Stopped by the lemon festival this weekend! Very hot Saturday but went Saturday for a couple hours, enjoyed walking around seeing all the cute vendors & eating some yummy food! We ordered a couple drinks, loved that some places had samples so we can try before we buy! My bf got a smashburger & I got the loaded carne asada fries my friend tried the asada elote! We all pretty much loved each of our options I will say their side sauces are what made it pop for me! The green sauce was so spicy I loved it & the other orange sauce was delicious too! Later on we got some Cathy cookies ugh which are some of our faves! So had to get a bucket haha then some curly fries which were ginormous haha but better be if we're paying OC/LA pricing ...so to be expected. So fun & cute to see all the dogs dressed up in their lemon fits (: Downside was parking was ridiculous. It was packed so very crowded so lines were a bit long here n there. Also if ya didn't find free parking (which was a long shot around the time we went) we had to pay $20 to park at the high school lol read more

Pros: free festival, lots of people coming to downtown Upland this weekend, hanging out, checking out the local businesses, fun people watching. I enjoyed the freshly squeezed lemonade and the grapefruit jelly I purchased. I enjoyed the company of my friend who checked out the festival with me. My friend commented that we normally don't hang out in downtown Upland, and there are some inviting looking restaurants, cafes, and shops to check out sometime. Cons: expensive parking ($20-30), WHERE ARE THE LEMONS???, too loud and crowded, pretty much a mini LA County Fair without any of the cool exhibits. The main issue is the misnomer: you hear lemon festival and you kind of expect lots of cuisine that is lemon-focused. Like at a garlic or lobster festival. Maybe it used to be, but not anymore. So as a first timer, rather disappointing. 2.5 read more

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Food was good but a little too pricey. Had a drawing from cartoons guy there. We had fun though !!! read more

Parking was horrible and expensive finally squeezed in a place on a residential area. Nothing really unusual most vendors besides food vendors was not good. Lots of people for such a small place but everyone was cool. Music was also good would like to see more lemon stuff besides lemonade. read more

Upland Lemon Festival - Picture stand - Festivals Near Me - Upland, California

hadn't been here in years, but decided to go since there wasn't much else to do. I was surprised by how many people attended. There were numerous arts and crafts vendors, food booths, and places serving alcohol, giving visitors plenty to see, try, and enjoy. There were also several rides that looked like a lot of fun, along with multiple stages featuring a variety of live music throughout the festival. My main concern was the overcrowding in certain areas, especially around the rides. At one point, a man fell, and many people didn't even notice because the crowd was so dense. It seemed like some attractions could have been spread out more evenly into less congested areas to improve traffic flow and make the event more comfortable for everyone. read more

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Where the lemon at? If hardly any lemon themed stuff why called lemon festival. The atmosphere was nice.

Stopped by on Sunday, 06/08/25 for the first time with my boyfriend. Parking can be tricky - you can either find one by luck for free or go somewhere to pay ($20). This 'festival' was okay - it just reminds me of the LA County Fair with same vendors we saw. read more

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My friend heard about the festival the day of and figured we didn't have much better to do on a Saturday evening. Traffic grew heavier the closer we neared downtown, and by sheer luck we found parking at the nearby post office. The festival was packed with people, though the streets were wide enough to maneuver around easily. Plenty of familiar fair foods like churros, funnel cakes, and corn dogs along with agua frescas and beer gardens. Carnival attractions such as fun houses, giant slides, and swing rides had families lining up and down the street. Most brick and mortar shops and restaurants along the route were also opened, even a dentist for some reason. A handful of vendors were really hawking unique interpretations of Labubus. On one end, there was a stage setup with a No Doubt cover band "No Duh", and then a few blocks down a DJ was playing the song "El Rey" that folks sang and danced along to. Overall, this was a fun local festival worth walking about with plenty of nightlife energy. read more

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This is an annual festival. This time it is a huge event. Lots of amusement rides, booth of different kinds such as food, bbq, jewelry and more. I was amazed with 3 different bands performing live in different areas. Great family event. The only setback was parking. Sooooo difficult. read more

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The festival is a misnomer because it isn't about lemons. The festival itself is a lemon. Parking - $30 or drive around town and find a spot about a mile away. The festival itself - generic, overpriced, unhealthy county fair type food. Nothing tantalizing. Booths selling junk such as tacky t-shirts and hats, and realtors that have a spin the wheel schtick and then give you some lame fridge calendar with their name on it. Lots of booze, but all low quality stuff. For the price of a nice craft cocktail in a sit-down restaurant, you can go here and get yourself a shot of low quality tequila or a michelada and stand in the heat drinking it. Lots of people and the space is very cramped and claustrophobic. While there are a lot of people, they just weren't my kind of crowd...I'm seeing lots of guys with face and neck tattoos, people walking around blowing their vape smoke everywhere. Just not my scene, but if it's yours, that's fine. And to reiterate what many reviewers have said; no lemons. This isn't like the Gilroy Garlic festival where garlic is king. If you like driving around looking for street parking and walking a mile to join a bunch of people in the summer heat to eat crappy "food," then you'll love it. Otherwise, it's a hard pass on this lemon of a festival. read more

Tombstone was fun. The chela's were exp $15 for 12 oz can and mix. $15, 20, and 30 dollar parking lots but lots of free parking if you don't mind walking .3 - 1 mile. Definitely felt safe with hired security and police close by and tons of barricades to protect pedestrians and vendors. No free lemon samples like culver city's. However, it was certainly similar to the LA County fair, enjoy! read more

Upland Lemon Festival - Used in 2025 stage map. (Ref. 2023 layout) - Festivals Near Me - Upland, California

It was a fun experience. A little pricey ... but fun just to be outside and listen to music..

It's the real deal. This place has exploded with vendors, music, and things to do since I was last here. The surge in popularity is evident. Fun enough times. Had to come early (at opening) before the masses showed up. Encourage you to do the same. Free public parking or else $20-$30 nearby Only downside was I was expecting to see more items "lemons". Still a great time though. Recommended read more

Upland Lemon Festival - Festivals Near Me - Upland, California

As a local I went here all the time growing up and used to love it. The past couple years it's been getting more and more corporate feeling after I think the LA county fair bought the rights to it? It's basically a tiny LA fair with expensive parking and no respect for the small businesses there all year round. This used to be about celebrating small businesses and supporting artists. Now it's a bunch of resellers and expensive fair food. read more

I saw enough lemon merch and food/drink infused with lemon that the name is fitting. It was ULTRA convenient to arrive via Metrolink. The train station is directly in historic downtown Upland. Thus, I didn't have to deal with the nightmare of finding parking. I liked that the rides were off to the left and that the kiddie rides were separate from the regular rides and games. There were reinforcements so it felt safe to be in an open space. I like that the stores took effort to incorporate lemons in their displays. Out of the many festivals I visit in Southern California, I was surprised to see many liquor vendors: tequila, whiskey, vodka, and beer tastings/booths. There were also many permanent jewelry vendors. The stages were far enough from each other and there were dance performers at the end of the street. Only downside for me was the woman that kept inching her way to the left and completely blocked my view of the dancing (all seats were occupied at the time I arrived). read more

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First time at the Upland Lemon Festival and I had a blast! The scenery was beautiful, the atmosphere was lively, and the crowd brought great energy. The rides were exciting, the food hit the spot, and even the ladies were outshining the lemonade. Only downside? The "no single riders" rule on some rides was kind of ridiculous, and overall it was a bit pricey. But HEY, when life gives you lemons... you head to the Lemon Festival read more

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Getting there was easy enough, parking not so much. The festival opened officially at 11AM, we were there at 12. We first checked the free parking lots close to downtown, they were full. There were some close but blocked off and you had to pay something like 20 bucks to park there?! I don't think so. So we ended up further away on another street. Admission was free, which is good if you have a bigger family, so you are not already broke by the time you go through the entrance. There were lots of rides, arts and crafts as well as food vendors, think .... Fries, ice cream, Teriyaki, cheese steak, BBQ, pupusas, tacos and more. BUT ... where were the lemons? It's the lemon festival and there was hardly anything lemon themed. I was expecting more like lemon pie, lemon cookies, lemon candies, even savory dishes incorporating lemons, some creative lemon drinks besides lemonade, more lemon themed decorations ... That was really disappointing. So instead of trying lots of lemon flavored items, we ended up with Philly cheesesteak ($20 bucks each?!) and two drinks from Rad Coffee. The coffee was good but the price for some of the food items was insane. Now, I don't expect it to be cheap at an event like this but what I saw, was wild. I think I saw another reviewer saying something about some single dishes of over 30 and 40 bucks. Say what?! Overall it was more of a county fair, than a lemon festival. Another thing that really needs improvement, are the maps provided on the website. They were too small, pixelated and not downloadable. read more

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Hardly anything with actual lemon... It's not really a lemon festival. It's more a a big community market with a couple of lemon decorations! read more

Why call it a lemon festival when there's nothing lemon themed besides a couple of lemonade stands? Since it's called a Lemon Fest you would think there would be lots of lemon themed treats right? Lemon tarts, lemon cake, lemon meringue pie, lemon cookies, lemon ice cream, lemon shots? Nothing but lots of overpriced carnival & junk food. What a disappointment. read more

I have lived here in the City of Upland for over 23 years now. Coming to this downtown Upland area during the Lemon Festival is what intrigued me to live in this area. It has definitely changed over the years. Many vendors here. It is a family pass down to come here as my younger daughter came here all three days this year. She took me here on Sunday, which was Father's Day!!! We had some frozen pink lemonade and mini cinnamon pretzel bites from the Wetzel's Pretzels food truck. I love walking around and looking at all the crafts and different things you can buy. We bought a Minnie Mouse hat for my 3 year old granddaughters upcoming birthday party! Next, we bought asada nachos from another food vendor. It was a good portion for $20, which my daughter and I shared. Steep cost, but really good. We definitely were full. The highlight of our going to this Festival was our friend Michelle played on one of the stages there. The band she is in is called the Skinny Ties. They played and sang a cool set of 80's songs, which brought me back some younger memories. My daughter and I had had a blast here as I was truly blessed this Father's Day Weekend! Can't wait to come back here next year!!! read more

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Good for watching people get drunk, sneak in items and get in extreme danger of assault. The only good parts is the food. Really overpriced tickets. And we need some more quality checks becuase I got a item that has mold on it read more

Event was free admission and free street parking. It was a fun day with a lot to do and see. A lot of choices of food vendors, albeit somewhat pricey. There's also a lot of entertainment for kids. read more

Upland Lemon Festival - Festivals Near Me - Upland, California

Great fun for the family. Friends this festival was so nice. The layout was amazing. The booths and stands were so pretty. You could see that they were very proud small business owners. We wandered around for a few hours and loved the Old Town feel of Upland. The festival sits in a great little area. Plenty of parking and tons of fun shops to explore outside of the booths. We found ourselves wanting food, and this is my only complaint. A lot of the stands removed the prices from their menu. They had no prices posted which was so sketchy. Literally was told an icecream sandwich was 25.00. Hmmmm..nope. We ended up with dole whip, brownies, cookies, popcorn and a teriyaki bowl. Thanks to the booths that were honest with pricing. That practice brought down the whole feel of the festival. Food vendors should not Price Gauge. Be fare and people will buy your food. Other than dishonest food vendors, this was a nice event that we will definitely visit next year. read more

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The annual Lemon Festival in Upland, CA, is fun for the entire family. My favorite is all the food vendors and live music throughout. This year we had so many carnival rides and vendors that spread over several blocks. Parking was a little hassle but we were able to find a spot near by in no time. read more

Upland Lemon Festival - Lots of food clothes and goods vendors! A few music bands throughout too - Festivals Near Me - Upland, California

a free 'concerts in the park' like festival with several stages for band performances. hard to find street parking though, unless you don't mind $20 parking fee. I was expecting more 'lemon' products but only saw 2 booths selling lemonades. There were mostly (2/3) food/drink stalls/booths than products (clothing) booths. we browsed through the booths/stalls and zigzags all the aisles but we're finished about 1.5 hours w/o buying food/drinks. read more

There's nothing LEMON about this festival! Like many have already mentioned, it was a lot of alcohol and people just sitting or standing around. There were plenty of vendors there, but I didn't see a lot of folks with shopping bags either. It was definitely crowded, but it was not a very fun crowd. It didn't feel very family-oriented to me at all, it was hot and humid through the streets, super stuffy (even though it was set outdoors!). Parking was ridiculous, trying to get people to pay insane prices for parking. I parked about a mile away to avoid all of that. Food selection was overpriced such as tacos, burgers, tappanyaki, and lots of beer and alcohol. There were some food trucks, but way overpriced. Didn't even get to see everything because no idea where the vendors were. There was an event map on their website but it was so pixelated, so you couldn't tell what's what. Ended up leaving early, didn't purchase anything from this event. I really thought this was going to be about lemon cakes, pies, fresh lemonade kind of event, and it unfortunately did not turn out that way. There's so many other drinking events and bars people can go to - this shouldn't have been themed that way. They need a new organizer for next year's Lemon Festival. read more

Games were very fun and affordable. Food a little pricey but delicious. Awesome music and many vendors. I think it's very fun, I just wish they had some sort of map or better organization because we were looking for specific vendors we saw would be there but couldn't find them. Everyone was spread out every where which was cool but we ended up finding cool things towards the end and people were already closing up. read more

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A small version of the county fair. Family friendly and a fun way to spend a couple hours. However, I would not call this a Lemon Festival. Besides lemonade, none of the booths sold anything lemon flavored. I was expecting different lemon treats and food but nope. Nothing. read more

This festival keeps getting larger and larger every year. Parking can be a pain if you want the free parking. There was supposed to be free parking at the city hall lot but there was a group there charging folks. They seemed very shady. There are a lot of food options so go hungry. Can't say the same about the beer though. Stupid heineken booths have shitty lineup and that's all that's available for walking around with at the festival grounds. Luckily there is a liquor store within walking distance that sell local crafts. read more

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Just an expensive swap meet with very little related to lemons. We went yesterday and it was more like a mini LA Fair with surprisingly expensive food offerings. $24 for a single turkey leg, and upwards, small grilled cheese sandwiches from $18 for plain to $32 for one blessed with a tiny piece of lobster. My personal favorite is the 1, 2 or 3 item combo from the 760 Teppanyaki Japanese food truck: $27, $37 and $47. I'm not kidding, look at the pic of the menu board. It wasn't even large enough to share between two people. Yikes! read more

Upland Lemon Festival - 760 Teppanyaki Food Truck Awful proud of their food truck meals served in a small plastic tray. $47 for a small 3 item plate?! - Festivals Near Me - Upland, California

I went on the final day of the Lemon Festival,I was raining for about an hour an half,the ambiance was very family friendly environment and great for date nights ,my only complaint is that rides looked highly unsafe as that they weren't any way of securing them to the floor but besides that it's a fun time. read more

Upland Lemon Festival - Festivals Near Me - Upland, California

Was driving back towards LA and I had seen that the Upland Lemon Festival was going on. The wife and I decided to stop by and had a great time. They had several blocks of vendors and other exhibits but we got to the stage to see Led Zepagain as they were playing Stairway to Heaven; we never left! We did grab a couple of beers while we were listening to the band and on the way out we did stop for some lemon cookies [of course], kettle corn and a funnel cake. We happen to get parking across the street near the theater and the crowds were pretty mellow. read more

Upland Lemon Festival - Led Zepagain - Festivals Near Me - Upland, California

This people were in Huntington Beach, I don't why my revived says " upland lemon festival" but they are rude staff, like my kids owe them something. Over priced drinks that are water down in a medium cup. $13 dollars! That's insane. I only paid since my kids had grab the drinks from them having them sitting in the sun for while. I went to a location that made me feel like I can trust this people, in the end when I had made the mistake of trusting them I notice they had no prices posted, and then found out they were rude to my family because they were asking for a fresh cup out of the jar they had. Good thing I didn't order food. Won't recommend this place at all, they don't just want your money. Didn't take a picture of the stand. But they were selling Mexican food with "horchata, strawberry and pineapple " drinks. read more

Upland Lemon Festival - There won't be a next time! - Festivals Near Me - Upland, California

Upland lemon festival! there were no crafts with lemons there wasnt any anyone selling lemon trees or plants. It was all food trucks food trucks, food trucks. The stores were open, but nothing to do with lemons. I couldn't find the lemon pie the strawberry pie. I did not find anything of that sort. They had rides and food trucks food trucks, food trucks, your typical carnival lemonade you get around plus they had rides for kids other than that nothing to do with the lemon festival so very disappointed if you want to park nearby $20, which is a waste because you won't be staying that long unless you're eating at every food truck literally nothing there!! WHERES THE LEMONS??? 2024 horrible. Actually looking for a wreath lemons crafts etc. Why on tv showed lemon pie n strawberry pie lemon cookies MUST BEEN IN A RESTAURANT Crazy you need to go asking WHERE ARE THE LEMONS. only lemons i seen were stickers on store windows or a few hanging around on FOOD TRUCKS‍ disappointed. Took a few pictures but that was my high light of the day sad!! I think i know i have more lemons at home. read more

Very fun but the rides are sometimes terrifying but that the way I like rides recommend

The Upland Lemon Festival was better than we expected! Lots of vendors! Live music in several areas. Not so much "Lemon" specific... and lemonade was crazy expensive, $12 or $13 each!!!!! BUT, cool upbeat environment! My husband and I enjoyed the atmosphere. read more

When life gives you lemons, you make a festival! Upland killed it for this year's Lemon Festival, April 26-28th, 2019. I stopped by on the final day, and Downtown Upland was popping! What makes the Upland Lemon Festival so great? It's an awesome affordable weekend trip for the family! Entry is free, and there is a variety of free parking surrounding Downtown Upland. The festival is split between several sections: food/vendors, live entertainment/stages, and rides. Food is always my favorite, and the Lemon Festival was no exception. My first stop was Rad Coffee to try their newest festival addition, the Lemon Churro. The LC is a cinnamon sugar blend, with vanilla lemon, and topped with cinnamon powder.. and oh my god, is it good! I'm ready to petition Rad to add this to their every day menu. For a meal I stopped by Chubs BBQ for a Chicken Sandwich, which came with potato salad and baked beans. This was absolutely delicious, and probably the best potato salad I've ever tasted. My only complaint was the $2 charge to use a card instead of cash. The stages have a variety of live activities, including: pie eating contests, dances, and local school performances. There are also ride packages available for $20, which include 6 ride tickets! Definitely worth the trip, especially since it's free! You can easily make a day of people watching and exploring the shops of Downtown Upland. read more

Why does one come to a lemon festival? Because you love lemons!! As a lemon aficionado, I was pretty dang excited for this free event. But the title & marketing for this event are incredibly misleading. There's barely any lemon presence at all. I first heard of it this year after seeing a segment on KTLA - the Upland mayor promoted the festival with a table full of sweet & savory lemon treats, products, & decor. The website also boasted loads of lemon vendors. Getting there/Parking: open lots nearby had ridiculous "$30 parking" signs. The event is free, but after parking & food/drink costs this becomes an expensive outing. Hard to find since the site didn't list an address that you could enter into Google maps, & parking lots were not visible clearly on the map. We navigated to the metro station & found street parking. I'm sure the residents of the neighborhood dread this event each year. The Festival: walking in, we saw no evidence of this being a lemon festival. It seemed more like walking into the county fair. Some vendors had yellow tablecloths & buckets of fake lemons to decorate, & scattered around were some random props to take pictures. But otherwise, it was hundreds of vendors selling clothes, jewelry, trinkets, housewares, toys, food, etc. Yes, if they restricted vendors to lemon-themed ones only, they'd have very few vendors. But I thought at least they'd have vendors try to match the theme. Or decorate to make it seem like being in a lemon festival - lemon tree/fruit decorations, perhaps the smell of lemon in the air, more activities/demos: lemonade making contest? Make a candle out of half a citrus? Bake off? Having babies or little kids try their first lemon? How many lemons can an adult eat? Presentation on types/hybrids of lemons/citrus (pomelo, lemonquat, Meyer, Buddha's hand, Bearss, pink lemons...?) I certainly didn't expect all the booths for law offices, insect exterminators, dental offices, insurance agencies, lash shops, car companies, and other out of place booths that I saw. They only seemed to clutter the event. It seemed safe though.I saw security and cops within the festival. There were families & people of all ages. Organization: the festival spans a large area, & we wandered up & down streets until we would reach a blockade that indicated the end of the pedestrian zone. I didn't see a map anywhere, like the one online, & I was really hoping to see one with interesting lemon food vendors listed. I don't know if we even walked the whole festival - once we walked 3 blocks it became quite obvious that each area was about the same. Each section had an equally disorganized, random amount of lemon-unrelated businesses, small vendors selling items, & some food trucks. One of us asked a vendor at a Citrus booth if we were missing something - this event didn't seem lemon related - & she agreed, saying it just seemed like a fair. Which is fine, it's still a fun event, but at least I wouldn't have traveled so far to get my hopes up & be disappointed. I did like that it was in the downtown area, so the streets were filled with vendors in the middle & shops on both sides to browse. I also didn't see a schedule posted anywhere - multiple stages, but I couldn't say who was performing where at what time, & what was happening in between. Food: I drove 1 hour from OC mainly for the food. Disappointed. Besides lemonade (optionally flavor with Torani syrup), a lemon churro booth, & Dole whip, I didn't see many lemon products. I also thought they might have a food sampler type pass: pay X dollars to get Y tickets, use tickets to buy small quantities of food from different vendors. At the prices posted for each vendor, you wouldn't be able to buy more than 1-3 items. But if there were unique bites & people just wanted a taste, a sampler pass would be the best way to go. I expected interesting lemon cocktails (not canned Deep Eddy vodka soda sold for a ridiculously expensive price), lemon pastries, candied citrus, garlic lemon fries, interesting varieties of fresh lemons/citrus from local growers, limoncello, lemon gelato/sorbet, lemon tea, lemon cheese, candy, etc. Many of the food trucks included typical fair food: fried stuff, elote, BBQ, pizza, roasted corn, funnel cakes, Mexican food, hot dogs...I know they don't specialize in lemon dishes. But I thought adding a bit of a lemon twist or zest would have added a bit to the experience. I ended up buying a lemon churro from a taco place for $5, which was yummy. But otherwise, I saw nothing lemon-inspired that I felt was worth my money, especially since the prices there were super high. If you're looking for something to do in Upland, it's not a bad event. But don't expect too much lemon or citrus flavors, bring your extra funds for the overpriced food and drink. Possibly utilize the Metro or other options to avoid ridiculous parking fees. read more

As a down town upland resident I find this festival annoying! Having having to park 6 blocks away from my home because carnival rides are taking up the parking lots or I need to pay $20 dollars a night for closer parking.. when I already paid for my yearly parking permit!!! Then I walk out my building and there's debris everywhere very disgusting.. it would be nice if they could be more considerate with the people who live here it's not cool having to walk 6+ blocks carrying groceries and a baby just to get home. read more

Pucker up, lemons are sweet and sour. This is my first year attending this event. I went on Friday when they opened at 3pm. Parking was easy because I beat the rush. There were still many people there this early. The fair is wheelchair accessible and there was even a handicap portable restroom. Many of the local businesses were open along with all the booths. All of the businesses and booths were decorated in lemon fashion. My favorite coffee shop, Rad coffee , had a special on lemon bars and "hard lemonade". There were many booths ; crafts, art , food , alcohol, novelty items, health care, makeup, clothing , plants, gardening, gym, bikes, spas, and an area of "garage sale" type items . There was a craft area for kids and fair type rides and games. I did not play the games or go on the rides, but I watched people doing both and they were having fun. There were plenty of event staff, police, security, firemen, and emergency personnel on hand. I felt very safe. The live entertainment was very enjoyable. They had two different stages on opposite ends of the fair. I was disappointed with some of the food that I chose to purchase. The lemon cookies from the cookie booth were kinda dry for a $3 cookie. The cinnamon bun with lemon frosting tasted like they baked everything the day before and heated it up. The corn cob was great , but you can't mess that up unless you burn the corn. I would have tried more , but I was ready pass out from too much sugar and walking. read more

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