Spring has sprung and people all over the country are scrambling to make the most of it. This month sees the beginning of the festival season start to kick off, with many focused around enjoying the great outdoors and noshing on wide varieties of cuisine. April might be bringing a little more rain into the weekly forecast, but even with these showers, the month brings a whole lot more things to do along with.
Atlanta
April 7: Food-o-Rama
This food truck extravaganza descends on Old Fourth Ward Park for a day of delicious eats along the BeltLine near the celebrated Ponce City Market. Food vendors serve their delectable bites from 11am-7pm and guests will have over 30 vendors to choose from, including Royal Pig, Bento Bus, Atlanta Seafood Company, Let’s Taco Bout It, Patty Wagon, and more.
April 8: Atlanta Streets Alive
A 4.4-mile length of road on Atlanta’s Eastside opens up for all on two wheels or two legs to enjoy—it’s no cars allowed from 2-6pm along this route from Downtown to Lake Claire. A bicycle parade begins at 1:30pm at the 5-point intersection downtown. RSVP on Facebook to keep up with this event’s latest news.
April 14 & 15: Atlanta Grilled Cheese Festival
From noon to 6pm in Brookhaven Park, lovers of this classic American staple can come by and enjoy three grilled cheese samples, along with live music and access to a beer garden and games. The restaurants serving sample-size portions include 4 Rivers Smokehouse, Jamwich, Uptown Food Truck, Flavor Rich Food Truck, Spice the Americas, and others with unique takes on the grilled cheese.
April 21: National Park Week
Enjoy free access to Georgia’s national system on the first day of National Park Week. Of particular note is the sprawling Chattahoochee-Oconee National Forests, with ample opportunities for hikes, river journeys, and other natural recreational activities.
Austin
April 7: TX German Bier & Bretzel Fest
While the bands playing at this Teutonic celebration aren’t particularly German per say, the food and beer are decidedly so. Beer tastings occur from 5-11pm and pretzel tastings are from 5-9pm. All ages are welcome to attend and those under 13 years can enter for free. Unfortunately, you’ll have to leave the dog(s) at home, though.
April 8: NOLA, Texas Food & Music Festival
You don’t have to be in the Big Easy to enjoy all its creature comforts on April’s second Sunday. Austinites can enjoy New Orleans-style live music, all sorts of food vendors, a craft market, costumes, marching bands, and kids activities at the H-E-B Center at Cedar Park. The kicker—a grand total of 5,000 pounds of crayfish will be served free with admission.
April 21: Weird Homes Tour
Explore some of Austin’s wackiest abodes. This self-paced driving tour gives attendees access to the homes of rarity collectors, artists, architects and personalities all across town. With the opportunity to get a peek at everything from lavish sanctuaries to quirky hideaways, this tour is one you shouldn’t miss.
April 27-29: Austin Food + Wine Festival
This annual food festival is one of Austin’s finest. The weekend is jam-packed with more than 40 culinary demos as well as a bevvy of beer, wine, and food tastings from some of the best chefs and restaurateurs in the business.
Chicago
April 5-19: Chicago Latino Film Festival
Catch films from all around Latin America during the 34th annual Chicago Latino Film Festival held at the AMC River East 21 theater throughout the month of April. General admission to each film is 3 or you can buy a film passport that gives you access to all films for 10.
April 6 & 7: Baconfest
A veritable who’s-who of Chicago restaurants come to the UIC Forum to celebrate and serve all things bacon to anyone willing to fork over the cost of admission. Seriously, check out the list of restaurants—it’s huge and changes for all three sessions. Ticket proceeds from the event also go to a good cause, being donated to the Greater Chicago Food Depository.
April 15: Say Cheese Fest
Another food fest happening this month focuses exclusively on cheese—in all kinds and forms. A group of restaurants including Saxon Creamery, Cheesewich, Philly Bros, and Knife & Tine serve a host of snacks and dishes with cheese as their main theme. Guests get one sample ticket for each vendor and can choose from morning or afternoon sessions.
April 27 & 28: Questival
Odds are you probably haven’t participated in a 24-hour race. Enter Questival. You and a team of 2-6 friends race around Chicago completing various challenges as diverse as donating blood with fake vampire teeth in your mouth or catching a fish in the river. Adventure challenge categories include fitness, camping, service, and teamwork. Contestants only get the list of challenges 24 hours prior to the race.
Dallas
April 6-8: Deep Ellum Arts Festival
Hundreds of artists gather along Main Street in Dallas’ Deep Ellum neighborhood to perform, display their art, and maybe sell you some. There’s six stages of live music and even a pet parade. Admission to the festival is completely free.
April 7- May 28: Scarborough Renaissance Festival
Saturdays and Sundays for the next two months or so offers folks in the DFW area a trip back in time to the Renaissance era. Performers flock to the festival grounds in Waxahachie to entertain attendees with fire breathing, folk music, juggling, theater, and more—all in period costume.
April 14: The Boho Market
Swing by this near-monthly popup makers bazaar while at the Dallas Farmers Market downtown. Shoppers can expect to shop from vendors of handmade goods, jewelry, clothing, wall art, plants, and more.
April 29: Dog Bowl
Bring your best friend (the furry one) over to the historic Cotton Bowl to meet a few new friends of their own. The Friends of Fair Park transform this football field into a doggy playground with dip and sip splash bowls, toys, and pups galore. Also on-hand are local dog rescues, clubs, and pet vendors.
Denver
April 4: High West Oyster Fest
Denver might be over 1,000 miles from the ocean, but that doesn’t mean oysters have to be. Several area restaurants including Lola, Tanmen’s, Cart Driver, Oskar Blues, and event hosts Jax’s Fish House come to the EXDO Event Center in RiNo to serve, shuck, and slurp down oysters starting at 6pm. All the events proceeds go to First Descents, a charity organization dedicated to providing outdoor adventures for children afflicted with cancer.
April 6: Rockies Home Opener
The Colorado Rockies have their first home game of the season at Coors Field. They play the Atlanta Braves.
The Cervantes Masterpiece Ballroom is host to a bizarre, but charming combination of activities. Namely, downing free pancakes, slinging back booze, and buying artwork from over 80 area artists. All the event costs is 0 at the door.
April 14 & 15: Spring Flea
The Denver Rock Drill in RiNo hosts this makers market with all sorts of home goods, fashion items, and edibles and drinkables for sale.
Houston
April 4-8: Sugar Land Wine & Food Affair
You’ll want to keep your pinkie up for this event—it’s quite the fancy occasion. The event features expert sommeliers, cocktail makers, and cooks coming together over the course of five days to serve some seriously delectable meals. Each day features a different theme, drink menu, and cuisine.
April 14: Houston Art Car Parade
The largest art car parade in the world and the largest public art event in Houston takes place halfway through the month. Houstonians can get a sneak peak of the cars that will be on display on Thursday, April 12 at the Discovery Green. The parade itself will course through downtown at 2pm on the event date.
April 14 & 15: Japan Festival Houston
Houston’s Japanese culture festival celebrates its 25th year for two days in the Hermann Park Japanese Garden. Attendees can enjoy traditional music, martial arts demonstrations, Ikebana flower arrangement, tea ceremony, and other staples of this East Asian culture.
April 24-May 20: Hamilton
The Broadway show you’ve been waiting for finally arrives in town this month. Expect to have to hunt for tickets, though—it appears they’re all sold out.
Seattle
April 2-19: Seattle Restaurant Week
A single week just wasn’t enough. Over 165 Seattle restaurants provide menus of three-course dinners at the incredible price of just 3. Lunch specials consisting of two courses are also available at the bargain price of 8, but are only eligible Sunday through Thursday.
April 7 & 8: VegFest
The Vegetarians of Washington throw this festival indulging all those who enjoy or who entertain a plant-based diet. Attendees can snack on a selection of over 500 samples in the Seattle Center’s Exhibition Hall.
April 22: Cochon555
The Fairmont Olympic Hotel plays host to a Sunday pig roast. Five chefs roast five pigs paired with the wines of five winemakers. Beyond the full pigs, diners can also enjoy a cheese bar, tartare bar, and a starter bar with various pates, cured meats, and foie. A pop-up pie shop will offer attendees sweets as well.
April 19-22: Spring Fair
The Washington State Fair offers all kinds of traditional fun: pig races, dock dog jumping competitions, an equestrian stunt show, farm exhibits, a garden show, and even a reptile show.
Southern California
April 14: San Clemente Micro-Brew Fest
Left Coast Brewing Co. presents this beer tasting festival with many regional brews on tap at their brewery. The event has food trucks on-hand as well as live music. Admission is 0 and includes 12 samples.
April 14: Sandcastles on Main
The central portion of Main Street in downtown Huntington Beach shuts down for people to build sandcastles along the main drag. Teams can compete to build sandcastles for several award categories or just bring their trowels and buckets, build, and have fun.
April 21 & 22: Green Scene Plant & Garden Expo
For the 44th year, this plant expo raises funds for the Fullerton Arboretum. For sale to the public are bulbs, vegetable plants, succulents, garden flowers, and other plants perfect for the yard or inside the home.
April 26-May 3: Newport Beach Film Festival
The Newport Beach Film Festival brings a large collection of films to the silver screens of several area theaters. The fest will screen films by directors, artists, and documentarians who are based locally, nationally, and around the world.
South Florida
April 6-8: Tortuga Music Festival
This Fort Lauderdale Music Festival brings many of the nation’s top country music stars to town, including Florida Georgia Line, Keith Urban, Eric Church, and a an eclectic roster of other big names such as Snoop Dogg, Dan + Shay, Cheap Trick, Shaggy, and Sister Hazel.
April 8: Stars on Ice
Fresh from the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea, this group of professional skaters comes to the BB&T Center in Sunrise to show off their skills. Skaters coming to town include 2017 U.S. Champion Nathan Chen, World Silver Medalist Ashley Wagner, three-time World Medalists Maia and Alex Shibutani, 2017 U.S. Champion Karen Chen, and more.
April 6-29: Miami City Ballet: Program Four
The finale of the Miami City Ballet’s 2017-2018 program closes out with a trio of performances of George Balanchine’s Apollo, a performance set to a Dmitri Shostakovich piano concerto, and another Balanchine piece titled La Valse, consisting of a 34-person waltz. The ballet travels throughout South Florida to the Kravis Center in West Palm Beach, the Adrienne Arsht Center in Miami, and the Broward Center in Fort Lauderdale.
April 20-22: Wynwood Life Art Festival
The Wynwood Life festival returns for another year to celebrate the arts and life one of Miami’s most happening districts. Street artists do live painting, over 15 bands play live music on stage, an art house pop-up gallery is available for viewing, and a style lounge and runway offers fashion shows.
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