I come here every year, including this year. GREAT time, and above all, AWESOME weather. At first…read morewe weren't going to go because the kids were sick, but after having a bit of cabin fever, and since it was sunny in the 60s, we had to venture out. The event was somewhat smallish... they had 3 or 4 food tents, a wine tent, and the rest of the tent was for sitting. The place wasn't too crowded and the music was awesome. It's a good ol' time in the burbs.

Bring your dog to this good market. 2 organic farmers a lot of good food this year to enjoy too…read more The a veggie burgers, donuts and ice cream are worth a trip. Bring your knives too, as there is a knife sharpener. No less than 8 produce vendors. 4 bakeries, unique vendors selling dog treats by the #. Lots of flowers being sold too and soaps. Sure the kids are packed in this market and so are the strollers, but there is a lull around 10am, as the first wave of early risers moves through. Forget the snow cone vendor, and get some Epic ice cream. Or a cuppa coffee from Cafe on the wall selling delicious Dark Matter coffee.

I have to say that I'm really surprised by the farmer's markets that have been established on the…read morenorthwest side. I visited the North Branch Market a few weeks ago and this weekend decided to check out the Park Ridge Farmer's Market, and it's another great market. Honestly, I don't get the popularity of something like the Green City Market and though the Lincoln Square Farmer's Market (which used to be my usual) isn't anywhere near as good. There are lots of vendors here. The portion of the market where I entered had a lot of food and goods vendors--pizza truck, ice cream company, bakery, kettle corn, olive oil (there were two!), textiles, soaps & scents, and more. I thought that street was the extent of the market, but when I neared the end I saw that it extends into the parking lot on the street and that section has a lot more. There were at least five different farm operations represented, a man selling meats, and there was a cheese stand as well. It's the height of summer, so I ended up with plums, blackberries, blue cheese and curds, some bread, and a couple other goodies. This market was a really great balance of the Farm in Farmer's market with so many selling here and various other sundries. A four-piece classical quartet serenaded folks as they wandered the market; I assume that the musical entertainment changes from week to week. They had a children's activity booth where this weekend kids were playing with clay with a local artist, and there was a community booth where a local food pantry was collecting donations (the market was also encouraging folks to buy two of an item to donate one to the food pantry). Again, their schedule changes, so I got the impression that the children's activity may be different on different weekends. The market opens early (7 a.m., I think) and the kid's booth starts around 9. Parking is excellent. There's a lot off the street where the market is held with space for a great deal of cars--I think its primary function is as a municipal lot. There's also copious amounts of street parking around as well. If you're in the area on Saturday while the market is in swing, this is a fantastic one you should put on your agenda.

Park Ridge established a new event this summer, and when I heard about it I wanted to check it out…read more Four times over the summer, once each month, it takes place at the same location as the PR Farmer's Market. There's no entrance fee, but of course the vendors cost money. When you enter, you have to get a wristband if you plan to have any alcohol; they will check your ID to confirm your age, so bring that if you want some spirits or wine. The other option is to purchase a "passport", which, as of 2024, costs $26. The passport gives you the chance to get a sample at the various booths that are offering alcohol. It's my understanding that you can't buy from those booths--just get a sample--but there is one booth where you can purchase individual glasses of wine/beer. I have seen at least a couple of these vendors here at the farmer's market but there were several that were new to me as well. I ended up getting a few different things for us for dinner; I picked up something from the food truck selling Philippine cuisine, and I got a burger for myself. I also had to get an elote for the babe since she's a huge fan of corn. My burger was fantastic, even after bringing it home. It was a smash burger that had Munster cheese and apricot jam. Makes my mouth water thinking about it a few hours later! I didn't try any of the BBQ plate from the Philippine place, but my significant other said it was really good... and the little one seemed to like the pork bun I bought for her. I was really pleased that the prices, though a little high, really weren't bad for this sort of event. The portion sizes were good for the money--I was stuffed after finishing my burger. There was a band playing this evening and they were pretty enjoyable. The organizers had at least two compost/recycle/trash stations set up, which was helpful (and I was impressed they include the compost option!). I also appreciated that there were several tables set up for folks to listen, eat, and socialize; there were also folks who brought their own chairs, too. Overall this was a fun event, and I'm looking forward to returning for the 2024 finale in September.

Edison Park Fest is a fantastic weekend neighborhood festival located in, well, Edison Park. If…read moreyou're not familiar with Edison Park, it's a neighborhood of Chicago north of Harlem Ave, on Northwest Highway, just south of Park Ridge. Edison Park fest spans several blocks and runs parallel to the Union Pacific Northwest Metra line. The festival totes two music stages, plenty of port o potties, several good vendors, a kids section, traveling carnival games,and several business vendor tents. There's pretty much something for everybody. Edison Park fest was well organized and spaced-out. I really had a good time walking around, sipping a beer, and perusing the many business tents. Metal barricades stops any temptation to trample on any residential front lawns running along this neighborhood festival, so make sure you get in on either Oliphant Ave or Ozark Ave. I had a really good time. So if you are in the north side and looking for a street festival without the crazy amount of crowds, definitely check out Edison Park fest.

Edison Park fest is a decent street festival located on the far North side of the city. The fest…read moreruns in mid August and always draws a healthy crowd. Edison Park is home to many police / first responders so you know it is going to be safe here. The crowd from here can get a little sketchy, but it is always a good time. The fest is between the Metra stop and Moretti's and spans a few city blocks. The food here is standard carnival fare. Nothing too great that I saw, but I enjoyed the fresh squeezed lemonade. They have vendors that serve up everything - most unhealthy, but delicious. Prices aren't too bad and the lines were pretty short when I went on a Saturday. There is a giant area of kids bouncy castles. These are pay as you go and is managed by an outside company. Some rides are good and take a few minutes, others are over in 30 seconds. They all cost $2-$3 each, so choose wisely if you don't splurge on the $30 day pass. There are several live music acts performing all weekend. It isn't my cup of tea, but people seem to like the 80s/90s rock cover bands. Rock on!

Great for novelty, however wish there were more flavors of ice cream such as pandan, red bean…read more Also, wish the taiyaki was filled with the ice cream versus just half paste and ice cream.

I'm biased since I absolutely love red bean treats! Went to H Mart and saw random people walking…read morearound with fish shaped treats and saw that this little snack corner had opened up. With tax, a box of five "fish" was around $12 so I felt it was a tad over priced but it's freshly made, lightly crispy, and just all around delicious. They were out of the smaller "fish" so I am assuming that would have been cheaper.

Well, the veggies were fresh but the GREASE was NOT. I could 1000% taste fish in the sandwich. Meh…read more Especially as a vegan. Not like I really want to taste that. The bread was crispy, the veggies were good but the overall flavor was ruined by the fact that I had a fishy aftertaste. The service was fast. They weren't as busy as some of the other trucks but they were almost one of the last ones from the direction I was walking from. Ambiance was the beautiful outdoor campus of University of Chicago. Couldn't have been a more beautiful day. Next time different food truck for me!

Yay! Thanks to our parent committee for sponsoring our teacher appreciation lunch with Chicago…read moreLunchbox Food Truck! The salt and pepper tofu bowl was amazing! The tofu was fried to perfection and smothered with delicious sauce. I'm so glad I got a chance to try this, and even better that the food truck was stationed right outside our school :) can't wait to try their food again!

This was a great celebration! Pride in Park Ridge is a single-evening event, and it lasted three…read morehours. It took place in and around Hodges Park right in front of city hall. There were a bunch of community groups, including schools, LGBTQIA+-focused orgs, local businesses, and so on. There were also about a half dozen food trucks featuring Latin American cuisine, Filipino foods, hot dogs, barbecue.... The main event was the drag show that took place. And it wasn't a short show; it lasted 45-60 minutes. I've never been to a drag show but it was so much fun! There were 3-4 queens performing various songs and they were fantastic. They didn't have a standard stage; they were performing street side, so they had a lot of ground and crowd to cover and it was tiring watching them, haha. They also had a few costume changes (or at least one of them did) which was pretty impressive. In addition to that entertainment there were some kid-friendly activities like a bounce house (or two?), and some arts and crafts tables as well with some children's activities. They had t-shirts for sale as well, with an art deco design this year that was pretty cool so I had to pick one up. I'm looking forward to next year; I just hope they have toddler-sized shirts too!

I'm not totally sure what I think about this event. It's definitely popular. There's the BBQ…read morecompetition, and I'm sure it's standard that the people participating in the competition don't actually make any food for attendees to eat. But at least there were a couple of food trucks out there serving up the goods. We were there 2-3 hours before the event ended (and it had been going on for 6-7 hours at that point) so there may have been other booths around or there earlier in the day. There was a band playing on the steps of city hall and folks were having a lot of fun getting their groove on. There were some kids activities set up on the perimeter, like a bounce house and stuff. I think next year we'll go a little earlier. Parking was a bear, since there's only street parking around Hodges Park and the lot by the library. But it might be interesting to see how a BBQ competition goes.

The smell of BBQ is in the air in Park Ridge. The 1st Vine Street BBQ Fest in town and has…read moreprofessional and amateur cooks facing off for a good old cook off! You cannot taste the food from the competitors, but there are a handful of vendors to buy BBQ and drinks from. Earls has decent pulled pork and I liked the chicken sandwich from Urban Que. They had a mobile wood oven pizza company that made a pretty good Neapolitan pizza too. Honestly the food for sale wasn't too good, hopefully they draw better vendors next year. Kids can keep busy with about 6 large bounce castles. They also have face painting, crafts and other games for the whole family. Live music is rocking all day until 9pm! This is a great, family friendly event in Uptown Park Ridge.