Carlsbad Street Fair

Like the other reviews say– It’s a huge street fair and parking is very hard to find, but you can pay to park around the area for $ 10-​$ 20. There was a shuttle, but since I was with my wife, kids, and a giant stroller I avoided what was probably a headache for people with small children. Our friends took the shuttle and said it was no issue getting on and off. We got there at 9am to try and beat the rest of CA that would show up and it paid off getting there early.
When you walk through you understand very quickly that many of booths sell the same thing. 1. Sun dresses and Woman’s shirts 2. Kettle Corn or other confections 3. Art 4. Cool signs– those are the just the majority of what I saw. Still great to walk around and see the other stuff people were selling. I did try a vendor that sold strictly root beer floats and it was very disappointing. The root beer was warm and the ice cream was kept in a cooler with just ice so it was very soft… wasted $ 5 bucks on it. My friends got some art from a vendor– there were many different type of art vendors so that is a plus for any art goers. I did try a tri-​tip sandwich and it was
.
Overall I can’t see myself going every year, but was nice to say that I’ve gone to the biggest street fair in the country. We brought our twin boys (18 months) and we walked together no problem. Hit me up if you have any questions.

Fun way to spend the day, best is to go when it opens as by late morning it gets way too full and takes some of the enjoyment away.
Hours are 8 – 5 and trying to find parking at 10 when we arrived already proved to be quite a challenge.
Lots of circling the area, it’s pure luck really.
About 900 vendors make for a few hours of exploring, plenty of food, art and décor items, there is really something for everyone.
Prices are all over the place, depending on what you are looking for.
While I am a dog owner and lover, there are a ton of them here which makes it even more difficult to navigate the crowds, as you have to look down constantly not to trip over them.
Best bet is to go at 8 and be out of there before noon, it’s a madhouse, but fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

On May 1, 2016 I had the opportunity with friends to enjoy the Carlsbad Street Fair, which is located in Carlsbad Village. There were so many vendors, I had forgotten from last year how large this event was. The weather was perfect, not too cold nor too hot. I was able to purchase a wallet, carmel corn and an abolony shell. I have been looking for this leather purse for over seven years and was unable to find it at the fair. I had a great time with friends. This is an event that occurs every year and it is free. I do not particuarly care for the fried food there, but the chips with large amounts of guacomole looked good. I ended up going to KC Tandors and purchased a large bowel of lentils afterward. I wanted to eat at the yogurt shop, but did not get the opportunity.

Wow! While I heard that this was a large street fair, I was still shocked by how large it truly was. It was like a never ending sea of people and booths. In addition to the main stretch of five or six blocks, it also runs a block in each direction along several side streets. We arrived in the early afternoon and panicked that we wouldn’t be able to finish looking at everything before it closed. Thankfully, it didn’t take as long as it initially looked but we still spent over two hours and I think we made it to every booth.
We ended up finding new bedsheets, some dip mixes, dog treats, a wooden sign for a friend’s birthday and some artwork. It was quite the eclectic mix of shops! All the booth attendants that we stopped to talk with were friendly and informative.
There’s a beer garden, which we stopped to have a drink at and I was pleased to see that they had cider too. It seemed like there was a decent food court but we decided to skip the high calorie fair food and grab a bite after the street fair.
Loved that they have complimentary parking at the Poinsettia Coaster Station and a free shuttle to the street fair. Not only did it knock a few miles off our drive from Del Mar, but it was nice to not have to fight the traffic around the street fair or look for a parking spot!

Totally enjoyable experience– arrived early and left after spending 3+hours. Parking is decent and they have some great locations for bus pick ups. There was a large amount of booths but I was a bit disappointed at the lack. of variety between the products. Went on a search for a purse or wallet but didn’t find anything original. Did find some great deals for kids clothes and photos. Definitely going to attend next year!

Large street fair with lots of vendors, but perhaps few you’d actually want to buy anything from. Think marshmallow launchers and weird kitchen gadgets. It was very crowded, and the city girl in me says keep your wallets and cell phones close by and safely tucked away. The food is pretty good though, and we enjoyed the tri-​tips and funnel cake. There’s a convenient shuttle service from the train station, a beautiful and short drive along the ocean, and a very positive atmosphere.

Be careful if you’re going to do business at a booth called Pretty Fancy I loaded pictures and the picture explains it all.
Pretty Fancy person (should be called made in China rip off) she had 3 tops ALL of them were marked $ 38 (this was at 2:30 in the afternoon they had been there since early morning at opening, which means I’m the first person that even looked at these tops or they would have changed the price sooner if it was truly a mistake)
I went to pay for one she said oh that’s mismarked it should be $ 44 I said well since you marked it for$ 38 you need to honor at least this one and change the prices of the other one and she did not. I went into a couple of shops just for feedback the shop owners told me absolutely she should’ve honored the price that was on the tag, (she would rather have no money then to of been a good business person and done the right thing) she would’ve had a customer for life as well as referrals
Very poor business person by the end of the day as they were closing up I saw three tops were still there. On another street they were selling the exact same tops the guy at the other booth told me they’re all made in China they all come from the same place I told him the story and he knew who the woman was he even said that she tells people that she makes them she doesn’t make them, She takes off the label and puts her own label on it he said and he’s right it was exactly the same.
At the end of the day as they were closing I walk by her booth and all three tops were still there that is exactly what she deserves she will be at the Delmar Fair, she is in La Mesa at the Oktoberfest and she does a few other street fairs stay away from her !!! Spend your hard earned money on people that deserve it but give good customer service !

It’s a great street fair, but it does seem like the S.O.S. every year. It is fun to people watch and the food is good, but kinda like «How much did you say for that corn dog and lemonade»? «REALLY»? Do I get a kiss with that too? LOL

This place is awesome! My boyfriend and I stumbled upon the Carlsbad Street Fair when we did a spontaneous trip to Carlsbad one weekend. Apparently this street fair only happens twice per year, and it only happens one day each time.
This fair stretches out on multiple street blocks, with 900+ different vendors from food to drinks to clothes to home goods to just about anything you can think of. I walked out with some Holiday Decorations and a new Candle for the house. So awesome! I also tried some food as well; it was pretty tasty.
I would plan on spending at least 2 – 3 hours here, possibly even more if you stop at every vendor. Most places will also take credit cards, but bring cash just in case as well.
Cheers!

This faire is full of wonderful art, crafts, food, live music. There is a kids area with bouncers and a faux rock wall to climb. Parking is a real challenge, Paid or not, gotta look for it. There is the typical street fair foods as well as a beer garden and food court. Actually more to see than can do well in one day so gotta clip along at a decent pace. This is a great day out, cute area and near the beach… Not bad!

Always a fun few hours and a tradition. Loads of peeps to look at. Tons of vendors and stuff to see. Love that people bring their dogs out too. They seem to have it controlled for as many people that are there each year. The kid section sucked. Overpriced blow up slides, bouncy things. Great kettle corn as usual. Lots of sampling of dips and sauces which is fun to find new treats. Parking sucks as usual but just follow someone leaving, be patient and all will be ok.

Fun… but too busy. The street fair was huge and trolling with bodies. I think the great weather brought people out in droves. It was nice last weekend too. Almost impossible to see anything it was so crowded, not to mention the shear scale of it. From almost the 5 freeway all the way to Coast Highway, and peeling off all the streets in between. Still had a nice time but didn’t get to checkout much. Just felt like cattle being herded.

This past Sunday May 4^th, 2014 we headed out to the Carlsbad Street Fair. For us it was super convenient because they offered a free bus ride from Poinsettia Station in Carlsbad, so no parking or driving for us. The streets were packed, a lot of the same stuff from the Encinitas Street Fair last weekend, with a few hundred more vendors and food stops. What was cool was that all the stores that were open were also offering discounted merchandise and food specials too, so that was a great time to check out some of the local spots we don’t see often. Overall packed, but fun.

This is a very large street fair that gathers quite a large crowd. A little disappointed by the disproportionate number of junk vendors. There are original artists, but not very many. I think a better name for the event would be the Carlsbad Swap Meet. The venue is clean and safe, lots of bounce houses for the kids.

Yeah, you can find yourself a SlapChop, a ShamWow, a Snuggie, and a SnugWow (yep, that’d be the Snuggie made with ShamWow material), and all that clutter you can also buy at any county fair.
However, among all the QVC crap, I’ve found and brought home some great original artwork. And it’s a fun social scene, usually with a few decent bands playing in the beer garden, the restaurants expanding onto their patios, and drink specials at all our favorite bars.
The Carlsbad Street Fair prides itself on being the biggest street fair of some particular category in all the entire USofA. And true to form, each year the fair metastasizes its way down a new Carlsbad street.
To you, good friends, this means more people and worse traffic every year. I walk there, and if I’m planning to make some major purchases, I stash my car in the train station parking lot the night before. You’ll probably want to take the Coaster, one of the shuttle services, or park at my house.

Best street fair I’ve ever been to.
I just Wish it was more advertised, the only reason I knew about it was because of a buddy at the bar talking about how he’s going there in the morning instead of coming in to watch football. Maybe that’s a sign I need more community involvement –_​–
I couldn’t believe how big it was when I got there. It must have stretched like 4 blocks, all in the heart of downtown Carlsbad. Most of the stores, just left their doors open and put some merch on the street so you can browse their stuff as well.
I have to tell you, I’m not the festival fanatic the fiancé is. I get anxious in crowds, most other people kind of drive me nuts, seems like no one pays attention to where they’re actually going with their body these days. I convinced her we should go early (so I wouldn’t miss the entire Charger’s game…(Lost to the Skins anyway) The fair opens at 8 I believe. We got there at 9, it wasn’t packed yet, and I could breathe comfortably. So much to see, and not all of it was worthless, like I’ve become accustomed to at fairs. When I think fairs, I think trinkets that you’ll never use again, they’ll just sit around. I have to say say this place had a little bit of everything.
What we ended up getting.
Hanging glass bulb that houses some succulent plants inside it. It’s a very cool neat little plant for outside near our door, low maintenance supposedly, a spritz of water a week.
Silicone lids for miscellaneous shaped containers without lids. I haven’t tried them out yet, but seriously, I’m getting damn sick of using tinfoil or saran wrap to preserve things in the fridge, it always looks ghetto when I do it.
The girl got kettle corn… she ALWAYS gets kettle corn… The damn festival addict. :-)
She also got a long sleeve shirt from a vendor who was selling trendier shirts.
Most importantly, we got hooked up with someone who makes pillow cases in so many different patterns and colors, for better prices and way more variety than you’re going to find on
. We were very happy to find this vendor as Jill has been looking for throw pillows for a while, which includes dragging me into stores that I want no business with. Marshall’s **Cough** TJ Maxx **Cough Cough*** Home Goods. ugh I hope it’s over.
The parking: IDK, brought my motorcycle, parked wherever I wanted :-P but I felt like it was a challenge for cars to find some, even that early. I hear this street fair happens every six months, in that case we’ll have to be back.

Expect delays and to walk much more than you’re used to. My GF and I were able to snag a parking spot next to Al’s Café on Carlsbad Village and were super stoked. This was my first time at the street fair, so God definitely looked out for me on the parking situation. If that spot hadn’t opened up, it would have been a fiasco.
The street fair itself is massive. Carlsbad is a sleepy beach town, but the place had the feel of a state fair. There were thousands of people walking everywhere. The booths seemed to overlap as far as goods are concerned.
I was able to snag a new leather wallet and a pair of customized t-​shirts for $ 30. I also carb’d up at L&L with some Chicken Katsu and a pair of vegetable lumpias. The katsu was good, but a little undersized when compared to what they offer at their restaurants. But you have to expect that at this event. The vegetable lumpia were plain jane.
Food trucks would have been amazing. I saw a Johnsonville truck but that was it. There’s definitely room to have a dozen or so trucks posted up and there is definitely enough consumers to keep those trucks busy. Maybe next year?
I thought the Carlsbad Street Fair was very cool. It’s rare that I buy anything at a street fair, even in NYC. But my GF has a thing for airbrushed clothing and I needed a new wallet. There were some good vendors here. My favorite was the vendor selling picnic equipment pre-​packed in carrying cases.
Ingenious…

The largest street fair on the West Coast. Make sure to bring some good walking shoes, because there are usually a lot of vendors. If you can’t find what you’re looking for here then they probably don’t make it. Lots of food choices but a little pricey, but most street fairs are like that. Usually a very large crowd, unless it’s raining like it was on 11÷6÷11. Street parking is terrible. You can drive around for hours. I suggest that you park at Plaza Camino Real in Oceanside or the Poinsettia Street Coaster Station and ride the free bus/​shuttle over. I did that and it’s pretty quick and less painful then trying to drive around and find a place to park and fight over a spot. Not good for the blood pressure. It can get a bit clausto so be prepared to bump a few shoulders. Lots of people and lots of folks like to bring their dogs too. One of the better street fairs.

My friend Darc looked up the Carlsbad Street Fair and apparently it is one of the biggest in the NATION! Go Carlsbad!
Darcy and I found a business that had paid parking (couldn’t get near State Street!) and then we walked for breakfast to Señor Grubby’s, and then checked out the fair. It started to rain just as we got there at 10.30 am!!! Ducked into Fairen Del and bought an umbrella and then continued on our path.
This fair is about three blocks square, with lots of the shops that aren’t in the fair putting out stuff in front of their stores. Lots of people were in the stores, too, because of the rain.
Really fun crowd and some fun stuff. Darc and I both got 1500 thread Egyptian Cotton sheets for $ 34.95/set. And then we both found some artwork. A French guy had giclee’s (transfers onto either paper or canvas). Darc got a famous 1898 painting on paper for $ 75. I got a large, beautiful 1920s scene of the Southern Italy coast on canvas for $ 110.
There was food everywhere and lots of cheerful people in spite of the rain. Next time I’ll be sure to bring a great big shopping bag, ’cause my fingers were breaking by the time I got back to the car.
Great way to spend a Sunday morning in C’bad.

Carlsbad Street Faire is considered the biggest street fair in SD. I’ve gone every year, and it seems as though it just gets busier and crazier.
From all the street fairs that I’ve gone to in North County, Carlsbad is the most diversified with many booths of food, trinkets, vendors and «junk». It’s fun to roam the many streets in the Village. Luckily, they have the CB Street Faire twice a year, just in case you miss it in the Spring.
Traffic and parking is horrendous, and it could get pretty bad around 10−11a — so try to go right in the morning or the tail end of the faire. Sure, it’s free, but a headache if you’re not into crowds.
It’s great to experience at least once if you live in SD, and you can always drive down a block or 2 to get to the 101 to cruise the coastline ;) Absolutely gorgeous!!!