiful and the park behind it is also a nice area to take photos. Inside there is a library and event center. They sponsor movies, events, and I know some weddings have been performed here. You really need to stop by and check it out. The luck of the Irish says you will not be disapoointed. Then afterwards you can grab a pint at one of the local Breweries/pubs in downtown.

This place is an absolute oasis! It's a little bit hidden away, but just magnificent. I've taken so…read moremany people from my work here and they absolutely love it. There is a beautiful park right behind it that you can walk around. There's even a cool porch swing out in the park right in front of the parking lot. They have a gorgeous courtyard with a little French bistro set up. The bathrooms are so clean. It's free to visit this cultural center and this museum. If you wanted to check out books, you would have to pay for a membership, but you can hang out there and read books while you're there. The ladies that run the place are just the kindest people in the world. They're so knowledgeable about Irish history and can tell you about your last name and your lineage. I love coming here. I can't say enough good things about it. It's truly a hidden gem in Phoenix.

I went to the 2019 Dish It Out on High Street in Phoenix. This festival benefits boys and girls…read moreclubs of Phoenix. General admission tickets ran around $70.00 and VIP admission ran around $200.00. They had 29 general admission restaurants, 22 beer vendors and 24 general admission wine and spirit stops. and 7 VIP restaurants and 10 VIP wine and spirit stops. They also had a live band performing. I've experienced several problems with this festival. The biggest problem was that after an hour the place was so packed with people you couldn't breath. The lines disappeared and it was just a packed crowd. You were trapped and at that point it became hazardous. Also many people just started dropping plates of food and drinks and the ground became hazardous and slippery. That pizza that hit my husbands leg became like a banana peel on the ground. I tried to hit the food spots as quick as possible and then try some wine. I could only get two glasses of wine. I was planning on spending most of my wine at one certain spot but within an hour they ran out of red wine (BAH!) It was just too crazy to fight the crowd to try to get another glass somewhere so we just left. The other thing I really hated was that on the dish it out website they listed participating vendors without separating them into general admission and VIP. It wasn't until around the day of the event that you actually knew the separation. Some of the food really was very good but I didn't feel like I got my money's worth. It was too uncomfortable and hazardous walking around. I will not attend Dish It Out at this location again.

2017. Wow. Classy event with every course covered! Flemings, Tea2Go, The Vig, Chino Bandido, Red…read moreBull, Wine, Beer, The Halal Guys, Kona Grill, Venezias. The lines were long and there were areas where you couldn't move, but that's part of the excitement of a good festival. Making friends and enjoying the libations. Cool ambience with VIP lounges and good signage. Well organized and laid out. So much to choose from that I didn't sample all the restaurants!

I went with family on the first night it opened last week and we had a pretty fun experience. The…read moreparking lot is big and they had parking attendants showing you where to park. The person who scanned our tickets was friendly and she greeted us as we walked in. Once inside, we explored it all. It was a pretty busy night but we were able to see it all. The train ride was the highlight of the night and they did a great job on each theme. The ligth show was also pretty cool and unique. The snow show was a fail at 7:30pm but when we went back to a later time, it finally worked. The miniature houses were super cute and we were able to take pics with Mrs. Claus. We bought three hot chocolates and they were good. The parade was small but cute!

I made an error when purchasing tickets and reached out through their "contact us" email... and…read morereceived zero response. No customer service whatsoever. We bought VIP tickets at $80 each, and honestly, it felt like a holiday heist. Several areas were closed off with "private event" signs, including the cookie-decorating section we were looking forward to. The so-called VIP lounge is an absolute joke -- they should be embarrassed to label it as a perk. The only alcoholic option was a bizarre mix of rum, margarita mix, grenadine, and Sprite. It tasted awful, and I watched multiple people toss theirs in the trash. The only other "specialty" drink was hot chocolate spiked with peppermint schnapps. Everything else was basic and absolutely not worth the price. I've been to plenty of holiday light events for a fraction of the cost that blew this one out of the water. The only highlight of the entire experience was the Cowboy Christmas show -- a short 15-minute performance with genuinely talented, improvisational actors. Overall, I do not recommend this event. It felt like a mediocre money grab. The Pratt Brothers really lived up to their name.

Very nice event. Large selection of craft beers. Plenty value for the $25 cost. Wish they had a…read morelist of all the beers so that I knew what all my options where at the big distributor's booths. I liked the gingerbread beer from That Brewery and the bourbon barrel aged Raj IPA from Four Peaks the best!

We enjoyed our time here! Lots to see and do! Highland games, vintage UK cars, pet a Clydesdale,…read morebuy some Scottish breakfast tea, listen to live bagpipes, see a Highland dance performance and so much more! It was $25 for admission for adults. For food there's your average fair food, to Scottish & Irish food. Take your time, we came early and it took us 4 hours to enjoy it all. Also, if you go early you beat the food and drink lines.

This was the 5th year of Phoenix's Dia de los Muertos festival. Held at Steele Indian School Park,…read moreparking was an absolute nightmare at 2 PM in all 5 of their lots. We circled around quite a few times to one lot to another until we finally found a spot. It was a pretty hot day and I commend anyone that got in full costume for this outdoor event. The stage showcased dancers and a mariachi band while we were here and the costumes and props were cool to look at. In terms of food and beverage, there was one succinct row of stands. Food ranged from paletas from Paletas Betty, frybread, and tamales from Molly's Tamales. There was an equally succinct row of goods and memorabilia for sale. There were a few booths with crafts for kids and face painting available. We browsed for a bit and probably spent about an hour total eating and then browsing at the merchandise for sale. It got way too hot for us so we left after looking at all the stands. If it were cooler we might have stuck around a little longer to see more performances. I was a bit disappointed that there wasn't more food and merchandise for sale for such a big space at the park. In comparison I think the Dia de los Muertos festival I went to at the Mesa Arts Center a few years ago had more goods to browse through but not as many performances. Maybe next year they will have more to offer!

A fun, affordable event with a bounty of local AZ beer tasting. As a first timer to this annual…read moreevent, I expected more food truck vendors and beer tents to be present. None-the-less plenty of tasting tickets were provided (many more than we could use - NO complaints there). We enjoyed ourselves.

The SW Veg Fest was a FREE and Non-Profit Festival at Steele Indian School Park in 2017. The focus…read morewas FOOD (it might have been ALL VEGAN), Retail, entertainment and education. They also offered discussion panels with Vegans. Some of the topics of discussion were Veganisim in politics, How to transfer to a Vegan lifestyle, There was a Vegans of Color group and Raising Vegans in a non-Vegan World. Not all but some of the food Vendors were giving out food samples. There might have been about 30 venders. It was extremely crowded EARLY for a first time event. Parking was somewhat difficult. They didn't post any signs anywhere for the event. I arrived around starting time and got the very last parking space available. If you go next year you need to arrive extra early before the event to get a spot if this festival is in the same location. They also provided free water but you needed to bring your own sipping container. The event was also dog friendly.