Fake food festivals

Has anyone been to one of these? Apparently, it's a US tour offering crab/beer buffet service.

http://www.lookytasty.com/2013/08/22/ch ... eat-crabs/

Eat crabs and catch the Mayweather vs. Alvarez pay-per-view boxing fight at the Chicago stop of the Crab & Beer 30 Fest taking place Saturday, Sept. 14. The venue isn’t listed on the website, but we’ve been told by an organizer that it will be at the McCormick Place (2301 South Lake Shore Drive).

Tickets are $49 for unlimited crab and bottomless beer. V.I.P. package is $99 and includes extra perks in the TV lounge.

Groupon currently has the V.I.P. package for the same price of the basic package:

Choose Between Two Options

$99 for VIP admission for two (up to a $218 value)
$55 for VIP admission for one (up to a $109 value)

All-you-can-eat menu—Dungeness, Maryland Blue, and King crabs; roasted red potatoes; and corn
Unlimited beer in a souvenir mug
Additional seafood and dessert carts
Waiter service
Alfresco dining in a private tent

I thought it was too good to be true? and it might be, according to my advanced google/facebook skills

https://www.facebook.com/events/134819026719491/

http://sarahlynnpablo.wordpress.com/201 ... ut-of-400/

Seems like scammers have started combining foodie buzzword + alcohol buzzword + festival and selling tickets to such a non-existent festival.

What I find weird is how this particular group seems to still be operating in plain sight on the internet. Their website is still up and has a phone number to call for tickets. Doing a Google search for the name of this fest lists ticket websites with information, Facebook pages, event notices, ...etc. Lthforum's event notice (that is still up) is actually the 4th search result returned.

There seems to be no information available about anyone actually attending one of these events or that any of them actually took place. It's also odd that the only way one can find out that something isn't right about it is to drill down into the individual Facebook posts. One can follow the posts by people who are at first excited about the events, who then defend against the scam claims, and finally realize there isn't going to be a fest.

I would have thought that there would be more of a hue and cry on the web and news media about this since it was several cities, spread across several months, with the last one being held near the end of October. I suspect that there are several people still expecting to go to one of these "events" who are in for a big disappointment.

Yep
viewtopic.php?f=18&t=38570

Hi,

Since this thread illustrated a fake food festival, I merged the example into this thread.

If other fake food festivals are detected, please use the report feature so they can be removed.

Regards,

I wonder how many tickets these guys sold. Why aren't there mobs of P'd-O foodies demanding action?

So .... not festivals in honor of sampuru?

Shoot, this reminds me, I'm going to start sending out flyers for my Slim Jims and Yoo-Hoo tasting party. First 1,000 people only pay $125. It's $195 after that. The date will be firmed up as soon as I can clear stuff out of my parents' basement.