Beautiful day to enjoy a local Rhode Island Festival! Over…read more100 Talented local crafters and artists, very diverse giftware, jewelry, ceramics, clothing and more. Wide assortment of food venders, Blue Grotto, brick oven pizza, fried pickles(yum) and sandwiches. Also lots of things for the kiddos, I spotted hula hoop contests, face painting and matchbox car races Well worth the trip. Great location, easy to find!

Part of the Festival Fete circuit, East Greenwich hosted its 2nd Arts Fest this past weekend. I…read morelove these kinds of festivals: ones that highlight the talent of local artists. This festival was no different. I'm guessing there were about 50 vendors varying from local honey and soaps to jewelry, woodworking, and painting. With the addition of some food stalls and Big Nazo, this was a great way to end the summer. I actually found that the artists at this festival were more reasonably priced than other similar festivals in the Providence or Boston area. I do wish that Festival Fete kept their website up to date. As of today the website has the poster from last year which caused confusion, as the festival happened on the 3rd last year instead of this year, where it was the 1st & 2nd. I hope that people don't show up tomorrow hoping to see some art. They will be disappointed. As it was, we almost turned around when I was checking the website for the address thinking that we were a day early. Luckily my friend took the time to check out their facebook page to see that it was really today.

The October Waterfire showcases Breast Cancer Awareness…read more The Flames of Hope is an event that comprises several different segments, one of them is the Waterfire event, which includes the Illuminations of Life Ceremony and Torch Procession. The celebration also takes place in Station Park for food, a free concert, dancing and family-fun activities. There are also two ticketed events to help further support the Foundation--the VIP Pink Party and the Taste of Hope Food and Wine Tasting. The Waterfire event is free to attend. Lots of beautiful torches and dancing at the Waterplace park stage.

The only things to do at this "feast" are to walk around (shoulder to shoulder like cattle), drink…read moreoverpriced Budweiser/Madeira wine, and maybe watch some band from the late 1990s that 99% of the population has forgotten about. If you call overspending for food and drink that you can get all year round and for way cheaper, fun, they by all means. Go have a "fun" time.

What a wonderful event! It is packed every year with families and friends. It feels like a…read morehigh-school reunion at times. The food is delicious, the wine is yummy, but be careful, it's strong! I have gone every year since I was a child. Four stages of entertainment, carnival rides for the kids and a parade on Sunday. Parking lots are available but you can also just park along the side streets around the several block event!

So this is a spot that I was asked to come to to meet and decorate cars for a birthday parade for a…read morelittle girl. Her grandmother had put something on Facebook asking people if they would join the parade because their family is from other states. So I was happy to do it. Next week is my grandson's birthday parade and I know that he will have a lot of friends and family in the parade so it really hit home. I can't imagine being in this pandemic away from family almost completely. I have family in different parts of the country and some that I haven't seen in over a year and it's very hard so I was sympathetic. But this is also the place that has the Portuguese festival in August which is wonderful. They have a carnival with rides and games. Portuguese food that is homemade is served and it is wonderful. They also sell drinks and beer and have entertainment. Parking for the feast can be kind of tricky but there are back roads here that you can go and park on and walk down. They also have the traditional parade down Main Street and it's just a very nice old fashion traditional religious feast. Of course this past summer we did not attend because of the pandemic there was no feast. It was really disappointing but there were still people out with their Portuguese flags in front of their homes. They had their homes decorated and they really did their best to keep the spirit of the feast. I hope that we will be able to celebrate with them next year.

West Warwick boasts a large Portuguese community, with several social clubs. Over Labor Day…read moreWeekend, they hold a four-day extravaganza, led by the Portuguese Holy Ghost Society. I've heard or read many different names for this celebration - which includes a feast, carnival, concerts and parades - but for the sake of brevity, many locals simply call it the "Portuguese Lala" (I'm not Portuguese, so I have no idea what that means). The focal point of activity is the Portuguese Holy Ghost Society's complex, which, beginning Friday, Aug. 31, was the site of carnival rides, concerts and food concessions. Admission to the festival grounds and concert was free and open to the general public. On Saturday, my wife and I saw Dirty Deeds, an AC/DC tribute band, and they were awesome, both looking and sounding like the original band. My wife remarked that it was entertaining to see people of our generation acting like they were in their early 20s again. In order to buy food or beer, you purchase tickets, and then redeem them. Sunday's events included a parade (procession) in the morning, followed by an auction later in the day, and the Parade of Lights at night, with participants throwing candy from floats. My family watched the parade on East Main Street, near Providence Street, as Town Councilman Jay Messier recorded the event and pumped up the crowd. We later watched fireworks from a parking lot near the town's public works garage. All in all, it's a lot of entertainment for little or no money, and also an opportunity to sample some Portuguese food.

The Dighton Arts Festival is an annual event, in its eleventh year at the time of this review,…read moresponsored by the Dighton Lions Club. It is held the first Sunday in November at the Araujo Farms and Greenhouses in Dighton, MA. Dighton... Dighton... Dighton According to the website, their mission is a wholesome one... "to provide a place where local and regional artists and crafters can display and sell their work in a family-oriented environment that encourages artists and crafters of all ages and promotes interest in the arts in our community." I really couldn't sum it up better myself. Araujo Farms is a unique environment to hold this festival. Interconnected greenhouses provide shelter for a plethora of artists and crafters. This year there was a wide variety of exhibitors selling jewelry, photographs, flags, soaps, floral arrangements, hats, quilts, candles, jams, sea glass, wooden toys, porcelain, woodburnings, embroidery, and so much more!! There were beer and wine tastings, a raffle, a food vendor, children's game/crafting areas, tractor and truck exhibits, music, and theater. The Dighton-Rehoboth Marching Band, Elementary School Chorus, and Middle School Flute Ensemble all played. I ran into a number of familiar faces... which is easy to do when it comes to town events such as this. Teachers, friends, family. The reason this wasn't a five star event? The lot at the farms fills up fast so there is free parking at the Auto Auction with shuttle service to the festival grounds. In past years, school buses accomplished this. I was disappointed this year in the length of the wait to jump in the small shuttle vans that were provided. One of my friends that met me there said she almost left because the line for the shuttle was so horrendously long when she arrived. They also need better ventilation in the grill area. I stepped into that particular greenhouse to be met with a noticeable smoky haze. To top it off... they ran out of hamburgers in the seemingly early afternoon. I settled for a hotdog instead. Parents of children participating in the staged events seemed lost and perturbed by the bottlenecks that some of the walkways through the greenhouses created. Overall it is a wonderful event and one worth visiting... just some kinks to work out for their coming twelfth year.

In 2023, Bristol, Rhode Island celebrated their 238th July 4th parade. The oldest Independence Day…read moreparade in the country. ​The Annual Bristol 4th of July Celebration began in 1785 when Rev. Henry Wight of the First Congregational Church and a Veteran of the Revolutionary War conducted the first Patriotic Exercises. It is not known exactly when the Parade started but it is thought that it evolved from the procession of community members walking to Patriotic Exercises. The Parade, the Military, Civic and Firemen's Parade, is believed to have begun in the early 1800's. People can set up chairs or blankets along the parade route starting at 5am on the day of the event. Our friends Paul and MaryAnn invited us to their place (which is on the parade route) and we got first row exposure to this iconic parade. Many groups from the military, civic groups, political groups and bands were present. It rained a bit at the beginning but it cleared soon after. We luckily had chairs under a tree and we basically had no weather issues whatsover. After the parade we had lunch with our friends. Trying to leave Bristol right after the parade will mean a long long traffic jam. We left about 2 hours after the parade finished and it took us about 35 minutes to get back to Providence, instead of the usual 25 min car ride. Nice way to celebrate Independence Day. Bristol had their fireworks on July 3rd.

Loved being a part of the parade this year! It's such a great community event. Everyone was so…read morespirited. If you have a float in the parade, check the time you are scheduled to depart and show up an hour before. We ended up waiting for four hours in the heat. They only suggestion for change I would make is to bring lots and lots of water and snacks. Lots of the vendors were out of food by the time our float got to go. On top of that the water stations were out of water. The poor people at the end of the parade were dying with heat exhaustion. Definitely need more hydration stations next year.

What a great venue to show off all of the local arts and crafts. The place was packed full of…read moreunique items and colorful folks. This was a great event sponsored in part by Yelp. I am really glad to have participated. I do have to agree with the other review on the prices. They were a little on the up side for some of the booths...but there were barges to be had. And, as I found out, some were willing to negotiate. But in the end, it is the free market. If they are not finding buyers, they will lower their pricing expectations. --Down side alert--- So I must make my other comments though. They do charge 3$/person to go in. Of course they tell you it is a donation, but you are not getting in with out paying. So it is going to a good cause I am sure I hear you saying. Maybe, but it is also money you can no longer spend inside with the people selling their wares and crafts. And when you have to pay for a family of 4 or 5, it eats into the out flow. Lastly, this is a great venue and a wonderful opportunity to gussy up that side of Garden City. Rumor had it though that they are about to tear down the building and put up a new Walmart. Say it isn't so....!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It is bad enough that this state is not business friendly, but the businesses it is friendly to (or can afford to be friendly) are not really the ones we want.

Unfortunately I was working this event so I didn't get to look around too much. I heard about all…read morethe nice, quality things that were there. Can't wait for next year!

I go every year and the food is just amazon people are so super friendly and kids games are old…read moreschool but super fun for the kids will keep on going .

1st time visiting this Polish festival, won't ever go back. The food was so BAD! Food was cold and…read morelacked seasoning. I am not Polish but can make more flavorful golumpki and plotki. It was the worse plotki I have ever had freezing cold, no seasoning, and they ran out of sour cream. There was not a 1 polish dessert, instead there were ordinary brownies and smores cups. There was no pride and love in the food. Sad.