too crowded, too many people and not enough vendors, making the lines very long (especially for the beer) and definitely not worth the price!

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I've been to them all, and this was the worst. The first year there were more tables to sit and visit and enjoy the music...some farther away from the stage. This year they were few and too close, so you had to shout to converse with friends. The samples for chocolate tickets were miniscule this year and so limited. One vendor even required two tickets. It is good, but the concept of a ticket for a sample wasn't in play there. The music was very disappointing . If I want to hear canned music, I'll turn on my stereo or iPod....the second group had two percussionists that were actually playing the sounds you heard--all the rest was piped in--there was no female vocalist on stage singing for us. And there were no signs telling what the name of the non-band was even supposed to be...the first duo also did not have signs, but at least they were there and playing their instruments and actually doing the singing. Couldn't stand it long enough to hear the third group, so can't comment on them. The lines for beer especially were interminable.....the friends that went with me waited in a couple of lines early on and then totally gave up and offered their tickets to people they saw at the tables or in lines and we left. If I had paid regular price for this I would have felt completely ripped-off.

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Thankfully, my BF and I got 1/2 price tickets through Goldstar, so we only paid $15/ticket, as opposed to $30 for the regular ticket price. But even for that price, it was NOT worth the money, for a few reasons...

1.) It was totally unorganized. A great concept, yes, but not executed well AT ALL. We arrived at around 3:30pm and it was packed. It looked like just a crowd of people with no rhyme or reason, and since there were so many people, you also couldn't see which vendors were there or what they were sampling. Unfortunately, there also wasn't any kind of guide/menu/map to indicate who was there, or what was available. There were few vendors, which contributed to the long, 1/2 hour plus wait lines, and it was nearly impossible to find the end of the line for the product that you wanted to sample.

2.) For $15, you received 4 tickets for beer and 4 tickets for chocolate. The first line we waited in for a sample of chocolate mousse (which there was only 1 flavor left of), was 2 tickets for ONE small sample. The next line (another 1/2 hour wait) was for sample sizes of beer-infused chocolate and/or regular dark chocolate (again, the only two flavors that were left). Again, two tickets for two pieces, and when I say two pieces, imagine the size of a gumdrop, maybe even a little smaller than that.

3.) At this point, we moved onto beer, thinking that this whole debacle would be a bit more tolerable if we had a buzz. At this point, we had already decided to grab a beer, and then try to give away the rest of our tickets because the whole thing was so frustrating, and we weren't enjoying ourselves. As it turns out, other people were trying to do the same thing, and were having a difficult time giving their tickets away because everyone else had the same idea! We had three different parties of people try to give us their tickets, when we were trying to get rid of ours too!

So, after waiting in line for ANOTHER 1/2 hour for a beer (that wasn't even that good), we finally were able to find a gentlemen who took our tickets, and we left. I'm glad that this was a fundraiser, so I don't feel as bad about wasting my money.

On top of all of that, the band sucked.

This event would have run much more smoothly if it was, A.) held outside, B.) there were more vendors with enough product to support the huge crowd instead of running out 2 hours before the festival is scheduled to end (it's a BEER and CHOCOLATE festival folks...of course there is going to be a large turn out!), and, C.) if there was some kind of organization factor for the lines of people. Some kind of "menu" indicating which vendors were there, and what they were sampling, as well as what they were selling would have been very helpful, as well.

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This was our 1st time & we had an Awesome time! It was from 2-6 pm and we arrived at 2:20. There was already a huge line waiting to get in and a lot of people inside already. We both received 4 taste tickets for beer samples & 4 for chocolate. I took all the chocolate & my husband all the beer!! It would have been nice if they handed out a "map" explaining what vendors were where. Maybe a suggestion for next year - so you could reflect on who's sample you liked. It was very difficult to navigate through the criss cross of long lines of people waiting for their beer or chocolate sample. And got worse as the hours passed and more guests came in. Maybe need to have it at a large venue next year. Sample sizes of chocolate varied at each booth from abundant handfuls to 1/4 inch square pieces. Definitely noticed lack of waste cans to throw away napkins and beer sample cups. All in all it was a wonderful start to a great Valentine Celebration. We are already looking forward to the 4th Annual Beer & Chocolate Festival.

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