Anonymous wrote:Don't go. They really aren't fun with little kids.

100 percent. And hit or miss even with older kids or no kids.

Some of them are too crowded to enjoy. We used to go to the Cherry Blossom street festival, but it got so crowded we stopped.
But I like Flowermart (at the National Cathedral), for example. And we always go to the Smithsonian Folklife Festival.. lots of hands on activities & performances and spread out so not too crowded. We often don’t buy food at festivals… we bring snacks.

Anonymous wrote:Go early and leave early.

This is the way. Always arrive EARLY. As in before opening. Everyone plans to be early but few actually make it. This is the hack for the zoo, museums, etc., theme parks (gag), etc. You will fit in so many activities the first hour or so. Depending on the layout, it can also be really helpful to go deep and work your way back. Know as much as possible before you go about the activities, service areas, etc. We also do a thing where each person chooses one or two things that are important to them, and we prioritize those things.

One parent waits in line for food while the other parent takes the kids to bounce house first. Get there when they first open. Best to bounce before eating anyway. Bounce, then eat. While eating, one parent eats standing while holding place in line for face painting.

Divide and conquer is your friend here.

Agree to get there early, don’t come hungry, keep expectations low. And I only go to the ones I’m actually interested in, as PP said. I consistently go to neighborhood festivals because they are close and less crowded, MD sheep and wool, and fall festivals.

Some festivals can be fun.

My advice is to eat either before or after- and just a treat or dessert/drink at the festival (ideally something that can be enjoyed standing up or while walking). Saves a lot of standing in line and wasting of time. Also often one parents goes and gets the items while the other supervises the kids ar the bouncy castle or whatever.

Avoid bringing a stroller whenever possible, and don’t bring a lot of stuff. It usually is not needed. If anything, leave it in the car just in case, especially at a smaller event.

Go at “off” hours as much as possible.

Don’t be tempting to overstay- hit a few fun things you want to do, and then see how things are going. Less is more sometimes, and better to have a good time for 1.5 hours and leave while you are ahead- versus dragging on for 4hrs with cranky kids.

We only go to Rennfaire. And get there at opening. Go for the slides, 1 kid show (get seats up front and eat food while we wait) and face painting, pony rides. Anything above that is dependent on weather and kid moods. Kids are K and 2nd. We leave by 2. Its not how i used to go back in my 20 and 30s with seeing a ton of shows and drinking all day but it works for now. I dint do any other festivals as i dont like lines and crowds. We do other things on weekends.

Festivals, for the most part, are horrible and no fun.

As a family we do enjoy the Renaissance Festival, where there is a lot more to do and the atmosphere itself is fun to be a part of, and fal festivals at pumpkin patch type places, because the kids can run around and the mazes are cool, etc.

Fall festivals at pumpkin patch places are fun during the week, in the afternoons after the field trips and napping children leave.
Most of the others though, I agree with you.

Don't go. They really aren't fun with little kids.

You don't have to go.

I only go to the ones that I have a particular affinity for: the Renaissance Fair and the Sheep and Wool Festival. I don't go to fairs just to get out of the house, OP. If I want to do that, I bring the kids to Great Falls or Brookside Gardens, or some place we can be close to nature.

Nah, most of those places are a sht show

Go early and leave early.

It seems like a lot of people take their kids to fairs and festivals as a weekend leisure activity. There are so many festivals - cultural ones, seasonal ones, holiday-based ones. We've tried a few different ones and they all seem to follow the same layout.

(1) Food trucks and booths with long-ass lines. Often the same crappy fried carnival stuff, and it's always impossible to find a place to sit + eat your food
(2) Face painting, crafts, or bounce houses for kids with long-ass lines
(3) Booths to buy stuff
(4) Large crowds


So basically you spend most of your time fighting crowds and waiting in lines with annoyed kids. There are sometimes free performances, but you have to stand and it's hard to see anything due to the crowds.

Am I doing festivals wrong? Are there particular ones that have a different vibe?