Taste of Chicago

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Taste of Chicago 2004

The Taste of Chicago is the world's largest food festival, held annually in Chicago during the last week of June through the Fourth of July. Every year millions of Chicagoans and tourists flock to Grant Park to enjoy the variety of food Chicago's most popular restaurants cook for festival attendees. Events also include live music and performances, mainly by famous local artists, but nationally known artists like Carlos Santana and Moby headline every night. All events are free. July 3rd (Independence Eve) is by far the event's most attended day.

On July 3rd the city holds its Independence Eve fireworks display. This spectacular show takes place at dusk off the downtown shore of Lake Michigan, and is often ranked among the most impressive Independence Day pyrotechnic displays in the nation. It is held a day earlier than the Fourth so as not to detract from suburban and rural fireworks displays in the Chicagoland area.

The Taste of Chicago is the premier festival in Chicago. In 2005, it attracted about 3.5 million people with over 70 food vendors. Its concerts are free to the public. In order to purchase food and beverages, you must purchase 'Taste Tickets'. Beer and wine can also be purchased. You can get small samplings from the different food vendors by getting the 'Taste Portion' which usually costs 2 or 3 tickets.

Popular local food staples at Taste include Chicago-style pizza, Chicago hot dogs, barbequed ribs, Italian Beef, Polish sausage, cheesecake, and a variety of ethnic and regional foods. The city's diverse variety of cuisines is well represented.

It is recommended that visitors use public transportation: the CTA, Metra or Pace, to get to the Taste, as parking in the immediate area is extremely difficult to find, and very expensive.

The Chicago Country Music festival occurs simultaneously with Taste of Chicago , perhaps due to mayor Richard M. Daley's inexplicable affinity for country music.

In 2006, the Taste of Chicago ran from June 30 to July 9 in Grant Park. It was the best 10-day event ever for attendance and sales. A record total of 3.6 million people had visited the festivities. Attendance for the previous record 10-day event, in 2004, was 3.59 million, with $12.33 million in revenue.[1]

[edit] History

The first Taste of Chicago was held in the summer of 1980 and was ultimately the idea of then-mayor Jane Byrne. At its inception, it was a one-day event held on the Fourth of July, along downtown Chicago's North Michigan Avenue (also known as the Magnificent Mile). The next year, The Taste of Chicago was moved to Grant Park and was greatly expanded in size and scope, growing to a 10-day event with more food vendors, as well as musical performances.

ChicagoFest, started by mayor Michael Bilandic, was the precursor to the Taste of Chicago. After Bilandic's tenure in office, newly elected Mayor Jane Byrne attempted to end the festival, as well as many other programs associated with the former mayor. Many Chicagoans disapproved of Mayor Byrne's attempt to stop the festivities (although attendance at ChicagoFest had begun to wane). She and her successor, Mayor Harold Washington, dedicated more time and energy to promoting the Taste as the city's premier summertime festival, making the new event more significant than the waning ChicagoFest and slowly phasing ChicagoFest out in the process. Mayor Washington finally put an end to ChicagoFest when in 1983 it was moved from Navy Pier to Soldier Field, and was an attendance failure.

[edit] Popularity and offshoots

Over the years, the Taste of Chicago has attained a great degree of national popularity (obviously by attracting thousands of tourists visiting the city), and has spawned numerous offshoots and equivalents throughout the country (and beyond), such as the Comerica Tastefest in Detroit, and the wildly popular Taste of the Danforth in Toronto. The Taste of Chicago itself was inspired by New York's venerable San Gennaro Festival, which has been held for decades in Little Italy.