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Every summer the city of Chicago has an incredible festival. Over 3 million people come over a two-week period. The largest and most used streets are closed downtown. Grant Park, the most visited park in Chicago, is used to hold this event. The people dine on ribs, cheeseburgers, pizza, ice cream, and hundreds of other foods. Over 100 of the city’s most famous restaurants set up shop. Basically the entire city slows down for this event. This is The Taste of Chicago.
The Taste has been an annual tradition in Chicago for 20 years. And every year it keeps getting better. When you first arrive, you’re in a group of about 100,000 people. By the time you leave, that number will be almost a million. You get your tickets for $.50 a piece, which is a little high but what can you do? Then you start your journey. The restaurants are set up in tents. They cook and serve your food in an area the size of an average living room. You can get drinks for 2 tickets (one dollar) or you can get some food. The prices on food vary incredibly. You could get a cheeseburger from the famous Billy Goat’s for 5 tickets or you could get a “taste portion” which would be half a burger for 2 tickets. There’s about a dozen places where you can get pizza. The same for ice cream. If you want, you could even get some African food or an Irish ale. Just about any type of food imaginable is there.
If you’re not ready for the food (trust me, you will be at some point) then you can listen to some music. There’s usually 2 or 3 stages with bands playing. Throughout the event, some big names come to perform. We’ve had James Brown, Bare Naked Ladies, B.B. King, and many famous performers do their thing during the evening. You could also attend a cooking show, ride the water slide, take a trip on the ferris wheel, or watch some of the street performers who are just fantastic. There's also face painting, souvenirs, boat tours, and plent of other events through the festival.
On July 3rd, you can go down and watch the fireworks show at the Taste. That’s the night the big names come to perform and there’s always more than a million people. The Chicago Symphony Orchestra is there for the show, and it’s shown on all the local networks. They prevue all the set up and preperation and the fireworks show is about 12-15 minutes. You’ll have to show up early to stake out your spot in the grass, but it’s definitely worth it for the closing 1812 Overture.
So there you have it. The Taste of Chicago comes every year in late June and early July. If you plan on taking a trip to the Windy City, I suggest you come during this time and go down to the Taste. Need directions? Just follow the huge crowd walking towards the music. I’ll see you there.
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