The Mac and Cheese Fest Tickets

Wow to start with the $55 ticket and only getting one drink ticket and there was only at the second session 15 vendors there and one didn't even have macaroni and cheese and had rice no one explained where the VIP stuff was you had to pay for the majority of your drinks people were running out of things people were giving their tickets away there should have been a lot more vendors there and it should have been a little more organized it was not worth $55 and I'm not saying anything about the macaroni and cheese because the vendors that were there were very good and very nice but there should have been more than the portions were fine it just needed to be a little more organized than and put together better because I don't even understand how you could pay $55 for that that was a mess

- The definition of two distinct lines for VIP and General Admission could be put in place. It was very confusing, very hot and pretty disorganized. - The attendants handing out the wrist bands were not well-informed - we were VIP ticket attendees and were herded into a VIP line that wasn't moving, while two other lines were zipping past us, through security and into the event with very little wait. Once I approached someone in that area, they informed us that there were, in fact, three VIP lines? - Absoutely no shade! C'mon guys. A few tents over the standing tables would have been really nice. A tent over the games as well. The band was all the way at the end of the area and seemed totally disconnected. - A few water stations would have also been a good idea - it was very, very hot and there was virtually no relief unless you had VIP tix. - I really did like the event, but you can really step it up a bit. The tickets weren't cheap (VIP) but I really felt the event overall was done fairly cheaply.

I feel like it was a good concept but not a very well executed process.

Organization with vendors on this event was pitiful..esp. for the ticket price just to attend. Vendors were " overwhelmed and not organized adequately for the event ( possible purposely) how hard is it scoop a small sample into a cup and avoid long lines in degree day? Felt like cedar point waits. Then to have vendors " run out" and hour and have into 3hour event..and other not set up/ prepare for and hour+ into the event..at $35+ dollars ticket, this was a " never go back again" event!!..whom ever is the main organizer of this event should have BETTER CONTROL with the vendors!!!

It was just meh. The mac and cheese samples were all the same - plain, 2-3 with brisket or one with pulled pork and one with bacon. Very little overall variety. The samples were small, the lines were long. There were not nearly the number of samples advertised. For $40, you got ten tickets. Those samples were not in any way worth $4 each! Even if you subtract that I got one drink ticket, they were still not worth $3 each. There was no where to sit and very little to do other than just wait in constant lines. I felt it was worth maaaaaybe $20. I'm glad I was in the second session and not in direct sunlight the whole time since it was a warm day. Many places ran out early. I wouldn't go again.

This festival was a completely fraud...WAY too many people admitted fro WAY too few vendors. The lines were ludicrously long for every mac-n-cheese fest and there was *nothing* else to do, which meant everyone was in line. We left after 3 food trucks/stands and couldn't give our extra tickets away because everyone else was in the same (sinking) boat. What a waste of time and money.

The Mac and cheese was great! What wasn’t great, is that I bought VIP tickets and didn’t get to enter until the regular purchased tickets was. They had a line all the way down the side of the fence and they told us that was the VIP line and then came 5 minutes before regular entry to let us in. It was a waste of money and completely unorganized. We could have avoided long lines if this didn’t occur.

This event was a waste of money. Won’t be doing this next year.

I love mac n chz, was very excited. Purse was too big so not allowed in, i had to go back to hotel leave it and come back. Long lines, not a single tent for shade and it was hot. Mac n chz samples great variety. Wouldve stayed longer if had shade while waiting in long lines for each sample.

I purchased the general admission, which provides ten Mac N cheese tix and one drink ticket. The food tickets get you sample size portions (one per ticket). Steep cost at $40, especially when you have to pay for parking ($10). Also, the stadium has a bag size limit that was a bit extreme (6.5"x 4.5" limit). A lot of people had to figure out what to do with their purse, especially since this information was provided late in the game. Everything I had was delicious, and I felt like I ate the equivalent to a regular sized meal. For the price, I would have expected to be able to eat like a fat kid. The drink ticket applied to an alcoholic drink, so that was a bit compensatory, if that's your thing.

The Mac and Cheese festival was a delicious experience. The VIP ticket was the way to go as the weather got really hot pretty early and there was not any shade!!!!! All the vendors were so friendly and proud to explain their product. We definitely enjoyed our time at the Highmark Stadiuim (except for the unrelenting sun)! Maybe misting stations for large tents around the high top tables for eating if it is going to be 90+ degrees next year.

The lines to get in were very long due to lack of information about the purse/bag policy. One security guard wouldn’t allow a bag bigger than his hand. $40 for a bottle of water and 10 two bite samples of Mac and cheese! There was a fudge vendor that was cash only. Needless to say, that stand had no line. The lines to most of the food trucks or stands were so long it took anywhere from 15 to 30 minutes to get your sample. We had multiple people ask if we wanted their tickets as they said they were frustrated and leaving.

This could have been a great event had it been properly organized. There was no shade, no seating. The event had a no bag policy which was NEVER relayed in any advertisement of the event. The girl I was with actually had to throw her purse away! We had booked a room in downtown, which was a 30 minute walk and she had no where to put it. The lines were long and many vendors were closed by the time the second event had gotten underway. EMT had to be brought in because people were passing out from no shade and heat exhaustion/stroke. The food, aside from about 3 vendors, was terrible. Most were completely out and not even giving out any more samples. This was definitely not worth the 200 I spent on 4 tickets. We ended up leaving and throwing tickets away bc there wasn’t enough food and it was a terrible experience.

$90 for two tickets to any event would have the consumer believe they are going to be wowed by whatever will be offered. $90 for this event instead got us each a ticket card with 10 sample vouchers, 1 drink voucher, and a contest voucher which was at a table monitored by no one and with no instructions on what to do with said ticket. The sample sizes are laughable and after the first 10 minutes, it easily becomes a 15+ minute wait at any of the lines. This event would be infinitely better if the number of people admitted was reduced significantly and the portions were bigger. We left an hour after getting there and gave our remaining 6 tickets to someone on our way out the gate. The food that we did have was alright, but it most certainly wasn't $90 good. Definitely won't be coming back to this event!

This event was wonderful! There were so many different options. The only thing that could have been better was that multiple trucks ran out of food . So we didn’t get to try a few.

We attended the first session and loved it. The vendors were great and the variety of Mac and Cheese options was substantial. As the event progressed, the lines were very long - I feel that there should've been a VIP line (although the access to AC for VIP's was AWESOME because it was HOT). Having more tables would've been nice, as well. Overall, I loved the event!! Great venue, great food. Will absolutely be trying some of the restaurants that represented!!!

Lines were too long and vendors ran out within an hour

No shade in venue, no purses allowed, no notice of purse policy anywhere until reaching security at event, one Mac and cheese was watery soup, all samples were in smallest food containers ever made

We paid $40 per person for general admission. We were given a choice of 3 alcoholic drinks with our drink voucher and each mac and cheese voucher we got a 2oz cup with maybe 6 noodles of mac and cheese. No places to sit and enjoy the day....Completely awful experience

Where to start. Maybe with my wife walking back to the car to leave her purse. Maybe with no one explaining exactly why I coughed up big bucks for VIP tickets. (Waste of money) Maybe the lack of mac and cheese vendors. We had more tickets than vendors. Maybe the looong line to use our drink tickets because ther was 1 stand to use them. In any case we won't be going back.