Kidding Around in Chester County

Just as Labor Day is the “unofficial end to summer”, here in Chester County the Chester County Restaurant Festival is the “unofficial start to fall festival season”!  With thousands of visitors descending on the borough of West Chester, this event is not to be missed.  Food for every taste, drink, community partners, and artisans; the Chester County Restaurant Festival has it all!   

Basics:

• Address: West Chester Borough

• Event Annual Date: September

• Admissions: Free Event, though all food and drink is for-purchase

• Website: https://www.west-chester.com/393/The-Chester-County-Restaurant-Festival

Know Before You Go:

• Ample Parking throughout the Borough

• Stroller Friendly but VERY crowded

• Port-A-Potties Only (Although there are many local businesses nearby, if you needed an indoor facility in a pinch)

• Food and Drink Available for Purchase (make sure to bring cash)

• Beer Garden

• Lots of Kid and Family Friendly Activities from Community Partners

• Live Music

• ATMs Throughout the Event

• On-site Medical Tent

Our Experience

Since we were students at West Chester University, my husband and I have attended Restaurant Festival (and even worked a few at the local Rite Aid which made for an interesting day at work but I digress…).  This event is something we look forward to all year and have not missed one in years.  Since we have attended so many times, we have accumulated several “hacks” that made us feel more at ease about bringing our daughter to her very first fest!  With thousands upon thousands descending on the borough for this time honored tradition, it is our hope that some of our tips and our experience will help you form a confident plan when bringing your kiddos so that you can enjoy the festival as much as we do!

The first big question that should pop into your mind when thinking of those kinds of numbers and the borough of West Chester is “Where on Earth will we park!?”  Luckily, there are a few really great options.  First, West Chester has several garages and this year, the borough offered $5.00 parking all day.  All of the garages are stroller-friendly and are equipped with elevators if you are forced to park on the roof with little children who may not be able to master 7 or 8 flights of stairs.  For a list of garages click here.  We never take the option of garage parking, as we personally find the logistics of trying to find a spot daunting.  Instead, we opt to park a bit further from the event on one of the many free borough streets.  While many of West Chester’s streets are either metered or permit-only, you may be surprised to learn there are equally as many that are not.  Pro-Tip: Review the map found here before you go and familiarize yourself with the free streets (and a back road way to access it avoiding the center of town) so that once you arrive, parking is swift and easy.  Note, parking on free streets does mean parking farther away from the event than you may care for due to the distance and your family’s specific needs.  In that case, the garages are a highly recommended option for you but be forewarned, they will fill up fast so plan to arrive early!

Once you enter the festival, you will be immediately drawn into the sights, sounds, and SMELLS!  It always amazes me how many people can be packed onto the closed-down downtown streets at once.  We would like to talk a little bit about the crowds and managing them before we go on to describe the rest of the festival because as a parent, aside from parking, crowd control is the number one concern I would like to have a game plan for before attending.  While, yes, the festival is very crowded, there are very few occasions when we have felt TOO crowded.  That being said, if you have a little one that is nervous around large crowds or becomes quickly overwhelmed, you may want to consider attending the event either early or late in the day to avoid the peak rush of the crowd.  (We would highly recommend early to ensure that you get a pick of any food you want, as vendors can sometimes run out of food by the end of the day!)  In addition, we have always found that people want to be in the street to see the various food offerings and the sidewalks offer much lighter traffic.  If your little one begins to become overwhelmed (or if you do!), seeking reprieve on the sidewalk is usually a very safe bet.  Having a stroller for the first time at this event and knowing that the sidewalks would offer more space, when we saw a large crowd ahead (either from a long line or people congregating), we ducked onto the sidewalks and that alone made our experience more relaxed.  Many of the side streets also offer some solitude so that is a great option as well.  Despite the throngs of people, there are always quieter places within the festival or just a short walk away so do not allow the size of the crowd to intimidate your family from coming to the event!

The layout of the festival is fairly simple: Gay Street contains all of the food trucks, High Street and Market Street feature the community and vendor exhibits, and Church Street between Gay and Market hosts the Beer Garden.  There is food from every corner of the globe and for every diet, from vegan to BBQ, from Asian to Mexican and everything in between, there is something for everyone.  Always highly popular items include lobster rolls, cheese curds, and funnel cakes, though if those do not sound appetizing there is likely a version of your favorite food available for purchase as well.  The beer garden is a nice relaxed atmosphere and though there is a cover charge, the proceeds this year went to the West Chester Parks and Rec’s fund to send children to summer camps!  Inside the beer garden libations are available for purchase. Live music can be found throughout the event and the acts are always local favorites so be sure to take a few minutes out of your adventure to listen!

Pro-tip: we usually use the Restaurant Festival as a time to go into our favorite borough restaurants for a meal.  While that may seem counter-intuitive because of all the food found at the fest, we find that the restaurants are generally at their least crowded on this day and you can enjoy a nice, air conditioned meal (and the bathroom facilities!) to take a break from the bustling energy of the festival outside.  Once we are recharged with food and drink, we are able to continue on with the festival.

Overall, this is one of our absolute favorite Chester County events of all time!  We try to never miss it and this year, it was magical to share it with our daughter.  This festival evokes a feeling of community that few others do and it renews my spirit of pride for this county every year.  We hope this article provides you with a little more insight into navigating the event with children, as this is a tremendous experience and memory to create with your family that should not be missed!  Cheers!