Charleston has so many amazing festivals during the summer.



One of my favorites is Multifest.



"MULTIFEST is a highly anticipated event in West Virginia that brings together various cultural and ethnic communities in an atmosphere of tolerance and goodwill through art, music, education, cultural programs and cuisine," according to the website.



It was founded in 1989.



And has the mission: "The Multi-Cultural Festival of West Virginia, Inc., aka Multifest, is a non-profit organization that seeks to enrich, develop & enhance multiculturalism in the lives of those we serve in the community. This is done by providing a friendly, family-oriented environment, non-violent tolerance & safe venue to celebrate diversity for all citizens through art, music, education, ethnic cuisine, health & wellness and cultural programming."



They feature a variety of musical artists, but of course, I get most excited about the food.



There were SO many food vendors that I had a hard time keeping track of them all.



But here are some of the ones I noted:



Phat Daddy's, Dem 2 Brothers, BG'z LA Street Tacos, Oishii, Holy O's Donuts, Sharky's, Fudge Bar, MR Poppins, Bayou Classics, Chicken Teriyaki, Fruits Juice, New Orleans Sno Balls, Jojo's Tacos, Taste of International, The Lucky Lemon, Le'Cool Concessions, Pop's Sno Palace anndn Treats, Zul's, Jumbo Fish Wings & Shrimp, Shotgun's Smokehouse BBQ, Chef Hogate '85, Philadelphia Water Ice, and more.



Plus some vendors that had huge signs promoting deep-fried goodies.



I was able to check out three vendors.



Though, honestly, I wish I could've stopped at more!



Those were: Scooby's Icy Treats, Bro Marsh BBQ, and Rumtastic Gourmet Rum Cakes.



Let's start with Scooby's Icy Treats.



I've actually been trying to track these folks down for a while.



I just happened to not be in the same place as them until now.



They offer a bunch of different flavors of Philadelphia water ice, which is like a super smooth, satisfying snow cone, but more fine and delicious.



I opted for the tropical rainbow, which just felt like summer in one bite. Super colorful, fruity, fresh.



It was super refreshing. Grade: A



Then, moving onto Bro Marsh BBQ.



This Beckley-based BBQ food truck offers pulled pork, ribs, hot dogs, wings and more.



I ordered a pulled pork sandwich with slaw, potato salad and macaroni and cheese.



This was a pretty good pulled pork sandwich. Nice helping of pork, pretty decent slaw.



The potato salad was decent, as was the mac and cheese. I wanted some more oomph in that mac & cheese.



But it wasn't bad.



Grade: B



Finally, Rumtastic Gourmet Rum Cakes.



This guy is based out of Georgia, but these little rum cakes ship everywhere. They come in 7 flavors: Original/French Vanilla, Pecans, Chocolate, Pineapple, Red velvet, Lemon, and Pina Coloda. He said the original/French vanilla was most popular, so I went with that. You can certainly taste the rum in these little guys, but they're also moist as heck.



"While struggling with the mortgage meltdown crisis of 2008 and 2009, our founder Kevin L. Wilburn found himself with little money and a lot of time on his hands. He decided to tinker around with a long-held hobby, baking. And thus, Rumtastic was born! Now of course he couldn’t eat all the large cakes by himself, so he started sharing the cake with his co-workers at work. The demand for the cake was so high that the sharing turned into selling! And as they say, “the rest is history!” Rumtastic is a provider of gourmet rum cakes. The original recipe was an "old family favorite." We wanted to bring a lot of excitement and indulgence to that recipe. After extensive sampling, we came up with a recipe that is sure to delight and pleasure any palate. We focus on using quality ingredients to provide "the perfect gourmet rum cakes." We have varied sizes, including "made to orders." We are located in Atlanta, GA. We ship all over the United States. "What ever your budget, we have a cake for it. Wherever you are we will get it to you." We look forward to being your preferred provider of quality service and product.



These were pretty dang tasty. Grade: A

There's an adorable little coffee truck in Charleston callee Luna Coffee that is setting up downtown and at events.



She has a littke seating area where you can enjoy one of the signature drinks. I ordered "Into The Wooda," which had mocha, toasted marshmallow and brown sugar cold foam. It may be my new favorite drink in recent memory. Absolutely divine. Just the right amount of sweetness and all of the cozy.



Grade: A

Nellie's Cookie Jar is a female-owned small business cookie shop in Charleston, West Virginia. "Made from scratch and baked to perfection, these 3-inch cookies are too good not to share," according to the website. I recently heard about this home business, so I placed an order online to check out all the cookies:

Nellie: The cookie that started it all! Bursting with semi-sweet chocolate chips, our take on this classic cookie will become a staple in your house too.

Vandalia: A dense and gooey chocolate cookie filled with peanut butter chips in every bite. Okie A rich and buttery cookie featuring oats, coconut, and chocolate chips.

Okie: A rich and buttery cookie featuring oats, coconut and chocolate chips.

Avonlea: Sugar cookie topped with a lovely buttercream, this cookie is light and sweet with a hint of almond.

Ninth East: A chocolate lover's dream of a chocolate cookie packed with semi-sweet chocolate chips.

Seasonal: Spring Fling A light, chewy cookie bursting with fresh orange zest and white chocolate chips.
These are some really tasty cookies! You all know I'm not even a chocolate chip fan, but I could appreciate these. The seasonal one especially had me thinking summer. AND, while the actual cookies are absolutely delicious, I cannot understate how accommodating and kind the owner was during the ordering process. I had paid and picked a date to pick up my cookies, but my plans were thrown out the window when I hurt myself and was hospitalized. The owner was so patient with me and even hand-delivered them to my house after all the hubbub. That's just one of many reasons I love local businesses.

Grade: A

There is an ice cream truck in Reedsville that looks like it could belong at a carnival, but it stays stationary in wooded space. Think city meets country.



Udders Creamery sells soft serve ice cream, sundaes, specialty desserts and more. Plus a few snacks if you opt for something savory.



I went for a specialty sundae with vanilla soft serve, caramel and pretzel pieces. I love the salty sweet combo. And, there was a ton of caramel! Maybe, actually, too much, though. Because the outside was a sticky mess.



While the ice cream was delicious, of course, the experience left a little to be desired only because of the service, the messiness, and that put a little raincloud on my experience.



But I'll be back. I love ice cream, and I love it in all of its forms. Plus, having chickens roam around while eating ice cream is a perk.



Grade: B

If you are a chocolate fan, there is no greater place in the world than Hershey Park.



Think of an amusement park - add chocolate and unique experiences - and you'll have Hershey Park, Pennsylvania.



I traveled here for a conference and enjoyed all of the lodging, history, and local sites.



They also have a museum and amusement park rides. But, I want to share about the chocolate world experience.



The space has a few different pieces: a store, a history ride, and some custom chocolate opportunities.



For example, one of the first stations I visited was a mega Reese cup that you could customize.



You start with a large, ridged chocolate cup. Then, you have a peanut butter face that can have all sorts of mix-ins.



I added M&Ms, pretzels, and marshmallows. This was all packaged up into the biggest Reese cup I've ever seen and, it was fun to know that I kind of had a hand in creating it.



Moving onto the next station: Custom chocolate bar.



You get to choose the filling, topping, and even the package design.



I added butterscotch chips to my chocolate bar and added sprinkles to the top.



And for the packaging, I was sure to add my name, because it's rare that I get to find it out in the wild.



There are some fun skits, like one where you learn how to taste the differences in chocolate.



I also really enjoyed the little ride through the building for you learned about the history of Hershey.



And, of course, there is shopping. A lot of shopping.



There is everything from specialty limited edition sweets to wearable merch.



I picked up some Hershey Kisses that were influenced by global flavors.



I also made my own custom mix of M&Ms.



They had these giant canisters with every single flavor you can think of.



If chocolate, isn't your thing, Hershey does also own Twizzlers & Jolly Ranchers.



This was a really fun experience.



I think they have some thing for everyone.



Have you ever been?