<<BUT, the $4.75 for a regular sized bottled water was typical stadium price GOUGING…
(I paid $6.00 a few times for a large fountain soda from the inside concourse….)
Perhaps, many of the potential Food Fest guests had previous experiences with large venues like the Meadowlands and chose to avoid it?!? >>

That pretty much sums up why I stayed away. I had read somewhere that the beverage concessions were not part of the fest but rather run by the Meadowlands so I knew a) it was going to be a ripoff and b) there was not much choice of beer/soda.

Reminds me of the Crawfish fests in NJ we went to for a couple of years  a while back. The food & music was good, but the beer choice (provided by a concessionaire, not the festival) was Budweiser or Budweiser.

Plus I hate the Meadowlands, that’s no place to hold a food festival. It’s New Jersey at its worst IMHO.