Summer Spectacular Shortened

Posted on 04. Jan, 2012 by citizen in Local News

Officials announced last week Chicago’s annual summer food festival, Taste of Chicago, has been shortened from 10 days to five.

The change moves the cookout from the last week of June, spanning across Independence Day, to the second week of July.

This year’s Taste is scheduled for July 11-15.

Mary May, a Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events spokeswoman, told the Chicago Citizen the reason for the cutback is to balance options for attendees.

“With two merged departments, Cultural Affairs and Special Events present an extraordinary amount of programming for visitors and residents nearly every weekend. In looking at the festival calendar, we wanted to balance the free offerings provided by the city over the warm weather months – Blues is such a big part of June, the Air & Water Show dominates August. … So Taste will be the prominent event in July,” she said.

The Chicago Gospel Music Festival has also faced amendments. The free outdoor concert will be featured in several locations including in the Bronzeville community.

“The last gospel fest was held in 2010, June 5 and 6 in Millennium Park.  This year it will span four days in three locations:  The Cultural Center, Millennium Park and back to its roots in Bronzeville,” said May.

The event will take place at the site of the former Ida B. Wells public housing complex, located on South King Drive from 37th to 39th Streets. The city aims to transform the location into a “gospel music haven,” according to a press release.

The Gospel Fest will be held June 21-24.

May told the Chicago Citizen the recent event changes were due to financial reasons.

Last year’s Taste was handled by the Chicago Park District. The move proved to be unsuccessful with the lowest turnout in the past 25 years.  Last year’s attendance reached 2.35 million; however, the event generated its highest sales in 2007 raking in over $13.8 million with 3.6 million visitors.

The food showcase returns to being produced by the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.

With a shorter Taste, the city hopes to make it a more enjoyable experience for Chicagoans, suburbanites and tourists.

“The five-day model allows more restaurants to apply, controls the operating budget for the Taste, and allows a more flexible financial model so the Taste is an enjoyable opportunity for all the residents of Chicago without burdening the taxpayers,” May said.

Keyjuana Clark of Chicago’s South Side doesn’t mind Taste changes.

“It doesn’t affect me much. I don’t usually make it a point to go every year and if I feel the need to go, five days doesn’t seem so bad. I guess it would cut the amount of money the city makes from tourists and the event itself, but it will also cut the amount of overcrowding,” she told the Chicago Citizen.

May said public safety will be enforced by event security and Chicago Police at the festival.

By Thelma Sardin