It's that time of the year where winter is hanging on for dear life, baseball is about to begin and the Wisconsin Film Festival takes place in downtown Madison. Since its inception in 1999, I've enjoyed many movies such as "Godfather of Green Bay," "Better Luck Tomorrow" and "Bon Cop, Bad Cop." Roger Ebert even stopped by one year.
If you're wary of going to see independent movies but still want to see what all the fuss is about, I recommend seeing the movies that take place around 7 p.m. at the Orpheum. These movies usually will be appreciated by the largest audience, while the movies at the other (smaller) venues may be more niche.
Tickets are general admission and cost $7 each ($4 with valid student ID). Don't worry if a movie is sold out. You can stand in the rush-ticket line and wait for last-second tickets to open up; I've never had a problem getting into a sold-out movie.
More info at www.wifilmfest.org.
Showing posts with label festivals. Show all posts
Showing posts with label festivals. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Burlington Chocolate Fest
Each year, the city of Burlington throws its four-day Chocolate Fest over Memorial Day weekend. Besides chocolate tastings, chocolate-eating contests and cooking demonstrations, there's live music and a full carnival.
Admission is $7 at the door, $6 in advance, though you can only buy tickets in Burlington. Parking is $5, or you can parking several blocks away and walk, though I would not suggest it.
As you walk in the entrance, you are handed a map and schedule of events, along with some fun-size Crunch bars (Nestle has a chocolate plant in Burlington).
For the carnival and live music itself, it's worth attending the festival, but it's unfortunately lacking in its main attraction: chocolate. There is one tent dedicated to chocolate, and that's it.
Inside is where you can watch (and participate) in the chocolate eating contest (how many fun-size Crunch bars can you eat in two minutes), watch some food demonstrations and buy chocolate from various vendors. You can also buy a $2 tasting ticket that gets you five different samples. On Saturday night there is a wine and chocolate tasting, limited to 200 participants.
I really felt these events could have been scattered throughout the fair grounds (e.g. put the chocolate eating contest on a stage in front of a large crowd), and that there should have been more events. For example, have a Miss Chocolate Fest contest. Or, have some carnival games with chocolate as the prizes.
Another suggestion: The theme this year was "Pirates of the Chocolate-Be'an," but this was not repeated in any way throughout the festival. More pirate-themed activities, etc., would have been nice.
Still, the event was not overly crowded (I went on Saturday), and the beer was not overly expensive ($3.50 for a Miller Lite). Nice time for all ages.
More info at www.chocolatefest.com.
Admission is $7 at the door, $6 in advance, though you can only buy tickets in Burlington. Parking is $5, or you can parking several blocks away and walk, though I would not suggest it.
As you walk in the entrance, you are handed a map and schedule of events, along with some fun-size Crunch bars (Nestle has a chocolate plant in Burlington).
For the carnival and live music itself, it's worth attending the festival, but it's unfortunately lacking in its main attraction: chocolate. There is one tent dedicated to chocolate, and that's it.
Inside is where you can watch (and participate) in the chocolate eating contest (how many fun-size Crunch bars can you eat in two minutes), watch some food demonstrations and buy chocolate from various vendors. You can also buy a $2 tasting ticket that gets you five different samples. On Saturday night there is a wine and chocolate tasting, limited to 200 participants.
I really felt these events could have been scattered throughout the fair grounds (e.g. put the chocolate eating contest on a stage in front of a large crowd), and that there should have been more events. For example, have a Miss Chocolate Fest contest. Or, have some carnival games with chocolate as the prizes.
Another suggestion: The theme this year was "Pirates of the Chocolate-Be'an," but this was not repeated in any way throughout the festival. More pirate-themed activities, etc., would have been nice.
Still, the event was not overly crowded (I went on Saturday), and the beer was not overly expensive ($3.50 for a Miller Lite). Nice time for all ages.
More info at www.chocolatefest.com.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
