The Great American BBQ & Beer Festival

I have to say I didn't realize how crazy busy this place would be. Of course I like my country music so there was plenty of that a lot of different vendors and people just selling products. The wait is very long. I would say parking was difficult Due to how busy it it I lucked out and found one not too far away. I will say if you don't like a lot of crowds this is not for you because you're literally side-by-side with people.

The only reason this gets any stars is because of the kids section. The parking situation was a disaster. No one to direct traffic in the lots so people were parking TERRIBLY. Once inside the lines for tickets so you could get beer and bbq we're out of control and they kept running out of tickets entirely. Hubs and I ended up not eating or drinking anything. Luckily, we brought water for the kiddos. Got the unlimited rides wrist band for my 4 year old and let him run amuck. He had a blast. Which is good because nobody else did. We ended up leaving pretty early because we were starving and they had AGAIN run out of tickets and the lines weren't moving. Took a while to figure out how to get out of the place since it was set up like a maze. Got to my car which was boxed in along with 3 or 4 other cars in the lot we were in. Police were there to help some people out and after a 47 pt turn I was able to escape the lot, but it was truly nightmare inducing with the overly tired 4 year old and hungry 5 month old. Actually, hungry everyone. Thankfully, I had gotten free tickets so I wasn't out anything but the wrist band. Hopefully they can get some organization together before next year! It has the potential to be a really fun event, but they need to overhaul the drink/food ticket and parking lot situation.

Country music + BBQ is a perfect life for me! However, this festival fell short. Thank you Yelp for showing me this festival; it is huge! Plenty of BBQ vendors as it should be! We arrived right after it opened and found many/most of the BBQ booths were not ready to serve. Sadly, we didn't get to try the ones we were hoping for due to the unpreparedness. We "settled" on what that was open and it was tasty but they were using regular ole sweet baby rays sauce. Now, I like sweet baby rays but I anticipated the vendors to have their own sauce along with their signature smoked meats. Big disappointment.We spent majority of our time in the kids section. We purchased a $20 ticket which covered about 12 attractions. So expensive, probably a regret of mine to spend such money on bounce houses that are extremely particular about the time you spend inside. A lot of little kids didn't understand the "rules" which led to a lot of upset parents. They could use a lot of training in this. Lastly, we parked in the recommend lot and found ourself walking SO far to get to the entrance. We had to basically circle all the way around to the opposite side. On a hot day with kiddos, it was no enjoyable. I hope the festival directors can come up with a plan to have entrances on each side. I couldn't imagine being handicapped and unknowingly parking on the wrong side. Lots of room for improvement! I wouldn't necessarily come back again with such an expensive price tag.

Came for 2019 festival.Festival was organized.Cash only, but plenty of ATM arounds. Drink ticketsFood ranges from $7-15.Good music.Parking was nice since there was a parking garage next to it. VIP section was nice. Petting zoo was cool and tiny.

Great American BBQ and "Beer" Festival? Let me start by saying, this is not a Beer Festival in any way, shape, or form. Their offerings for beer were San Tan Hop Juice, Mr. Pineapple, Henry's Passion Fruit Hard Seltzer, and Coors Light. How does that give you a title of Beer Festival? No worries. Moved on from that to find there were Lines to get "Drink Tickets", for you to use at Alcohol Only stands.. Does this make any sense to you? Waited in line for 45minutes to find they sold out of tickets! We all then jumped into the next line over and then only had a 15minute wait. Quite a bit of waiting to get hardly anything.. No one working at the event from the Pride Organization had any knowledge or training to let you know what the hell was going on either. Quite a shitshow if you ask me. The BBQ and Space Scoops Ice stands were the only part of the "festival" that had any idea what was going on. I am lucky I received Free tickets to this event because if I had to pay $20/ticket, I would have been pissed! I hope someone from event management can read this and see they have some work to do for the next year. And maybe call it the "Chandler Country Music Festival"? There is no way you can add Beer Fest in the name of this event..

Chandler city event. BBQ food smell fills te streets. Great corn on the cob with a nice cold lemonade.

The festival seemed incredibly disorganized and way oversold. I went around 2pm and the lines the get IDs checked were ridiculous (I shouldn't even say 'lines' because it was just a guy in the middle of a sea of people with a cluster of people trying to get ID checked coming up from everywhere around him)... so you wait in 'line' to get ID checked, then wait in one of the many long lines to buy tickets that allow you to even buy a beer, don't even get me started on the lines to actually buy the beer once you had your tickets. Trying to find a spot to lay out a blanket to watch the concert was impossible, I guess I should have got there at doors open to claim a spot. Once the later bands were playing and everyone was standing and crowded in, it was impossible to stand, watch and enjoy the show. Didn't even stay to watch Russell Dickerson (the reason I wanted to initially go). I've never seen so many people packed into such a small place... I went the year before and it didn't feel like sardines packed in like it did this year. Also by sunset the trash cans were all overflowing with trash scattered all around on the ground, so that was not appealing. There was a situation where a beer vendor was trying to get 2 pallets of beers through a crowd of people and over one of those big plastic cable protectors. The pallet jack wouldn't roll over the big plastic piece and it ended up all coming apart. Despite the 'Pride' workers standing there watching the situation, this older guy (paying attendee) was putting the plastic cable protectors back together. These pieces are about 1ft bc 4ft long and looked heavy... they just watched as the older gentleman fixed the pieces so other attendees didn't have a tripping hazard. Overall it was a clusterfuck. The bbq vendors were pricey for the small sizes they gave. I don't know why they can't do pay ahead drink tickets or a wristband like other festivals do. Also maybe charging more for tickets to keep down the head count. Unfortunately I will probably just avoid the mess next year.

Such a great event. The layout had a couple of pinch points, but overall a very good location. The weather was great, the beer was cold, the food was hot, and the music was fantastic. I was a bit concerned about the parking, but there was plenty. I went a little later in the day, and did not have any issues. I can't wait for this annual event next year.

Not a beer festival at all.....total scam!!!I was sorely mistaken after paying the $20 admission that there were absolutely NO GUEST BREWERIES pouring their beers. Flix BREWHOUSE?? had a table there so they could TELL you all about the beers they serve ACROSS THE STREET.Total ripoff, I will be sure to avoid at all costs next year.

I am having a hard time seeing the great part about this festival for the following reasons:1. you pay 15 to 20 dollars to go buy BBQ, which you still have to pay for2. Most places that offered a deal was only a small amount of food for 2 dollars3. all places only took cash, so you need to hit an atm if you forgot cash4. the atm charges a large fee, (smart business for them at least)5. Scam places like the resort placed are setup in front bothering you6. for 5 dollars, I got half a beer that I could buy across the street for the same price for a full beer7. Some of the BBQ places had terrible food and it's hard to tell what is good or not just by all the random boothsThe only good thing about this festival is there was a free parking. They had a childrens area which was cute and if they are going to run a festival it would be better in the cooler months as May is getting hotter every year. My suggestion, take your money for the cover charge for two people, go to one of the restaurants and buy a giant meal, tons of beers for less than what you would pay here.