Mint Hill Madness

Visited this event for the first time in years and was pleasantly surprised but not overwhelmed. It’s a perfectly fine way to spend your weekend but it does coincide with the same weekend as Festival in the Park in Charlotte so it’s probably not as populated as much as it could be. That being said, I had a good time with my kids and girlfriend. Not a whole lot for adults here, pretty much geared towards children with bounce houses, etc and fair like rides that they will enjoy for sure.
In short, this is a good event to browse some local crafts and food as well as some kid friendly rides but if you’re like me, you’ll be ready to leave within an hour. Not a terribly large event.

Reaching its 28^th year in 2010, Mint Hill Madness is one of the older festivals around town. The — generally more popular — Matthews Alive only hit #18 this year, while the venerable Grande Dame in Charlotte, Festival in the Park, is on #46 in 2010.
Still, it isn’t a bad gig. This year, the festival moves to downtown Mint Hill, from Fairview Park on 218. Why the move? I actually have no idea. Arguably to get things into town, rather than on the outskirts. But there is probably a bit more room at the park than there is in town, the parking situation was a bit better there, and it didn’t interfere with traffic as much either.
Word is that the merchants were up for it, since it meant more foot traffic for their stores, but the placement is actually near the consignment shops next to City Hall, rather than Mint Hill Festival, Mint Hill Village or anywhere else that would really benefit from the traffic. So who knows?
As to the festival itself, it’s worth a visit. The rides are behind City Hall, which is cool, and you can get an all-​you-​can-​ride wristband (don’t know if they are available at all times or only certain nights). There is a nice lane on the approach to the ride zone for picking up food stuff — this might not be a good choice, since you can eat and then get sick, but that might be part of the fun.
Prices are sweet. Rather than $ 6 for a barbecue sandwich at some festivals (looking at you BBQ and Blues), you pay just $ 3. There is also pizza from Big Guy’s — also slices in front of Hawthorne’s, but you have to walk to it, kettle corn, Italian ice and your general festival grub.
Nice selection of booths for crafts and such, though you might want to visit during the day, since lighting is spotty (as in spotlights — get it?) at night and you can’t see too well. There are even bands playing from City Hall at night where you can get your groove on. If that’s not your thing, The Link has a karaōke stage in a parking lot. Definitely lots of entertainment options.