The Most Colorful Morning You Will Ever Have at 6:00 AM…read moreThere are not many things worth setting an alarm for at 5:00 in the morning. This is one of them. The Provo Freedom Festival Balloon Fest is a three day annual celebration of the Fourth of July held at Fox Field on Freedom Boulevard, and it is exactly the kind of event that reminds you why summer in Utah is something special. Pilots from across the country bring their balloons to the Wasatch foothills and what unfolds over those three days is one of the most visually spectacular community events in the state. Arrive early. We mean it. Getting there around 5:30 am puts you on the field while the crews are still inflating the balloons, and watching a seven story tall colossus slowly rise against the backdrop of the Wasatch Mountains is something that does not have a good comparison. Sixty to eighty feet of color and fabric filling with air while the mountains glow in the early morning light is the kind of moment you reach for your camera and realize no photo will fully do it justice. Go anyway, take the pictures anyway. A tip for families: the crew members of each balloon are friendly and genuinely happy to talk. Ask them for their balloon card. Kids can collect a card from every balloon on the field and it turns the whole experience into an impromptu treasure hunt. Then come back for the glow event, which happens one night during the three day run and is worth rearranging your schedule for. The balloons stay grounded but are fully inflated and lit from within by their propane burners in sync with music. Watching these giants pulse and glow in the dark while the crowd gathers around them is a completely different experience from the morning flights and every bit as memorable. We grabbed a sugar waffle from the Waffle Love truck and wandered between the glowing balloons in the evening air, and it was the kind of night that sticks with you. A few practical notes before you go. This is a free event with no tickets required, which makes it even more remarkable for what it delivers. Parking is the one challenge. Neighboring businesses offer paid parking for around ten dollars, which is worth it if you want convenience. If you prefer free, arrive early and look for the field parking behind the hospital. Come late and you will be walking. Full marks. Some experiences justify every star and then some. Put it on the calendar now for next July.

The balloon festival has become a yearly tradition. It's amazing every time. It's just something we…read morenever tire of seeing. It's fun to bring friend and family that come into town to experience the beauty and magic of it all. We show up early, bring blankets and breakfast and enjoy the show. It's a must see for all ages.

This farm is so much fun! We spent three hours here and could have stayed longer. Talk about bang…read morefor your buck!!! The rides, animals, corn maze, corn pit, and pumpkin stand were so much fun. I liked the corn maze wasn't overly big but it was just the right size. My kids loved going on the rides as many times as they could. They had the carousel, tea cups, swings, and many other rides. the pumpkins they were selling were good sized and there were many varieties. They had portable potty's for customers to use. We came during the day and there was a food stand selling Mexican style corn on the cob and drinks. There's also a little general store that sold popcorn, Carmel apples, ice cream and fruit. I will definitely be back several times before the season ends.

Very over priced for what you get. Tickets are $18.95 on Saturdays and had I known what the rides…read morewere and the wait times to ride them I would not have done this. Cute place, things to do other than the rides, but will not make a drive there again.

It has now been nearly a full year since I purchased two adult tickets for the Light Fest Lantern…read moreFestival, originally scheduled for July 2024. At the time of purchase, I also paid for the offered insurance, which clearly stated that a full refund would be provided if cancellation was necessary. However, my experience could not have been further from what was promised. The festival itself was canceled due to a fire ban -- understandable given safety concerns -- but it was then rescheduled for October 2024. Unfortunately, I was going to be out of town during the new date, and I immediately took all the necessary steps to cancel my tickets. I canceled through their website and sent multiple emails as directed. Each time, I received automated responses claiming that someone would reach out to me to process my refund. That outreach never happened. Despite my repeated attempts -- over an entire year -- to obtain the refund I was owed, I have still not received a single dollar of the $150 I paid. Instead, I was continually given empty promises and automated emails. The so-called "insurance" I paid for turned out to be entirely fraudulent. It exists purely to make customers think they are protected when in reality, Light Fest seems to have no intention of honoring it. This operation is nothing short of a scam. If the event is canceled or rescheduled for any reason, do not expect to get your money back, no matter what the insurance policy claims. Light Fest took my money and ignored my refund requests for over a year. In conclusion: Avoid Light Fest at all costs. Their customer service is nonexistent, their insurance is a scam, and their business practices are deeply dishonest. Save yourself the time, frustration, and financial loss. These people are crooks, and they should not be trusted

Me and my boyfriend just went to the Lights Fest 10/12 in Grantsville Utah. This was by the Lights…read moreFest, not the Night Lights Event!!! To start, parking was $30. The tickets were already $47 so what the hell?? At the Night Lights, you don't pay for parking (at least we didn't). Okay now to the fun stuff! I know it's cold, it's October, but omg, it was freezing. They only had some tiki torches towards the front and that was it. At the Night Lights, they had heating lamps scattered through the whole area. We get there and I already knew off the bat that the security wasn't good because they didn't check in any bags that I saw. At the Night Lights, they made us shake our blankets and checked our bags. With everything going on in the world, a shooting could've easily taken place. We sit down and realize that there's only 5 FOOD TRUCKS.. 5.. for hundreds of people.. a churro one, an argentinian one, Mexican food, Juice, and American food (tenders, fries, etc.) We waited in line for a little over an hour.. for 3 tenders & a little bit of fries.. $26 EACH?? It said on the menu "pick your own side" so we did just that but when we got the receipt, they upcharged you for some of the sides (we got garlic fries and it was $2 more). At the Night Lights, there was countless food trucks, i'm going to estimate around 20. We spent about $60 for churros, burger and fries, plus drinks. I understand that the event coordinators aren't responsible for that but still. Very overpriced food. Side note, the music was damn horribleee!! At the Night Lights, the music was great. it was upbeat and different genres. At this one, it was just plain BAD. Anyways, as soon as we sit down, they're already talking about lighting the lanterns, barely any time to eat, decorate our lanterns, etc. When everybody was just about to light the lanterns, they say over the speakers to go buy lighters at the merchandise table.. ARE YOU SERIOUS?? That's so damn frustrating. When they said it was time to start lighting your lanterns, half of the people couldn't because they had no lighters.. At the Night Lights, they gave you a lighter, prayer flags, and a pen in the lantern kit. You also get a cute Golden Ticket for memories and a cute wrist band for each person. Luckily, me and my boyfriend brought a lighter and there were surrounding people that were asking us to use ours which we had no problem sharing but it's so sad that all of these people got scammed.. couldn't even light their lantern. Coming out of the parking lot to our car, there were no directions on how to get out. We went the wrong way TWICE and there were maybe 40 cars following us because they didn't know either. The coordination was horrible. At the Night Lights, they had people directing traffic as the cars came in and went out. This event was just plain bad. If you ever want to go to a lantern festival, I 110% recommend the Night Lights Event. You can also buy a s'mores kit and cute blankets at the Night Lights!!

As far as music festivals go, I'd say Bonanza Campout is about 85% percent "there."…read moreThe venue was really the determining factor for the entire thing--though it appears small on the map, overall there was an acceptable amount of room for the amount of people that attended. There weren't many, and hearing from other people's experiences, it seems that buying a ticket last minute for this was the way to go because the festival seemed to be giving them away as the date came closer: schools, radio stations, other concerts, and certain businesses had either free tickets or generous discounts. On the first day after opening, the population of the whole place was probably about 90. Over the weekend, more people seemed to show up despite bad weather. There were not many places to escape the rain on the second day, and being told that we could not return to our cars after 6 pm did not really help. The tables used for the RV spots were moved into the middle of the park so there were some places to sit, and water was very easily accessible...even though the website states that everyone is allowed "water up to 20 oz if it's factory sealed or in a reusable bottle" they wanted any outside liquids thrown away. There was a surprisingly great selection of food, from trucks to stands, and the prices were decent. Portapotties were definitely available. I don't know if I would call this a very family-friendly environment, with such a small area, all of the smoking and drinking kind of converges at once. Parking was horrible if you didn't arrive early. By the end of the night, there were cars literally parked a mile from the site. It is a two lane road and the only parking is on the very weedy side--and due to the lack of space, they were telling people to double park. They were charging $5 for parking, but I would definitely argue that once the cars are extending past the RV park property, the can no longer ask for a fee...it's not their property to charge for. Music, Art, Camping: The price overall was justified by some key (and quite impressive) performances. Other than Cold War Kids, Jamie N Commons, Secret Weapons, Doe, Milo Greene, and Jr. Jr. seemed to really give a good balance to some of the more electronically-based bands. On that note, the festival had numerous music quality issues: the audio was at least partially lost on quite a few performances, and on the second day the music was cranked up so loudly it become almost unbearable. This was especially annoying as the close proximity of the Shade Stage and the Bonanza Stage become a lot more obvious with all of the sound bleed. For the most part, the organizers were great at staying on schedule so there wasn't a whole lot of music-less time. This festival was not really art-centric at all--the main art attractions were a few (very impressive) vendors, a tree full of umbrellas (?), and an art piece sponsored by Skullcandy. This was slightly disappointing, because the entire area has a lot of potential as far as space and involvement with festival goers. We did not elect to do the camping, and I'm glad we didn't--a lot of the claims the festival made as far as amenities ("bathrooms" = portapotties, despite actual bathrooms in the main building... "fenced in area for campers only" = listing to a crazy amount of people and cars try to exit in the night because they are parked right next to you...) were stretches, and if you really wanted to camp, you could do it down the road, without paying a thing. The last 15% this festival is missing might include a better parking situation, more space, increased vendors, better sound quality, more art, and, likely, better hype. The lack of people was blaringly obvious, but overall, everybody in my group had a good time. And most importantly, despite all of the issues, Bonanza did pretty well by compensating with an impressively large variety of music.

RADDDD FESTIVAL! My company be Light Candle Co was at the event this year and we loved it so much!…read moreThey had really good vendors so I wanted to walk around a little more than I got to but I still love this market none the less! Definitely check it out it is always the second Saturday of September and usually the same day as the suicide prevention walk that's at liberty park. The market is from 10-6 and they do the walk from 9-1pm so you're totally able to check out both the same day.

Great little street festival! Good local booths mixed with some businesses…read more We are some huge shaved ice treats and just perused for a bit. If you're around during the festival, stop on by and support local artists and craftsma

you really do feel like you have transformed into the Renaissance time period!…read more Small children will really have fun, as there are a plethora of things for them to do (especially age 5-10 age group) There are plenty of options for food and drink The environment felt safe and secure Plenty of opportunities to purchase a variety of items- and some of these would be hard to find elsewhere (such as glass blowing on-site, aromatherapy items, leather goods and many places to buy Renaissance-era clothing and lots of jewelry, just to name a few) Unusual activities to choose from, such as shooting a bow and arrow, throwing spears and axes and thors hammer with the Vikings Lots of photo opportunities with people dressed in Renaissance period costumes

From the owner: Friday and Saturday August 28th and 29th, 2020 at Thanksgiving Point from 10am to 8pm. Come One!…read moreCome All! Join us and re-live the Renaissance and Medieval times at Thanksgiving Point. There will be jousting, Kings and Queens, armored combat, medieval Vikings, old-world music, dancing, games, pirates, shopping, great food, and so much more!

5 to get in Food is pretty expensive and not authentic…read more"Greek!" I've been there, this is not even close Tyne Greek Orthodox Church is beautiful and work a visit. The actual festival, not worth it.

It was my first time attending the Greek festival this year…read more Pros: Quite a large venue, lots of food options, lines go fast, plenty of seating, live entertainment. Cons: Advertised as free, but got to the entrance and they were charging a fee ($5), no prices when you get to the food area, so I just started grabbing a few items I wanted to try. As did my better half. We had two full plates and two calamari bowls. When we got to the cashier our total was a whopping $200+ bill. I was dumbfounded. They had a ticket type process for the alcohol? You buy tickets and trade them for the alcohol. On our first trip up the gentleman said we were short one ticket. So we had to go back to the ticket line and ask for another ticket. Why not use cash or card? The food we chose was alright and authentic, but way overpriced in my opinion. The calamari was yummy. I understand it's a fundraising effort for the Greek Orthodox Church, but I honestly wouldn't attend another festival myself. Too expensive.

What an awesome, unexpected festival to wrap up the Labor Day weekend! When entering in downtown…read moreProvo from spending the day in the desert the first thing that we noticed was the amount of people, the sound of the music and the festive atmosphere across the street from the temple and the beautiful mountains as background. I was so happy to see so many happy people and organized food trucks and organized public seating watching the many shows (4 days of non stop music and dances, that was a FULL program of joy, pity that I was only have a glimpse of the whole event). My only 'wow' was related to masks. Looks like covid was inexistent as barely some vendors had masks on. Majority of people did not follow much the social distancing (blame the churros) and inexistent masks. So strange. That aside, I just felt very happy to be there, it was very magical, the sunset, the stands selling food from all Latin American countries, the smiles, the warm and also tons of freebies to take home! Check the photos to get an idea of the attraction power of this event!

I can't hype up Craft Lake City enough! Over the years I've taken several of their artisan…read moreworkshops including embroidery classes, relief printing, macrame, sugar scrubs, and so many more. They host several workshops a month and always mix up the locations as well. Sometimes their events are more intimate 21+ events at Alibi, and sometimes we're using a space at NHMU (and getting a complimentary NHMU ticket for the evening!) or the Valley Fair Mail. Every class is so much fun, and it's a lovely community of people from all over the valley. I've met so many wonderful people at these classes. The artists that host them are so talented. I've never considered myself very crafty or creative, but after taking these workshops, I've realized that I have so many skills and interests that I never knew I had! It feels like every workshop honors the creativity of my inner child :) In addition to their workshops, they do a million other things that benefit our local community and foster creativity. They host two large events - the DIY Festival in August and the Holiday Market in December. Their staff is always friendly and helpful, and every event I've attended has been fun and well organized. Thank you to Craft Lake City for helping us adults connect with our inner child and for all that you do for our community!

Super fun event with local artists from Utah, many cool things to see! There were booths scattered…read moreall over. I need to do a better job at finding these awesome events. Can't wait to attend next year too!

Fun excursion on the Deer Creek Express. I thought $30 per ticket was a bit steep for the 90 minute…read moretrain ride. One car had high ceilings and bigger windows than the other; we were assigned to the smaller one but thankfully got to switch halfway through as our ride was not crowded. The bigger car is much more spacious and feels less claustrophobic. The heat is what killed us. The lack of AC during the summer is brutal. It got better with time but for 80% of the ride was uncomfortably hot. Keep in mind if you're planning to visit in the summer. Beautiful views, concessions for purchase, and friendly staff.

Great time for the entire family. The outlaw was fun for the little kids. The kids that rode with…read moreus were great.