Tag: Festivals

Where To Eat In Raleigh, NC: Dreamville Festival Insider’s Guide

Posted on by Nathan da Silva

How many times is too many times to say how much WE LOVE Southern food? 

While we’re in town for Dreamville Festival (April 1-2), we’ll be chowing down on some staples: bbq, battered chicken, biscuits, and quenching our thirst with some sweet tea. 

Love, love, love.

Never been to Dreamville Festival or Raleigh?

Dreamville Festival is held every year in Raleigh, North Carolina.  It was founded by rapper J. Cole and his record label Dreamville Records. Expect to see both up-and-coming and established rap, hip-hop, and R&B artists.  

And Raleigh, North Carolina is known for its Southern cuisine.

So yep today let’s talk about where we’ll be eating. Here are 10 spots to try.

We go into where to find Southern-style food plus popular patisseries and other restaurants (in case you want to eat something other than BBQ).

*Looking to find a place to stay last minute? Check out Crewfare partner hotels for this festival here.

Southern Food

Bojangles’ Famous Chicken ‘n Biscuits 

Style: American regional chain of fast food restaurants serving cajun-seasoned fried chicken, buttermilk biscuits, and sweet tea

Order: chicken biscuit with egg and cheese, sweet tea

Hours: 5:30 am – 11:30 pm

Beasley’s Chicken + Honey

Style: Southern comfort food, their specialty is fried chicken, and the space is rustic and casual

Order: fried chicken and waffles sweet tea

Hours: Thursday to Saturday 11:30 pm to 9:00 pm, and Sunday to Monday 11:30 pm to 8:00 pm

Humble Pie

Style: specializing in small, Southern plates

Order: homemade sourdough, Mac-n-cheese, and crispy brussel sprouts

Hours: Wednesday to Saturday 5:00 pm to 10:00 pm

Longleaf Swine

Style: traditional BBQ restaurant cooking over open pits

Order: the brisket, ribs, smoked chicken, and mac n cheese

Hours: Wednesday to Sunday 11:00 am to 10:00 pm or until sold out

Patisserie

Layered Croissanterie

Style: this bakery specializes in croissants and other French pastries

Order: this: magic toast croissant dough slices topped with graham cracker frangipane, coconut, and pecans then baked. Finished with caramel and chocolate shavings

Hours: Wednesday to Sunday 8:00 am to 2:00 pm

lucettegrace

Style: specializes in French-inspired pastries, cakes, and desserts

Order: pain au chocolat

Hours: Monday to Saturday 8:00 am to 4:00 pm

Other Spots

Cucciolo Terrazza

Style: specializes in Italian cuisine and cocktails

Order: spicy vodka tomato cream rigatoni

Hours: see their website, varies

Oakwood Pizza Box

Style: NYC-style thin sliced pizza

Order: 50/50 pizza – half red and half white sauce

Hours: Wednesday to Sunday 5:00 pm to 9:00 pm, and Friday to Sunday 12:00 pm to 3:00 pm

Plates Neighborhood Kitchen

Style: specializes in classic, Southern-style dishes with locally sourced ingredients

Order:  black Garlic Fettuccine handmade pasta + smoked fontina alfredo + spring onions + grape tomatoes + swiss chard + breadcrumbs

Hours: see their website, varies

Sushi Mon

Style: specializes in sushi and other Japanese dishes

Order: hand rolls please

Hours: see their website, varies

-Crewfare

Crewfare’s Complete Ultra Survival Guide

Posted on by Nathan da Silva

We’ve got some practical advice from us serial festival goers for Ultra Music Festival.

Yes, we have survival strategies for every festival we attend.

And we have very specific strategies when it comes to going to the world’s largest electronic music festival: Miami’s Ultra Music Festival (March 24-26). 

Today we’re ready to share our survival plan for Ultra with YOU.

Seriously, if we didn’t have a very strategic plan for navigating Ultra, we might end up waiting in line for hours to get in and miss some of the big-name acts. AVOID!

Our survival guide involves a little bit of planning, but it’s fairly easy. Anyone can do it, really. 

Get ready to screenshot!

Crewfare’s Ultra Music Festival Survival Guide 

+ID 

Have your ID ready to be scanned at security. This event is for 18+ and security will be checking.

+Baby Wipes Or TP, Or Hand Sanitizer

Expect the port-o-potties to run out of TP, and hand wash. Do yourself a favor and bring some for yourself. Self-care. 

+Water

ALWAYS. 

Even if you’ve never worried about dehydration and its serious effects, it happens a lot at Ultra and it can cause a medical emergency. No joke.

Keep water on you like you’re on a mission. More than you think you’ll need. Factor in Miami temperatures, and you’re going to sweat more than you thought humanly possible, and you’re going to burn energy from moving so much.

Tip:  hydration pack – try filling a 2-liter hydration pack up twice during the day and polish that off, at night fill once and drink.

For Vibedration hydration packs to match your outfit go here.

+Sunscreen

Apply liberally, even to your lips to avoid sunburn

+Carry Clear Bags

Festival rules – No backpacks, purses, or bags allowed except bags made of clear plastic, clear vinyl, or clear PVC not exceeding 13”x17”

See Ultra Festival’s full guidelines on clear bags here.

+Arrive Early On Friday

If you’ve never arrived early for an event in your life.

Make this the first time. If you show up right when doors open, you might still be in line hours later while your favorite acts are on. Not the look we’re going for.

+Avoid The 5% Of Shifty People

95% of festival-goers are friendly, avoid being a target for:

-Pickpockets – yes a fanny pack isn’t always the look but it’s not fun to get your phone stolen, don’t put anything in your back pockets. Here are two brands we recommend: Loctote and Lunchbox Packs.

-Getting your drink spiked: keep your drink covered, and if it’s open, keep your eyes on it, and don’t touch it if you put it down somewhere

-Stay with your group: texting and calling will likely not work when you’re on site. Have a designated meeting spot picked out ahead of time. if you get separated, find your people there.

+Stay Comfortable

Wear comfy sneakers (you’re gonna be moving, ALL DAY)

Earplugs. – you’ll still hear everything, you’ll avoid that ringing for days sensation that tells you that yes, you’ve got hearing loss that will kick in 

-Crewfare

What To Do In Baltimore: Moonrise Festival Edition

Posted on by Nathan da Silva

Hi, hi, hi.

If this is your first time going to Moonrise Festival, expect a full lineup of electronic dance music (EDM) artists and DJs, hip-hop, and rap with lots of special effects and an AMAZING stage design. 

Moonrise Festival takes place in Baltimore, Maryland (August 12-13 this year). And Crewfare partnered with a bunch of hotels for Moonrise (check them out here). 

If you’re wondering what other things you can do while you’re staying in Baltimore, here are our recommendations.

Here ya go:

Baltimore Has 4 Main Areas To Shop And Eat

Harbor East

12 blocks of eating and shopping. This is the trendy waterfront neighborhood in Baltimore. Expect high-end shops, designer clothing stores, and luxury boutiques.

Fells Point

This is a historic neighborhood with cobblestone streets. Expect to find independent boutiques, antique shops, and art galleries.

Hampden

You’re going to find trendy and vintage shops. Picture retro furniture, vinyl records, and handmade crafts.

Mt. Vernon

Expect upscale boutiques, antique shops, and art galleries, as well as a weekly farmer’s market.

Other Things To Check Out

Baseball?

Get tickets for a Baltimore Orioles game here

Baltimore Museum of Art

See artwork by Andy Warhol, Matisse and other famous artists at the Baltimore Museum of Art here

-Crewfare

Can’t Miss California Music Festivals in 2023

Posted on by Nathan da Silva

As 2022 winds down and Spotify Wrapped reveals just how many times you listened to the same song on repeat (is it too basic to reveal our top two were Taylor Swift and Bad Bunny?), it’s time to think about what you want to listen to (and what events you want to travel to) in 2023. With so many great festivals happening up and down the Golden State, there’s something for every playlist out there. Here’s our top picks for California Festivals next year:

Rolling Loud LA – Inglewood – March 3-5

Rolling Loud is the world’s largest hip hop festival and its lineup for LA this year is stacked: headliners include Travis Scott, Future, and Playboi Carti and there are ton of well known acts as well as up-and-coming artists making appearances. Hip Hop is such a vital part of LA’s culture so being able to enjoy it with fellow fans in LA makes it that much better. If you thinking of heading out for the festival, don’t forget to check out Crewfare’s travel hub, which will get you the best rates on hotel reservations for Rolling Loud LA.

Coachella – Palm Springs – April 14-16 and 21-23

The classic–two weekends in the desert with some of music’s biggest acts. We couldn’t pick the most incredible of Coachella’s past performances so we picked some starting with the letter B: Beyonce, Billie Eilish, Black Pink, the Black Keys. The lineup for 2023 hasn’t been announced yet (though Frank Ocean, who had to cancel last year, will be there), but no matter who’s performing it promises to be an amazing weekend of listening, partying, and making memories with your friends in the sun.

Bottle Rock – Napa Valley – May 26-28

Bottle Rock is Napa Valley’s big music, food, and wine festival. Their lineups skew towards rock and pop, with enough variety to find something for even the most discerning musical palette. Plus you’ll be in one of the most beautiful parts of California enjoying wines from all the different vineyards and food from some of their award winning restaurants. Sounds like a perfect Cali Weekend to us. 

I Love RNB – Long Beach – May 27

This music festival makes it easy to remember why you love R&B, with Ashanti and Ja Rule at top billing and tons of other amazing R&B artists performing as well. The venue for RNB is the Queen Mary, in Long Beach, which is a super cool spot right on the water. California vibes and good times. Check out the Crewfare travel hub to get the best rates at a nearby hotel. 

Outside Lands – San Francisco – August 11-13

Outside Lands provides three days of amazing musical acts, cool art, great food, wine, beer, and cannabis–pretty much everything you think of when you think of San Francisco. It’s also got the perfect San Francisco venue, Golden Gate Park, right in the heart of SF. Outside Lands has a reputation as the festival all the locals go to, which makes its hometown vibe even more appealing. Don’t be surprised by the cold nights, even in August!