Under the Big Top Elite Event @ Wild Goose Creative

Despite bad campus area parking options, this event came off as fun and different. The margeritta machine was of course a welcome touch and everything else was a nice taste directions Unilocal elite events haven’t gone before.

Another fantastic Elite event! All the circus delights had my head spinning like a carousel.
I loved the space at Wild Goose, although the parking was a bit tricky. Rad Dog lived up to its name and I hope to pay a visit to the rad cart again soon. The margaritas were tasty and a perfect end to a spring-​ish day. Pam’s Popcorn was delish, as always. The chocolate xo cookie from Pattycake was amazing and had me singing with delight.
Genre Creative’s photobooth was my favorite, everyone’s photos look fantastic! Bringing along +2 had me wishing there was more time to chat with the other fabulous Elites. Fingers crossed I’ll see you next time!

LOVED it!
I had a fabulous time at Wild Goose with all the Elites Friday.
First off, it was great seeing everybody and meeting some Elites I hadn’t met before!
Second, I love Wild Goose Creative’s space, it had such a good, fun vibe!
Third, super yumminess was available everywhere! Rad Dog was delish! I wish I could eat it at least once a week because it was the first time I ate a hot dog and didn’t feel consumed with guilt for eating weird nitrates. Pattycake was scrumptious as usual, the Toll House remains my fav! The maragritas we addicting as was Pam’s popcorn.
Fourth, the photo booth was fun, as usual.
Fifth, the Charactures! So awesome, I had two done! It was really fun and Steve is obviously talented!
All in all a great time! A big thanks to Christina for all her hard work and Kristen for running the door like a pro. Also, a super big thanks to all the vendors, because without them we wouldn’t have an event like this!

As always a fantastic and fun event!
I got there early — which was a good thing. Parking is always creative when visiting Wild Goose.
Fun event space, you need to be sure to check out their other events, esp comedy nights :) great fun.
Loved everything and especially loved the nod to vegetarians/​vegans and others observing Lent, and not just as a sideline, but as a focus for a whole event.
Got to try the Rad Dog with veganaise, kraut, mustard, ketchup and some sort of vegan cheese that wasn’t soy based. Delish. Wish I had tried two to sample some of the grilled onions and peppers. My «+1,» who is now motivated to push toward his own elite badge, enjoyed the Tofuky dog, even as a carnivore.
Pam’s Popcorn is always a plus, and the apples for caramel apples from Local Matters were actually LOCAL galas kept in the crisper from the previous season. It was a highlight to get local fruit as delicious as this off-​season. Local Matters also offers cooking classes at Wild Goose.
The margaritas and goombay smash were really outstanding. I usually don’t go for that kind of thing since I am a hater of sour mix. And guess what? The margarita had NO sour in it. I was in heaven.
The ladies from Pattycake were warm and welcoming. Their wares were delish… I think I prefer cookies with butter, real butter. Even as a vegetarian. However, this is certainly an indulgence for the vegan crew.
The best part of the evening was meeting other local folks — really enjoyed meeting the proprietor of Celtic Naturals in Dublin. Her sister was there as well and I was able to learn that she does all the design for the product lines.

This event had all the regular verbs that go along with a good party and some wild ones too!
Pam’s Market Popcorn was a nice starter as I headed my way to Rad Dog. I’m not a fan at all of sauerkraut. But this had me believin’! I devoured it and moved inside to socialize and people watch (caricatures count as people too, they’re just animated!) Wild Goose created a space that was inviting and warm.
I finished the night with some friends and free alcohol. A great time to be had by all indeed!

After consuming a Pattycake cookie (by myself…), I thought it was time to review this fantastic event. Yet again, Christina set up an amazing party for some lovely people. Walking up, I was excited to see Rad Dog outside dishing out vegan hot dogs to a long line of guests. I’d never tried a vegan dog before, I can’t say it tasted like the hot dogs I’ve had in the past, but it was quite tasty.
Inside was the great caricature artist who penned a beautiful portrait of me and my squeeze. I must admit, he made me look a tad better than I do in real life and I’m having trouble living up to his artistic representations. We were also able to take some photos in the digital photo booth, I’m looking forward to ordering a few.
Of course there was also Pattycake offering a variety of soft baked cookies. I was foolish enough to bring some home and leave them out where I could find them. Needless to say, they are gone and they were awfully delicious. There is also popcorn waiting for me on my counter, but I think I’ll save that for later…
I was able to concoct the most beautiful caramel apple, thanks to Local Matters. The caramel was fantastic and there were three types of pink sprinkles, so fun.
What an awesome time. A serious thanks to Christina who consistently plans the most amazing events for us elite folk. I’ll definitely miss you when I’m on the other side of the world!

Under the Big Top may be my last Columbus elite event because I am moving to New York! :(:(It was hard to say goodbye to some peeps, but like the Unilocal!events before it was a great time had by all.
Under the Big Top was less crowded, which was nice. I tried Rad Dog for the first time, and Pattycake was a nice touch! The margaritas were tasty and so were the caramel apples!
My definite favorite thing about the evening was the caricature artist. WAY TO GO! He was fabulous. Now to scan/​take a picture of my pic with Rachel and put it EVERYWHERE!
I did notice that this event had less food and drink than the usual Unilocal!event. I usually leave Unilocal!events pretty full and surly. I would like to see a bit more food variety in the future.
Overall, great event! I will miss you Columbus!!!

My first Unilocal party was such a good experience! Where to start?
The venue was great. I love art collectives, and Wild Goose fits that description. The décor was interesting. Artists put thought into it. There was a cigarette vendor in the back modified and souped up to deliver art with $ 3 in quarters. What a great idea! It didn’t work, so the Wild Goose representatives took the face off and gave me what I wanted to purchase: a little monster pin made of felt and decorated with fangs. My friend bought an abstract art magnet. What a good idea!
I already gave five stars to Pattycake and Rad Dog. They both brought special food for me because of my eight million (7) food allergies: corn, wheat, citrus, egg, peanut, dairy. My friend adored the Chocolate XO cookie. If I had magic power, I would send people in droves to patronize these businesses.
I didn’t warn Margarita Man about my unwilling specialness, but they happened to have provided strawberry margaritas, so I partook anyway. I vote Margarita Man is also a good vendor for events in which alcoholic slushees are suitable.
I enjoy my caricature, but I wish I’d asked for him to draw me with fangs to go with my monster pin. Oh, well. He did a good job and should be expecting a review from me in the next few days.
The same goes for the on site photos. I like that idea — superior to cell phone photos, more casual than a professional photographer ala weddings and bat mitzvahs — a photographer mans a camera with an LCD display in a quaint setup reminiscent of the original cameras. You get to play with the remote and take photos when you want, and they get to provide different formats like photo booth, group picture, whatever you want. I hope our highschool class reps will be willing to hire them for our next reunion.
Also, I got to meet the face behind Unilocal Columbus. Christine is an energetic sweetheart. I hope she enjoys pulling off these parties, because she does a good job and I want her to continue.
I’ll be seeing you all again, Unilocal Columbus! Thanks for the nice party.
P. S. I just found out that I’m not supposed to review vendors who donate to these gatherings, so I pulled my reviews of Pattycake and Rad Dog, and will only review them when patronize them some other time.

Under the Big Top had all the dressings of my favorite kind of event– lively, but not too crowded. Free alcohol to wash down free food. And, most importantly, no real dress code, which is a godsend for a slacker like me.
UtBTEE was a heck of a time, in short. From watching caricatures form from over the artists’ shoulder (and watching him grow increasingly tired of working for «suggested tips») to controlling the shutter on an old-​timey box camera that’s actually a digital camera, this was a hands-​on, smiles-​out shindig hosted by the always lovely folk at Wild Goose Creative.
What else can I say! Balloons were popping erratically, music was grooving, people were friendly, food was delicious (my first taste of Rad Dog, too– and much better than previous encounters with the vegan so-​called hot dog idea).
Pop! Zam! Wow! I especially liked the margarita slushies, although I felt vaguely threatened by Margarita Man’s cryptic whisper to me, «Enjoy them now… while they’re still free…» with a hint of menace to his voice.
Ah! To be back under that big top again!

Whoo-​hoo! So many awesome people, so much vegan goodness!
When I first showed up — a little early I might add — Tawd from Rad Dog was just warming up his cart, and getting the vegan hot dogs moving, with some spectacular toppings. He kept it simple for this event (hot dogs only) but his normal fare includes beer brats, Italian sausage (yum!) and other assorted items to mix things up (chips, cookies, beverages). I had a randomized hot dog, and was impressed, as always. Vegan hot dog, peppers and onions, and a few condiments; perfect!
Inside, I signed in, filled out my Hello My Name Is sticker and started mingling.
* Great music (whose Mac was that?) with a nice sound system.
* Margarita station — I was working and on-​call, so no alcohol for me, but everyone else seemed to be enjoying theirs muchly. (I asked!)
* Pattycake Vegan Bakery brought three types of cookies, all fantastic, fresh and… well, vegan. The best part about having great vegan snacks is that it shows people that being vegan doesn’t have to be stereotypically salad and bean sprouts. Cookies!
* Caramel apple making station near the back provided what looked to be a lot of tasty fun. I, of course, simply had an apple.
* Large container of popcorn from a company which, from memory, is super tasty (but not vegan).
* Two large containers of bottled water… yay!
* A lady up front was making balloons with lights in them. She only popped two or three, and that was okay by me.
* Super fun caricature artist up on stage, totally drew a funny picture of me with just two markers. Sweet!
All-​in-​all, Wild Goose Creative was a really nice, comfortable space for the number of people there, and I had a lot of fun. Unilocal Elite events are always enjoyable and special, thanks to the hard work of the coordinators, and I especially appreciated all the vegan-​friendly food and entertainment.
Thank you, Unilocal

I was only able to stay for an hour of the festivities at the Wild Goose event, but it was an hour of fun times, food, and slushies!
When I saw that both Rad Dog and Pattycake were on the table for this event, I really wanted to come and try them out for three reasons: Everyone seems to love them, most of my favorite places are non-​vegan which makes finding food with my vegetarian and vegan friends kind of tricky, and the only experience I’ve ever had with a vegan dessert was extremely unpleasant. (It was vegan pumpkin pie, and it was watery. It had the consistency of curdled milk.)
I was unexpectedly impressed by Rad Dog! Those tofurkley dealies really tasted a lot like hot dogs, and the toppings were plentiful and delicious. What really blew me away though, was that chocolate chip cookie I got from Pattycake Bakery. That amazing circle of chocolaty goodness was so moist and chewy that when I opened it up, pieces just fell right off into my hands. It was like that cookie was just begging me to devour it, which with no hesitation whatsoever, I did. Pattycake is dangerously close to my house, so I’m afraid I may have accidentally opened Pandora’s box this evening.
It would be a crime if I didn’t mention the three (!) margarita slushies I consumed over the course of the hour. Did you know you can rent those machines? Well you can, and if you do, don’t forget to invite me over, because frozen margaritas taste better when you’re drinking them with pals right?
Also, there were free Unilocal bouncy balls at this shindig. Apparently you all know exactly how to channel my inner five year-​old, because I squealed with joy when I saw those, and had to fight the temptation to set them all going at once.

March’s Elite Event wasn’t as crowded as the previous couple, but that was a-​ok by me. More vegan goodies for this guy! Rad Dog was in attendance, and it was my first time trying one of the cart’s offerings since he’s usually set up downtown, and I don’t find myself in the area super often. He informed me he’ll be setting up at Pattycake a lot this summer though, which means yay!
Speaking of Pattycake, they were in attendance as well with a small sampling of their baked goodies. I got a chocolate chip cookie to go because I’ve done nothing but snack all day and I wasn’t quite in the mood for more sweets just yet.
I’ll tell you what those who didn’t attend really missed out on… free caricatures!!! Steve Campbell was on site working for tips. At the end of my sitting, I asked what was appropriate and he said «whatever you can spare, I’ll be happy.» So I gave him three bucks (all the ones I had). Then as I was off to the side, I overheard him tell someone about five!!! I figure three was good though, since my caricature has no eyes (I maintain it’s cuz I’m laughing; I squint when I laugh)!!!**
Local Matters brought some locally grown fuji apples to make caramel apples, Margarita Man was on hand doling out margarita slushies. Yum. There was a cool photo booth kinda thing, but not the official Unilocal photo booth, some cool digital, old timey looking thing. There was popcorn, there were balloons, there were good times!
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