Arizona Fall Fest

Went to my second Fall Fest back in November with my best friend and we had a fantastic time, even coming away with a souvenir wine glass from the beer garden and since we were two of the first 500 people to attend, we each got a backpack full of Fall Fest swag and coupons! As always, we enjoyed interacting with each of the vendors and getting in on the interactive scavenger hunt. A great way to spend a November Saturday and fun for all ages. I WILL attend Fall Fest 2020!

This festival was so much fun! I had seen it advertised at First Friday and decided to check it out.I expected it to be much smaller than it was. It was a pretty good size! They had about 10 different food trucks serving food. They had live performances in two different sections, a kids zone with fun activities, and a beer section. That's excluding all the regular vendors as well!They had lots of delicious samples available, free samples, and tons of kick ass local businesses. I got my family some gifts from Seeds for Autism and The Shine Project. Both companies sell beautiful goods that have generous causes behind them.I'm definitely coming next year, and definitely bringing my dogs!

For the past year, I've been a member of Local First Arizona, which technically means I'm a Localist. The sad part is that I haven't had the opportunity to attend any events though I've received regular e-mails about the great events in our community where we can support local businesses and organizations. I made a point to go to the Arizona Fall Festival and to arrive early to make the most of my experience. The Arizona Fall Festival is an annual event that took place for six hours this past Saturday (10-4) at the Margaret T. Hance Park in Phoenix. It was a "free and family-friendly celebration of everything local to Arizona" according to its website (https://localfirstaz.com/fall-festival). The event included booths featuring local restaurants, shopping merchants, entertainment, a beer and wine garden, and so much more. Even prior to the festival itself, there has been an auction with a variety of great items going for good prices; the proceeds went to Local First Arizona. Parking was nearby for free on the streets if you arrived early enough. Otherwise, there was metered parking nearby or special deals from VIP Taxi and of course, the light rail close by. Lines started around 9:30 AM since the first 500 families received a FREE gift bag filled with goodies and marketing materials from several dozen local businesses. There were over 200 vendors present, and while many offered free small tastes, there were actual samples of food and drinks for one or two tickets ($1 per ticket). There was a survey company that spent a few minutes offering a survey in exchange for $20 in tickets. At the end of the day, leftover tickets were collected as raffle tickets for some huge prizes of gift cards and more. There was also a passport program where you can get around 14 punches to your card from specific vendors, and completed passports were collected for another drawing for an experience at the Tovea Castle. Phoenix sporting teams were present at the Arizona Sports Zone, and there was also a Kid Zone for the families. All in all, I arrived early enough to get free parking right next to the festival entrance, received a gift bag of goodies, enjoyed some samples of foods/drinks and products, received $20 in tickets (through the survey company), entered some drawings, and enjoyed the entertainment...all without spending any money. To make myself feel better about having such a great time without spending money, I did donate to Local First Arizona and bid on a few items in the auction, too. An amazing local event put on by a great organization! I look forward to going to future events and perhaps even volunteering in the future.

Attended this annual event on Saturday. It was fairly big, taking up a good half chunk of the park. I only saw a few homeless folks loitering. They must have been hiding until the festival ended. The dollar food sampling tickets were a nice touch, but I only found about six booths out of 150 offering those dollar samples. I tried the $1 tamales and small egg burritos, both were good. Over a dozen food trucks, a huge beer garden and a bunch of local stuff for sale. It was a nice event for downtown Phoenix and finally one where no admission is charged, like the good ole days.

So I volunteered for this event with Arizona Local First and I was able to check out the vendors afterwards. There were a variety of awesome local shops. I would recommend going early for anyone who plans on going nest year. They give out free bags full of samples and goodies for the first 500 or so attendees! And local vendors gave out free samples, including national park day pass and shirts.

Like Ilana had said below, I heard about this festival from being at First Friday and decided to give it a shot! I brought family and we were surprised at how many people were in attendance. They had a beer garden, plenty of food samples (which you had to use tickets to try), and a decent selection of food trucks. They have plenty of things to do for kids and music to listen to while eating. My only gripe with this event was with the lack of seating areas and lines for food trucks. All together there were probably 7/8 which all had massive lines.

This year's organizers really hit it out of the park! While I loved the Portland location, Hance Park really allowed for this event to expand beyond expectations.We rode our bikes down on a lovely Saturday morning and were able to get swag bags. Arizona was well represented. I never knew China Mist tea was based here! All of the food sample vendors were terrific! To all the people at the Joy Ride stand who I accidentally cut in front of, really super sorry.I ended up eating enough from the samples that I wasn't hungry enough to hit up any of the food trucks. We also have plans to travel outside the Valley to visit some of our state's wonderful businesses.

I've been coming to this Festival for years. They previously had this festival along Portland Avenue and Central for a number of years, but the festival simply got too big. So they've now moved it to the east side of Hance Park right around 2nd Street and Moreland. There are a ton of vendors representing local businesses that span a wide spectrum of industries, a beer garden, a kids play area, food truck row, and a raffle area. I'm a foodie so of course I come to sample all the local food spots. Admission is free so you can roam around for as long as you like, but you'll need tickets to sample most food items and to get into the beer garden. My recommendation would be to bring about $20. That will give you more than enough to sample some food and grab some drinks such that you'll be full and happy. Some vendors only accept cash so might wanna keep some handy (they also have ATMs on site, but for a fee). The event is staffed by a parade of volunteers throughout the event to answer your questions, direct you to a vendor, and even help you dispose of your garbage in the most eco-friendly way. And if you get there at opening as I always do, they give away free goodie bags full of coupons and other freebies. Props to Kimber Lanning and the Local First Arizona crew for making this event bigger and better every year.

Lines were too long , very crowded will not return! Who wants to wait in hot sun for long lines to get a beer, very disappointed.