The views are just unbeatable! Shout out to Paradiso for naming the festival after what it felt…read morelike. This wasn't my first rodeo for a festival so I could definitely appreciate the fact that compared to others, it was not crowed at all! There was a lot of food and drink options and of course the music was on point. Make sure to bring something to cover your nose though! There's a lot of dust that gets kicked up and you'll wake up the next morning with black boogies!

I bought my granddaughters ticket. She loved it. I would definitely let your kids go to it.read more

After moving here a few months ago we found the tamales were often a favorite when we went to…read moreMexican restaurants. As such, I made a comment one day that there should be a tamale Festival. To our great delight, we found that there had been 12 prior and that this year would be celebrating the 13th one! We mosied on down on a Saturday afternoon, with some friends in tow. We found an amazing meeting of some of the most delicious Mexican food we've had since time started. The event is held a long one of the main streets in downtown Wapato and encompassed about three blocks worth of real estate. The different stands where everything from local favorites, two food trucks, two people making tamales as part of fundraisers for different organizations. Many of the places also served street style tacos, Indian tacos and one guy was even roasting some boss looking chicken One of the stands with selling a number of different beverages including Horchata, strawberry lemonade and a number of different juices, each one of which we sampled was delicious. I'll food items range between a dollar and five dollars, with most of them being in $1.50 range. Everything we had here was good and it was really nice to be able to move around from stand to stand, sampling the different tamales. By the end of the afternoon we doll eaten roughly the Weight of one of our arms in tamales, and it was so good! The DJ that was in the center of the festival did a great job keeping things lightly, and while we didn't stay for the voting, I believe there was a best of show type event. The only thing that would make this better is if there were a king or queen of tamales crowned, and it included any and everyone from the community. Based on the offerings that were available, I would imagine that the stuff that people make at home in the area is absolutely mind blowing. Well worth checking out in something that we will be planning on going to on a yearly basis!

Bass Canyon located in the Gorge Amphitheater was absolutely breathtaking at morning and night!…read moreThis rave is perfect for my fellow Headbangers, Kandi kids, Bass Babes, and Wooks! We bought their Terrace Camping Package & Box Cliff House VIP admission!! (I was living lavish only for the moment HAHA) **Glamping ~ I actually glamped at their venue and It was SO WORTH IT. For the terrace camping package it came with A LOT of accommodations for example, concierge services, complimentary coffee and pastries, ACTUAL bathrooms, private shuttles, and FREE showers! The only catch was you had to bring your own tent to camp out at. Still it was a 100% worth it. I wouldn't mind doing it again. **Admission ~ The Box Cliff House VIP admission WAS CRAZY. I felt so spoiled! We had our own personal Box Seats for all 3-Days with a PERFECT view of the stage (we were unbothered by anyone) and we had access to their Cliff House which was a VIP club with private restrooms, air conditioned bar & grill along with a lounge and a perfect view of the Gorge! Overall, I have no complaints with this rave and my experience. Honestly, things went really smoothly and it was so much fun. If you were to go I would definitely recommend you come and glamp with your friends at the venue and if possible get the box seats! The music was great and I loved how you could feel the bass vibrating in your heart. I would not mind coming back again! ** Tips to my fellow ravers ** Don't forget your rave essentials, stay hydrated, stay safe, and PLUR!

Every year the Yakima Valley grows a super majority of the hops in the USA (about 77% to be exact)…read moreand more recently we took over as the top grower in the world! There are truly no truer words than "We grow your beer" when it comes to the area. The Fresh Hop Ale Festival pays homage to the fact that hops generally make beer better and with the growing varieties of hops, it's unlikely that the festivities will stop anytime soon. The festival is held downtown in Millenium park where you and a few thousand of your closest friends can sample beer from 40 breweries from all over the country. For you non beer drinkers (like my best half), they've got a number of wineries that join forces and provide alternative libations. Food trucks, concerts, long lines for port-o-potties and plenty of conversations are all at your disposal from 5-10 pm. Cost runs around $45 and includes 4 drink tokens and a glass to take home to the kids! For $75 you can hang in the VIP tent and grab both a bigger glass and more food! Those tickets go quick so it's worth buying if you're thinking about it. Rated as one of the top 10 beer festivals in the country, it's well worth the trip across town or across the country! Go Beer!

Had a lot of fun at the festival yesterday. We were especially happy to see Big Dogs Grill! Thank…read moreyou for including a vendor that supplied both gluten free and vegan options. For my family with celiac and one vegan this was such a bonus!

Art In the Park is a mainstay in the center of Leavenworth. It's runs from May through mid-October…read moreeach year where several artisans can be found in tents selling their hard worked, handmade goods. This ranges from professional photography prints, painted works of various styles, pottery, jewelry, artists who will draw you as a caricature, metal sculpting and much more. The tents are located right near the event gazebo in the center of Leavenworth. Hard to miss. There are Artists who find residence for the duration of the season of Art in the Park, but there are also new artists joining so any visit to Leavenworth will mean a good reason to stroll through Art in the Park if you like crafted works. In addition, the regular artists may have one of a kind works so if you see it once, you may not see it again and on repeat visits the likelihood of something new being for sale is high. If you're in Leavenworth, along with all the sights you take in, pass by Art in The Park. Support local artists and maybe find that one of kind gift or decor for yourself or a friend.

Just happened that they had it on the Friday afternnon that I chaperoned a school choir trip (I…read morethink it was actually the first one of the season). There were quite a few booths - probably 12(?). Fun and inexpensive - bought a great print for $6.00 for little one from Wee Cottage. I like how the artists don't have to deal with the transactions and you can combine everything when you check out at the end. Hope we get lucky next time we are in Leavenworth and they are having Art in the Park!

We were really disappointed with this event. It was very underwhelming for the $30 entry fee. There…read morewere only about six vendors, and food options were extremely limited. Basically burgers, sausages, kettle corn, and mini donuts. We were expecting much more authentic German food and variety. They did have a caricature artist, a small Ferris wheel, a carousel, and a couple of simple carnival games, but overall it felt more like a small county fair than a true Oktoberfest. The bands were good musicians, but they mostly played American cover songs instead of German music, which took away from the theme. They were supposed to be open until midnight and everything was shutdown by 10 pm. I wouldn't recommend this event. Instead, I'd suggest skipping the entry fee and enjoying one of the many great nearby restaurants or beer gardens in downtown Leavenworth. You'll have a much better time and more authentic food for the same or less money.

The town itself is absolutely gorgeous and picturesque. However, the Oktoberfest event seems sad to…read moreme for a barvarian town. You must pay for the festival (we came a weekend and went 2 days), and admission does not include anything except live entertainment and access to the event, which was expected. The annoying this about thing event is that they really push ticket sales ($1 a ticket and one beer is 8 tickets) so most people were left with extra tickets at the end of the night. Food options were super limited and we were disappointed that there wasn't more German street food here. The evening show two nights in a row was exactly the same...same singer, same songs....kind of lame that that was not planned better. And the music played all American covers...no German music from what we saw :( Overall, the event was just whatever. In all honesty, I'd say save your money and go to the cool cider house or restaurants in town.

This was our first trip down to the annual treaty days powwow and I must say we had a very nice…read moretime! The event takes place over three or four days in a couple different locations. There's a large celebration in Toppenish as well as another (this one) in White Swan. For those who have never been to white swan, it's a very small and very rural community, the one that has a lot of neat history as it relates to the native peoples in the area. The location of the pow wow is next to the white swan long house which is just a little ways outside town. Plug it into whatever your MapQuest of the day is and it'll get you right there! The area and building where it is held is basically a small fairground type area. There's plenty of parking and as you walk up you are first created by food vendors and vendors of many a trinket item. Some folks are selling native art while others are selling small ukuleles and wallets. It runs the gamut from "wow that's neat" to something that your two-year-old is absolutely sure they need. It's always exciting to have a conversation about the merits of learning to play a musical instrument and why that instrument should probably not be a miniature guitar purchased at a powwow... The two or three food vendors that were there had some solid options. Fry bread and Indian tacos tend to be the items du jour at many of the events in the lower Valley and this was no exception. We got ourselves a delicious NDN (that's how a lot of places advertise it) taco as well as some fry bread with huckleberry butter. We learned very quickly that we really like huckleberry butter! The main event for the powwow involves different dances and songs or chanting from the different tribes. The native dress the many of the men, women and kids are in is visually stunning at times and incredibly intricate. There are lots of people walking around in the different outfits and it gives you a really neat feel for how many different types of native cultures are represented in the area. The dances and chanting that went on was unique and pretty powerful- it was at time very primal, simple to complex and throughout was very beautiful. As someone who has no prior pow wow experience I couldn't appreciate the intricacies of many of the dances but found quickly that you didn't need to know anything about them to appreciate them. All in all, this was an event that give us a better appreciation for many of the different customs that have been present in the area for much longer than any of us have been. We're excited to go back in future years to see the dancing, experience the food and learn more about the cultures that made up this area long before we did. Worth your time every time!

On the 30th Anniversary of this majestic parade (2018) we finally made it down to check it out,…read morethough in fairness, we've only been back a few years. I learned recently that this parade was named one of the 10 best lighted parades in the country and after seeing some decked out combines, I believe it! Held along the main drag in town, it started around 6:30, with some sort of fun run that went along the parade route as well followed by a flash mob who danced to a jingle bell rock remix, and finally the parade. It lasted a little over and hour and gave us plenty to look at! The standard non-profit and beauty pageant winner floats from different towns came through, followed by a number of impressively lit semis and classic cars. The farm equipment was obviously what everyone came for and did not disappoint! There were old and new tractors, small farm vehicles, combines, and plenty of plastic deer - all of which were more than impressive in their total light counts! The kids loved watching and it took me right back to our time in Iowa! We were very glad we came down for the festivities and liked it so much, we'll probably be back next year!

From the owner: The parade began in 1989 when local farmer Bob Hadeen and businessman Tom Taylor had an idea. They…read morewanted to have a parade that would feature farm implements since they are a symbol of the agriculture community that is Sunnyside. That idea has bloomed into an annual tradition for our community that was continued with Karen Friend and Sharon and Ervin Kilian for many years. In 2017 the Sunnyside noon Rotary took this tradition over as a community project. The Sunnyside Rotary Lighted Farm Implement Parade was the first of its kind that has inspired many replications. This parade features modern farm equipment, old farm implements, antique cars and trucks, commercial and non-commercial Christmas floats, animal-drawn entries, and youth entries. It has been rated by A&E as one of the "Top Ten Best Lighted Parades in the country" and featured on the Travel Channel. Typically there are 60+ entries and each entry will be completely lit for night viewing.