We have gone for 4 years now and we always have the best time. Stinks that the ticket price keeps…read moregoing up but we always look forward to this event each year. We have gotten smarter each year with snacks necklaces too!

Had an amazing time at the 2022 Autumn Brew Review! This was my first time coming and I was not…read moredisappointed in the slightest! With well over 80+ brew vendors, unlimited pours, a handful of food trucks, and merch you really can't go wrong. Today was a bit chilly and I don't necessarily remember all of the beers I tried but I will say that I had a lot of fun with my friends and 10/10 recommend the ABR if you're a beer lover!

I've lived in Minnesota almost my entire life, and this was my first year at the winter Carnival…read more Always raved about, and I have to say I was a bit disappointed. It's in a small tight area with a ton of people. It's crowded and really not much going on. The huge ice castle this year was neat to see, other than that there were a few food stands with crazy long lines, low key live music, and a parade that consists mostly of people riding in the back of their trucks waving at on lookers, pretty boring. I think many people enjoy this 'carnival' as more of a nostalgic avenue. The people you go with is what will make or break your time here. If you can all have a good time together it will be a day well spent, otherwise you're kind of freezing yourself outside just to say you attended. However, the highlight of going would definitely be when the St Paul hotel sells their famous hot chocolate on certain days, and that was delicious - not super sweet, but smooth, creamy and chocolatey. ;)

If you, like me, grew up in the Midwest watching the Mighty Ducks, attending the St. Paul Winter…read moreCarnival has probably been a long-held dream. We made my childhood dream a reality this past winter and visited Rice Park on the night of the parade. Getting to the park from Minneapolis was easy - we hopped a free light rail ride and then walked the short distance from the station to the park. The streets and park were packed - we ended up walking along the parade to get to the park and tried to snag a spot to see the storming of the castle or whatever the legend is. Sound was echoy and it was hard to follow but there's a lot of fire blowing and everything ended with fireworks. It turns out our spot along the square was the perfect vantage point for the fireworks; they were directly overhead. The lighted "ice palaces" and sculptures were probably the highlight, and we discovered after the fireworks that a seemingly endless line to nowhere was actually the line to sit on an ice throne and have your picture taken. The line was halted during the skit, presumably because the fireworks launch from behind the throne. The night we went there was a Prince cover band; they pulled a good crowd and you could still feel how much it united the community being so soon after the Purple One's passing. Refreshments-wise there wasn't a whole lot going on, though most people seemed to have a beer in hand. Lines were long and prices were high for any booth we passed. There's not a lot of information or signage so it was a little unclear if there were any activities to participate in or if there were costs involved. I think a lot of people grow up coming to this festival and it's mostly locals; you know what to do because you've been doing it your whole life. While we had a good night, it's probably something I don't need to do again now that I've crossed it off my list, but I'm glad it's such a hallmark for residents of the Cities.

Gasthof Zur Gemütlichkeit (the restaurant) is now closed permanently. Fulton Brewery has stepped…read moreup at moved the Oktoberfest to the Fulton NE (2540 NE 2nd St) location! The Oktoberfest tent was so fun! Lots of portapotties, so not too much of a line! Great German foods and beers (both Fulton & German). Thank you Fulton! Great live music and dancing and entertainment! Stein holding contests! Remember, the fest is open until 10pm-so get there early! Free entry, street parking, bring your id if you want to drink, no dogs.

Attending Gastof's Oktoberfest tent is a yearly ritual we love doing. This year, we lucked out and…read morethe weather was tropical for the first weekend (September 21st). We like to bring our own beer stein (as we have purchased so many over the years and have a collection). If you don't have one, they are only the price of one token. Tokens = $6 this year and you can use them from year to year. Rumor has it, that you can use for a drink at the downstairs bar year round (if you don't use them all at the tent). Not sure. They have a wide variety of Oktoberfest style beers, local brews, a cider, cocktails and even hard sparkling water. If you get munchie... there is always food for purchase with tokens. Sadly, this year... their was only one large tent vs two. Plus they squished the outdoor area down so they could valet more cars. This made it a tight cluster of people. Can be a good thing and a bad thing. Smoking is allowed outside the tent. By 8:45pm, there was no room to stand inside or out of the tent. Get there early and attempt to find a bench in the tent... good luck this year with half the space and seating. Positive side, it's free to enter and play hammerslaggan (some game with a hammer and nails into wood... perfect for intoxicated people). Haha.

I was here last night and it was decent. A little smaller than others I've been to but it seemed…read morelike everyone was having a good time. I would say the highlight would be when I bought my plastic "das boot" and was drinking out of that for the rest of the night. I will also say the band they had playing while I was there was a great polka band and really added quite a bit to the whole experience.

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.

Loring Park is such an awesome location for this sort of event. All the paths and trees really make…read moredifferent areas distinct and give it that awesome summer atmosphere us Minnesotans only get to live up a few months each year. Pair that with live music and good food/drink and you've got yourself one memorable festival. The variety of food trucks and breweries was great. I made an effort to grab all the local staples like 612 and my nearby favorite, Third Street, but was absolutely in love with a new brewery I had never tried before. Tin Whiskers (from St. Paul) knocked it out of the park for me with their Wheatstone beer. It was so light with chamomile and honey that I almost thought I was drinking tea. It was awesome. And that's the best part of this event, finding someplace new to explore that you might not have heard of otherwise. Tasty food was everywhere and my dinner just ended up being a three hour long binge fest, but for a pork arepa (Hola Arepa), a crab cake (Tiki Tims) half a quesadilla (a La Plancha) and those addicting mini donuts (Chef Shack) I was willing to make room. I left in the happiest beer/food coma I can imagine. I only wish I could have tried more. I will definitely be coming back next year, this event was too much fun!

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.

If you want an exceptional group of musicians who will provide great, international, eclectic dance…read moremusic for your wedding, hire the Cafe Accordion orchestra! I can't say enough good things about this group. All of our guests LOVED the music and danced all night. The dance floor was never empty. We had every age group represented including children, teenagers, and people in their 20s through 80s and everyone danced together. Those who couldn't dance, enjoyed listening to and watching them. We listened to several live groups before picking them and we are thrilled with our choice. They also play at the Loring Pasta Bar on Tuesday evenings.