This was our second time coming to the Strawberry Festival. The last time we went was 8-10 years…read moreago. We enjoyed ourselves each time. Tips: Arrive first thing when they open to avoid traffic and finding a spot to park. They have several different lots to choose from - some will shuttle you or others are a short walk. We chose the lot with the short walk. Bring cash for this - it's $5. Arriving early allows you to walk around to each of the vendors before it gets slammed just to check things out. Lines for food started early, so if you think about having lunch at 12, be prepared for long lines. We had no issues with vendors accepting credit card or cash. Bring water. We brought our hydroflask filled with water and ice which was nice because it gets warm fast. What I love: That each vendor had at least one menu item featuring strawberries - whether it is a dessert or a meal. If you love strawberries like me, you can find a lot of great items to fill you up! Look forward to it again next year, it's a great time!

AMAZING fun time for the whole family! Great food selection from many LOCAL food establishments…read morethat have their own trucks. A standard set of faire food too... YES on the FUNNEL CAKE! A good set of rides for kids aged 8-12 years old. Prices are carnival-level... not cheap... but understandable. LOTS of lawn and grass areas to hang out. LOTS of police and safety folks very visible. All the tent vendors are in the shade, so it was easy and nice to walk around and visit them out from the sun. LOTS of toilets... AND a physical toilet building for those that dont like the plastic portable toilets. There is a NEW kids area they built in the park and they had it fenced in so the kids would not be running away and out of parent control, it was like a mini-day-care. Excellent selection of local and appropriate music to listen to that was at appropriate volume levels to be able to enjoy. Parking was difficult, but there were bus shuttles to the local school that ran every few minutes, so that was helpful. They had a classic car show, that was fun to walk around. I think they should have had more 'competition' style activities.

This festival just continues to grow each year! I genuinely love checking out Festival in the Park…read moreevery single year, because there's always something new to see. There's probably hundreds of vendors at this point, from food, drinks, desserts, artists, charities, jewelry. I mean there's SO much to see at this festival! My favorite part about it is the live music. My friends and I always bring a blanket and just come lay out there and enjoy the live band. This year it was actually the same singer as last year and she was great!!! Love her voice and she always sings upbeat songs everyone knows. It's always a whole vibe. We grab food and bring our own cooler and just pick a spot up on the hill and enjoy. That's exactly what we did this year too. For food I couldn't decide what I wanted so I kinda settled for a gyro and it was pretty good, all things considered. The fries we great though! Nice to have so many food options available though. I'll continue to come to this festival year after year!! Definitely a lifetime fan.

I enjoy FITP every year. The variety of vendors lets me purchase items I can't find in my weekly…read morejourneys. It's great to find something I've never seen before. I stopped by a cookie vendor, deliciousness! However, the food lines are typically ridiculously long. Not my speed. There should be a vendor who sells water only for one price. Parking is a task and requires a lot of patience. It may help to catch a ride and skip parking altogether.

We love going to the Greek festival and enjoying the food and dancing. The food is delicious and…read moremade fresh!!

After hearing about the Yiasou Greek Fedtival for years, my husband and I finally decided to…read moreventure to South End to see what it was all about. I can tell you that parking was one of my biggest deterrents in going. But I found three parking garages just a little over a half mile from the festival, making parking a non-issue with just a short walk - * Design Center garage - 240 Doggett St, $8 all day Sat & Sun * 100 West Worthington garage - $10 all day Sat & Sun * 110 East Blvd garage - $5 all day Sat & Sun We went early on Saturday, just after they opened. There are festival rides for the little ones, vendors/crafts, dancers and musical performers, tours, and of course, food. I was a little disappointed with the crafts. Other than the couple of vendors selling sterling silver items, most of the jewelry seemed of the quick-to-tarnish variety. I wasn't interested in purchasing any clothing, but they also had olive oil, Greek knick-knacks and home goods, and honey vendors. We decided against getting lunch there and headed straight for dessert, with the baklava sundae. This desert is HUGE, and my husband and I easily shared one. The topping was plentiful, and the ice cream was of high quality. Most of the "staff" working there are volunteers. I know this event takes a village to pull off, and we were impressed overall with the efficiency of the entire operation. While we didn't stay long, the baklava sundae alone will probably bring us back every year!

Oh what memories! Back in the 1980's and early 1990's, this festival was called Stumptown Festival…read more Just before I was born (in the 1970's), my parents, older sister and brother lived mere blocks from here and would walk to the parade then the festival and walk through the booths. Eventually, they moved a few miles away, then my younger sister, and all 6 of us would come to the parade, then walk through the area with booths carefully avoiding the ride area as my parents could not afford to let us ride any of them, or buy the food. Fast forward to my teenage years in late 1980's, early 1990's, where we would come with friends, ride the rides, go through the booth area, buy all we wanted. My last actual time I was able to walk through the entire festival was back in 2003, when I came down to help my mother after a surgery. My last trip to Charlotte (Labor Day weekend 2018), I dragged my parents here on the Sunday. We were early-ish. We walked through some of it, but were unable to enjoy the full affect as they were still opening. This is a small town festival that is fairly inexpensive to do. Homemade items for sale. Some of the booths with items for sale are in the elementary school, which has been updated since the last time I was here. There are stages with live music, and other entertainment. A great time to be had by all. I did not get many pictures of my own as I was busy chatting with my parents, but check out the links below. Parking can be difficult at best. Crowds can be thick in places. For more information: https://www.matthewsalive.org/ https://www.facebook.com/MatthewsAlive

It was 7PM. I'd just gotten my car back (I have it on Turo, which is basically Airbnb, but with…read morecars). Having been in the house all day, I hadn't been able to keep my streak going on Pokémon Go! This being an inscrutable state of affairs, I decided that, instead of driving home, I'd head to one of my main Pokémoning sites: downtown Matthews. I arrived, parking as I do most often in the library/town hall parking lot (small town = multi-use public buildings. The court house in chapel hill is also the post office for example). I takedown all of the gyms in the area, set my guys in them, and then go Pokémon walking. To my pleasant surprise, the legendary gym I was walking to happened to fall smack-dab in the middle of a whole festival! I'm never one to turn down the opportunity at giant smoked turkey legs and deep fried Oreos - both of which are available at multiple vendors along the main walk - so I decide to stop Pokémoning for the moment and take in the event. Live music is a wonderful thing, and they have an entire soundstage set up just for it. The genre of choice seems to be bad country, which ain't my bag, baby, so I keep it moving. I recommend going at night. There are few things in life as immediately disarming as neon lights against an ebony sky, especially when those lights signal funnel cake and rides. Oh yeah, there are carnival rides in full effect. All the good hurlers, too. The ones that make your kids sick. The ones from which memories are built. Anywho, so there I am, hunting for the best giant smoked turkey leg, when I catch the Devine odor of cured pork fat. I know this can only mean one thing: bacon. There's a vendor that wraps everything in bacon. EVERYTHING. IN. BACON. I had bacon wrapped BBQ. That's right, I was in pigception. And it was glorious. I also had a pretty decent crabcake sammich (bun as set dressing only, I swear) and I cheated a bit, and got a refreshing frozen blueberry lemonade. I didn't stay long, but what I saw left a good taste in my mouth (literally and figuratively). Then I went back to catching all the Pokémon, so, you know, I was productive.

Hands down, the BEST beer festival in the Charlotte / Rock Hill area. This is THE yearly festival…read moreto attend. If you are going to attend one beer fest with Cider and live music, Beertopia is it. End of story , drop the mic. Attend every year.

Beertopia is the unofficial kick-off event for beer week and is amongst several events being held…read morethroughout the week. This was my first official Beerfest and I cannot tell you how excited I was to attend. We even purchased our tickets in January to ensure we were not sidelined. We got to Baxter Village early and got pretty good parking. Our first stop was Six Pence where we headed for a bite to eat. After filling our tummies with some Irish fare we strolled over to Grapevine around 1pm. There was a line already snaking the building but after the VIPs entered, we were among the first dozen in line. Two o'clock came. Armed with my husband as the photo/camera man and my red notebook, we eagerly entered. I was like a kid in a candy shop. It was pleasantly overwhelming. We hit the rear of the event first thinking most partakers would try brew vendors at the front first. Considering that 1,300 tickets were sold, it didnt seem all that crowded. In fact, the long lines that some spoke of from previous years were really maybe five deep: MAX. I hit over two dozen breweries, talked beer and even took a slight break in just under 2 hours. People are friendly to the extent of wanting to be in our pics and those manning the taps were knowledgeable and willing to engage in beer convo! With my redbook, pencil, and eagerness to know MORE.... there was a moment at Bell's Brewery while I was asking pertinent questions that my husband backed up to take a pic. It must have looked important because some of their employees pushed the crowd just a little farther to allow him to take the perfect shot. Maybe, they thought I was a reporter; I'm not, but I do review beers with a passion. Overall, great time. Definitely a must if one is a lover of quality beer. No bud light, heineken, or Corona fans please. Next beerfest: Wear a necklace of pretzels, recon the event, and select a dozen brews to try and rate. Otherwise, one will go crazy. Craft beer should be enjoyed not chugged.

My brother and I had a really fun time. It's different but in a fun and crazy way. Great for…read morefamilies with kids.

Great time here at the music yard to see one of my fave EdM artists. Such a cool venue ! Open air…read more and they have seating and of course mostly standing , which we did for the 3 hour set. Luckily we found parking at the venue. They have a couple of bar set ups. It's easily accessible off south blvd. No food but plenty of places around the venue. I would come back here anytime for an outdoor concert as it's low key and small enough where you feel part of the concert from anywhere.

This was my first time here and we had a wonderful time! The had a very immersive plot line mystery…read moreand a tasty dinner to go along with the story. A very nice experience worth coming back again!

Absolutely beautiful venue with very comfortable seating -- it never felt crowded. Everything was…read moreincredibly well organized and ran smoothly, making the entire experience enjoyable from start to finish. The show was fantastic, professionally executed, and the actresses were truly outstanding with their incredible dancing and singing. Highly recommend!

Smaller than the Boplex but a nice size for a concert. There was plenty of people wearing yellow…read morejackets to direct you from one area toward another. ( crowd control) They definitely don't want you to carry a large handbag so leave that in the car or home. They have people walking around asking what type of bag do you have. They will offer you a small plastic bag to substitute ( what they deem acceptable) Other than that the experience was pleasurable!!!

Ladies make sure you carry a clear bag. If you want to carry a bigger bag, carry a non-clear bag…read morebecause there is a size limit (4X3)...super tiny. The sound system was ok. There aren't any drink holders behind the chairs. If you sit closer to the walls, your entire row pretty much has to stand up to let you out. Overall,I had a good time at the Bald Brothers Comedy show. Parking wasn't too bad. I will say the lighting in the parking lots could be better. It was very dark.