Paradise City Arts Festival — Attraction in Northampton

TURNED AWAY PAYING CUSTOMERS WITH KIDS

We drove over an hour to the Paradise City Arts festival. Fully vaxxed and masked. We called ahead, and prepared ourselves to be compliant. My daughter (4), and son (2) were turned away because they didn’t have a negative COVID test within 72 hours. The policy (which is unstated) was explained to us that any kid 2 and over had to comply. When we questioned whether a 23 month old with a runny nose, cough and no mask would be allowed in, they meekly admitted that they would. Inconsistent and illogical? I’d say so.

We then explained that during our conversations in the ticket purchasing process, of which we CALLED and mentioned the children were coming, they made no attempt to inform us of this illogical and unfindable policy. The staff became hostile with us at the gate when we questioned their error. The policy was also not featured on their homepage, nor posted at the gate.

The owner/manager Mr Scott then approached with no ability to explain their communication error. He claimed it was a Northampton policy, of which we quickly Googled and proved false. He quickly then lied and said we weren’t in Northampton, which contradicted his previous claim only seconds earlier. It was most obviously a CYA moment in which he knew he couldn’t admit to his inconsistencies and failure.

Mr Scott then blatantly LIED about “hundreds” of kids at the festival who complied with his inaccessible policy. (For the record, we could see exactly ZERO kids inside the festival gates)

Soon after, another family attempted to enter a and suffered the same fate. They also were unaware of this policy. After finally being sent away, we met another family in the parking lot who were also turned away in a similar fashion.

We proceeded to walk over to another entrance gate to investigate and counted 15(!!) families who had also been turned away, or were also pleading their care. One family had driven 4 hours! Again, from this vantage point, we had a clear view into the festival tents and there was not one child and support false claim of “hundreds” of kids Mr Scott said we’re inside the gates (the gates were chain link fence and a rope, FYI).

Long story long, on the way out, we suggested to the parking attendants to warn other families in advance. We were SHOCKED to find out that hundreds of families had been turned away, and NOT let in, as Mr...

Paradise City Arts Festival is such a wonderful event. I have attended this festival for many years. Hand-made, one of a kind, unique items, made with love and attention to detail. Not store bought production stuff, but beautiful art with a soul. Many people think handmade items are expensive, and some are, but you can find many items that are affordable . Quality workmanship. Stopping to chat with the artists is always uplifting, so creative. I purchase gifts for friends and family and of course something for me. 😊The food tent is huge and always a great band playing. Go! Even if you don’t buy anything, it’s still a...

This show has high quality art, including some functional art, fashion, and jewelry. There is some variation in price points, which is nice for different clientele. It’s best to do a full circle of the three tents before deciding to buy any pieces as some styles are replicated across artists (not in a bad way, in a good way that gives helpful...