I think the lesson learned here is: go early. Jamie and I trailed our way down to Wareham to…read morepartake in the quintessential "fall in New England" experience that is a cranberry festival. Unfortunately, arriving at just before 3:30PM is far too late to enjoy nearly any part of what A.D. Makepeace put together for the 2016 Cranberry Harvest Celebration. Admission was $10 a piece for adults, with the option to pay either with cash or debit/credit card. With no map or guide to show you what to do or where to go, you may end up wandering around quite awhile. Upon entrance, we happened to see a sign that said "last bus to the bog 3:30". Since we weren't quite sure what else was going on, we walked briskly to the bus location, hopped on, and took a short ride to the bogs. The scenery upon arrival was exactly what you'd picture: a flooded bog with cranberries floating aloft, fall colors highlighting the trees, people in waders running their hands through this year's harvest. I saw several festival-goers in said waders, tromping through a sectioned off part of the bog, and got super excited. Could this be my next profile photo?? (trying to be hip, here). We disembarked the school bus and were abruptly greeted with a sign, pricing activities. The cost of a stereotypical "basic" girl's new FB photo? $25 per person. Groups of 4 or more get in for $90, which I guess is a nod towards families. Outrageous. You're provided with waders; for $25 you get to play in bog water and snap your own photos on your iPhone. We decided to skip it, which ended up being a moot point, as they stopped this activity at 3:30PM. If they decided to offer this for $10, I think that'd be a fair price. You'd have a line the entire time. We walked around, snapping photos of the bog, before spotting a couple of food stands and treating ourselves to $3 corn dogs. Everything appeared to be packing up. I stopped by a beer stand (which had been giving out free samples), only to be told they were out of cups, and then, that they were no longer giving samples as it was after their cut off time. We did get to enjoy one fun activity: bog in a cup! Ocean Spray provides a little hands-on experience for festival goers to start their own cranberry bog (in a plastic cup), which they get to take home. It was a cute, somewhat kitschy doing, but at least we got to participate in something. Since everything was shuttering its doors out on the bogs, we got in line to head back to the main festival, hoping there would still be things to do and see there. Nope. Once again, everything was closing down: food vendors, crafts booths, historical/educational opportunities, recreational activities. This was around 4:15PM or thereabouts. Apparently, according to their FB site, the event is done around 4PM. If we arrived at a few minutes before 3:30, don't you think someone would mention that they're wrapping things up? I drowned my disappointment in a sticky, chewy caramel apple, and we walked down the road back to the truck. I'm sure that, had we gone at 10:00AM when the gates were opened, we would have been inundated with a surging crowd of New Englanders, all jockeying to get the best position to watch a bog's harvest, or queuing up to pick through cranberries, or any number of other fun, interesting, and educational activities that were offered here. So, the moral of the story is: go early, enjoy all the offerings, but expect crowds (apparently, "tens of thousands of people" descended upon Tihonet Pond this weekend).

When we made plans to do a week in New England, this was the main thing we wanted to do (besides…read moreeat lots of seafood). The festival is so well organized with tons of volunteers & helpers to guide you around. They have buses to take folks from the parking lot to the entrance, and buses to take you out to the cranberry bogs. Everything runs timely & smoothly. There were lots of vendors giving out samples & tastes, so that everyone who wants some freebies can get some. They also have food trucks, crafts, baked goods, and more booths than we could visit. We donned waders & got in the cranberry bog. It costs $25, but I figure how many chances will I ever have to be in a cranberry bog?! It's a weird sensation & you can feel the vines under your feet. Warning: if you do the bog, be careful of your footing. It's slippery & we saw three people fall over so that their waders filled with water. But it's still quite a sensation & a unique photo op. Tip: get the lobster rolls & chips-- a tasty lunch & a pretty good deal! Friendly staff makes this festival all the more fun.

A very Rhode island…read morefestival Johnny Cakes have been around for a while, in fact most historians say they have been around in one form or another for centuries. Even though many places on the east coast have Johnny Cakes, Rhode island is traditionally given as the place where they originated or at least became popular. So what better place than Rhode Island to have a Johnny Cake Festival Just fried corn meal with some salt, hot water and perhaps some sugar, it is amazing how many different types have showed up. Lots of subtle differences and of course everyone claims theirs are the best. Actually the festival was a lot more than just Johnny Cakes and in the whole festival I only saw one vendor actually selling Johnny Cakes. The lines were so long that we didn't even bother and stuck with the lobster rolls, clam chowdah, clam cakes and kettle corn. So much food around that there was no way you were going hungry even without the Johnny Cakes. Some cool critters like sheep, goats and alpacas were around and lots of skillful artists spinning, carving, wefting, blacksmithing, weaving, and painting. A whole bunch of very talented and fascinating folks still knowledgeable about some anachronistic arts. Some great music and several environmental groups were around to entertain and of course lots of traditional and cool food and crafts. The location was lovely with a pleasant pond and several canals and waterfalls. The parking wasn't bad because they wasn't any. Everyone parked at the old fairground three miles away and were shuttled in by old school buses. Actually made it less chaotic. A cool festival and place to learn about New England arts, crafts, history and of course food. It was kind of curious that there weren't more Johnny Cakes. This review is dedicated to Cathy S.and Shiro. I wish they could have been there with us.

As a non-native Rhode Islander I was definitely impressed with this past weekend's Johnny Cake…read moreFestival. It was great to sample some food & wares that aren't available in my part of RI. Lots of cool & eclectic vendors mostly skewered towards the uniquness of the Ocean State. Lots of food & Johnny Cakes too but I didn't have any. Two of my local favorites had a presence there: Grey Sail & Dave's Coffee. There was also live music. I got to sample some pumpkin flavored whiskey from Sons of Libtery that made me want more. I'd drink whiskey but my wife says I turn into a different person so I'll wait for them to release their Dave's Coffee syrup flavored vodka! The only drawback is that transportation to get to the actual festival. Even though you have to take a cramped school bus to get there it's definitely worth & I'll be taking my family for years to come.

The reason we visited this fair for the first time was to see the Puppies of Penzance show and it…read moredid not disappoint. So adorable! Highly highly recommend. The rest of the day was fun too. I was pulled from the audience to be a part of the mime show. My 3.5 year old daughter got to see so many animals. The stunt show was a bit odd because a father was filling in for his son who was seriously injured on Wednesday night during a performance. We didn't know what happened though until we googled and were very thrown by this show must go on routine. Yikes. But overall, 3 generations all enjoyed the fair: granddaughter - grandparents

Rides are super good they make you so happy! But they didn't have the zipper which made me sad.read more

Order tickets in advance to save a few bucks and access the fast entry line. And don't be put off…read moreby the longer queue - cars move at a decent pace, because, well... When I imagined a lights festival, I think not only of quantity and quality, but density - a certain holiday clutter that's both chaotically nostalgic and frustratingly delightful. Instead, this utilization of the Marshfield Fairground is akin to maybe a sandcastle competition: with 20-30 large, somewhat complex displays spaces well apart from each other. And instead of being handcrafted and artistically unique, they're constructed using fabricated templates, and algorithmic synchronization to the associated FM soundtrack. It's reasonably priced ($23/carload), enjoyable and it's a very COVID safe activity, but you should go in with appropriate expectations: it's more a traveling carnival than a festival.

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.

Great selection of food and beverages. Surprised that there weren't free water/refill stations…read more since it was awfully humid/hot. $3 for a bottle of water is too much. Awesome midway/rides and carnival games. Music was sadly lacking this year we didn't like the approx 2 hrs of heavy metal radio/dj music. Tribute band for Lynyrd Skynyrd was excellent though. Not sure we will go next year $14 entry fee just to get in the gate-plus the cost of food, drinks, water, rides, carnival games and dessert is a really steep $$$$$ amount. Think we will just skip it and head to Hampton beach next year instead.

We have been going to the festival on & off over many years. Food is always a crap shoot. This…read moreyear we went for the bands mostly. It was sooo hot. Brought our beach blankets and beach chairs expecting to be able to sprawl out in the grass like other years. MUCH TO MY DISAPPOINTMENT, the stage was jambed up against the area of the main festival on the hot tar, with really only (filled) tents with chairs to sit in. I wasn't there for tents & chairs!! We immediately left after seeing this, and enjoyed the rest of the evening at the beach. I DO HOPE the don't continue this set up, or we will NEVER be back

So the enchanted village is something I would recommend you try at least once. It's a seasonal…read moreevent and I would say also a way to increase demand by limiting it's availability. The village portion is free and then you can get tickets to see the laser show, the 4d ride, play a carnival style reindeer racing game, go down a tube slide, get an expensive picture with Santa and get their famous blueberry muffins. You probably have to buy tickets in advance to get the hours you want for the shows but no reservation needed for the other things you can do. It's a nice experience which personally I wouldn't do often, maybe every few years or so, but kids tend to enjoy it so if you have kids you might end up having to do it every year :p. It's cheaper than a carnival and an indoor experience during the cold days of the winter.

We love our annual tradition of visiting the enchanted village. The place is clean and fun. The…read morevillage exhibit is magical with the snow. I wish they would let it snow longer or more frequent bc a first time visitor could walk through and miss the best part. Rudolph 4D is great for children.

I went for the first time this past year and when I tell you, I was amazed, I mean it like I had a…read morelow expectations because it was Roger Williams zoo. I got there and I started walking, and I truly was mesmerized by all the pumpkins and the lighting and just the detail that was put into this. A great place to visit during the Halloween season!

Great fall/Halloween time experience if you're in the area. I happened to be walking through Roger…read moreWilliams when I remembered it was happening and decided to check it out. So glad I did, so many different themes. Posting more pictures would do it a disservice.