Just wrapped up my fourth consecutive year at the festival. While getting to see some incredible…read moreperformances was a highlight, the overall value and logistical execution this year left a lot to be desired--especially considering how much ticket prices continue to climb. If you are planning to attend next year, the best advice I can give is to buy your weekend GA tickets while the current festival is still going on. Prices increase every single year, but next year's prices have absolutely soared. If you don't lock in that early on-site loyalty rate, you will face major sticker shock once the lineup drops. On the plus side, the festival entry system is very seamless. They mail you your wristbands ahead of time, which feature a built-in chip that you use to scan into the venue. You can also link your credit card directly to the band, making it incredibly easy to pay for food and drinks with a simple tap. The festival also consistently offers great merchandise. There were tons of great patterns, colors, and sizes available for shirts, sweatshirts, and hats this year. Just make sure to grab what you want early in the weekend, as the best items definitely sell out as the weekend progresses. The festival itself felt noticeably less crowded this year than last. While the overall lineup was just okay for the premium price point--I really expected them to pull in some bigger, top-tier headliners--the artists I loved absolutely delivered. Jay Webb, Lonestar, Shaboozey, and Dasha were massive highlights and put on incredible sets. Navigating the venue rules required some strategy. The venue has an official online list of prohibited items, though enforcement completely depends on which security guard you get, as some are much more lenient than others. Finding safe food was also a challenge, as there were fewer food vendors overall this year, and it was mostly typical festival food. The venue does not guarantee dedicated gluten-free meals, and the options were scarce. For instance, the Ben & Jerry's truck listed GF options, but they used a shared scoop for everything, which is not how their actual stores safely operate. I did find one food truck with a gluten-free sign that only served fries, and the staff explicitly assured me every day that they used a dedicated fryer. Because options are so limited, I was able to bring in my own non-perishable snacks by showing a doctor's note at security, though you have to keep in mind that coolers are not allowed inside the venue. The environmental and logistical conditions outside the stages are always tough. We had zero rain all weekend, and while the weather was clear, the lack of moisture meant the venue became incredibly dusty as the days wore on. If you aren't parking on-site, be prepared for a headache because staff members are incredibly strict about the designated pick-up and drop-off zones. Furthermore, we always walk to and from the venue, and the surrounding subdivision is borderline scary at night. There are little to no streetlights and zero sidewalks. The festival desperately needs to work with the city to provide temporary lighting or at least cut the grass on the roadsides so pedestrians have a usable shoulder to walk on instead of being forced into the dark street. The camping experience was also a major downside for a friend who joined me. Security in the campgrounds was seriously lacking, and his cooler was stolen right out of his site with everything inside. Furthermore, camp staff did absolutely nothing to enforce the official quiet hours, leaving camping neighbors to blare music until 3:00am on Friday night. I love the tradition of this festival, but for the prices they are demanding, the infrastructure needs a massive upgrade. They need better security in the campgrounds, safer pedestrian access outside the gates, and a lineup that actually justifies the soaring ticket costs. If you go, buy early, hit the merch booth on day one, bring your own safe snacks if you have allergies, and brace yourself for the dust.

The line-up was not as strong as in past years. Almost half of the preferred seating was empty on…read morethe biggest nights. (A big clue that people were not as thrilled with the line-up.) The performers were all excellent, going above and beyond to deliver a great experience. The sound guys were definitely better than previous years, especially for the earlier acts. The video guys did not live up to last year's video production. Lots of blank screens as well as not highlighting the band members performing solos. The roads in preferred camping are completely dust. It would help if they would use a water truck and water down the roads at least once a day to help keep the dust down. They did do that in a couple of areas by the venue, but never out in the campground. Everything we own was covered with dust. We expect that but this year was especially bad. Refreshments were very expensive. It was hot and dry and dusty, and you can only carry in one small bottle of water. So you either need to spend a lot of money to buy more water, or you can spend $30 and get one beer and one Mike's hard lemonade. Security definitely could be improved. We had preferred camping sites. People would cut through your camping site even though they know that it's kind of like private property. If your cooler isn't tied down, they'll pick it up and carry it off. If it is tied down, they open it up and clean it out. The young people doing this obviously are not Cowboys because a cowboy would not steal from another cowboy. If you tell these people that they cannot cut through, they go. FU and go anyway. At least the county sheriff caught one of these perpetrators and held him until Monday. We paid over $1100 for reserve seats near the main stage. We especially like this area because it's non-smoking, and that way it doesn 't bother our Asthma as much. I politely asked a smoker that was upwind of us a few feet to either put out the cigarettes or go to a smoking area and they just smile and continue smoking. I have smoking friends, and they would never do such a thing, but I was very disappointed that this certain couple totally ignored the rules. And even when politely asked, they just smiled and puffed, more. When I asked security about it, he said, well, I need to speak with my supervisor. He finally took the couple to a designated smoking area. But in a 1 hour, they were back smoking again. And this time, security said it was okay. When you pay that much money for non-smoking seats, you expect to be able to enjoy the show without having smoke blowing in your face. Why pay for reserved seating that is supposed to be non-smoking? Overall, I was very disappointed with this year's Country Thunder.

I don't really care for county fairs that much. But this place was nice. It's ran by the 4H I…read morebelieve. The main problem I have with this fair is that they have a pie auction here. And when I hear pie auction I think of an auction of pies. But what did they have? It was a damn auction of gift baskets, normally I wouldn't care that much, but I like pie. But in the gift baskets auction they did auction off half a pig processed how you like it. And I wished I had enough money to buy half a pig processed how ever i want it. The pigs weight alive was 240, so half of that is 120, minus shit you can't eat so it's like 80-100 pounds of pig. And that was really sweet. There is also a lot of animals for you to look at like, rabbits, horses, dairy cows, meat cows, meat pigs, lambs, and meat lambs. It can be a bit strange looking at an animal that you may eat one day. But not really, because those animals are punk ass bitches, and they have it coming. They also have a livestock auction which I missed, but I would like to go to that to buy an animal, then give it the thumbs down. Then eat it. But the Kenosha County Fair is a good time that's fairly cheap as well. It would have had five stars, if my heart wasn't broken over a gift basket auction in pie auction clothing.

Richardson Farm Tulip Fest! We came around 10:30am on a Friday and we basically had the field to…read moreourselves. There's over 1 million tulips planted, and there were plenty of photo ops throughout. I also love that the tulips were planted in the shape of a butterfly this year, but wish there was some way to see it from above. :( For $20 you get access to their tulip field and one u-pick tulip is included. You can purchase more tulips for $2 each if you want to pick more. Dogs are also allowed and are free to enter, but if your dog is prone to chewing on/eating flowers, maybe leave your dog home (tulips are toxic for dogs, mostly the bulbs which are underground). There are a few food trucks and lawn games to play as well. We tried the blended java chip coffee and kettle corn. The kettle corn was really good. We only spent about an hour here because there's not much else to really do.

My experience is going to differ a lot from other reviews because I went to Richardson Farms for…read morethe corn maze 5K, which ended up not happening at the corn maze due to the rain. I like to sign up for unique 5K courses, so I was super excited for this one. At 6am during the day of the 5K, I got a sad email saying the course has switched to the farm course for everyone who signed up for the corn maze course due to the corn maze being muddy and unsafe or something. But at least the 5K was still happened. The farm course was meh. It was muddy as well but at least it was wide dirt roads. For anyone considering going in the future, I suggest definitely going for the corn maze course instead because I imagine the farm course is meh even when it's dry. The gift shop was open for runners super early to shelter and grab some snacks, souvenirs, and bathroom breaks. The apple cider donuts are great, but only comes in half dozen.

Awesome party band! LOTS of FUN!read more

From the owner: Audience Participation! Crowd Enthusiasm! Event Success! Bandaroke - Live Band Karaoke is the live…read moremusic event service that inspires audience participation and crowd enthusiasm for your Corporate and Private Events. Bandaroke has been entertaining corporate event crowds and private functions for over 10 years in the Chicago-area as a way to enable music and singing enthusiasts of all levels of ability to sing, play, or dance with a live rock band. We will entertain and provide a good time for that 25-year old alternative introvert IT worker as well as that 60-year old classic rock exec. We are also an all-request cover and dance band and your group can choose from our over 500 songs to listen and dance to their favorite tunes.

BFTP performed at my wedding reception this past weekend and the dance floor was overflowing from…read morethe very first song through the very last. They are one of those bands that 30 seconds into the first song you know you made the right choice, and your guests know they're in for a hell of a night. Working with John was super easy, and the family aspect the band has really helps you stay at ease throughout the process. We cannot recommend BFTP enough, and are looking forward to telling people we had them back when! Thank you guys and girls so much for making our wedding so fun!

If I can give them a million stars, I would! We booked BFTP for our wedding, and all of our guests…read moreare still talking about how great they were. They really made our wedding day! I almost feel a little guilty because I was on the dance floor the whole time. But like the prior review said, they were so good, the dance floor was packed! Prior to the wedding, me, my husband, mom and dad thought we would see them first at a bar before we sealed the deal. We were walking thru the parking lot and I could hear them and already knew. When we walked in the bar we were greeted by the wife (sorry, forgot her name). But so sweet. Paid the cover charge and within minutes we were on the dance floor! SOLD! John was great thruoughout the coming days for our wedding. He thought of things I didnt, and the contract was so easy. They really wanted to make it special for us. The day of the wedding, they blew our mind! They surprised us with so many extra things, beyond our expectations. The band was the hit of the night so much that my family wants to do it again. My greatest memory of my wedding is BFTP, it will always be, and our family and friends will be the biggest fans!

Hired Laughing Llama for my daughters 7th birthday. We live in the north suburbs of Chicago. I was…read moreso happy with the beautiful face painting and the fun balloons while kiddos waited for their turn. Highly recommend to anyone considering face painting for their event!!

This company did a very great job at our Cookout event. We asked for facepainting and balloon art!…read moreGreat Job!!