| TOP 100 EVENTS 07.07.09 3:40 PM |
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Chicago's Top Festivals 2009
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 | Taylor Swift at the Chicago Country Music Festival
Photo: City of Chicago/Mayor's Office of Special Events |
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1. Taste of Chicago
Now in its 28th year, Taste of Chicago took place June 26 to July 5 and welcomed around 3.5 million visitors. The 10-day festival, held in Grant Park, allows guests to sample dishes from more than 70 area restaurants.
2. Chicago Air and Water Show
The 51-year-old show is billed as the largest spectator event in the United States. The 2009 incarnation will take place August 15 and 16 and will draw an estimated 2.2 million spectators.
3. Lollapalooza
The 2009 Lollapalooza will bring more than 100 musical acts and an estimated 150,000 fans to Grant Park from August 7 to 9. The event lures a bevy of tourists, celebrities, and national press, and companies such as PlayStation, MySpace, and Dell sponsor areas on the festival grounds.
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RELATED TOPICS
Chicago's Top 100 Events, Taste of Chicago, Chicago Air & Water Show, Lollapalooza, Chicago Blues Festival, Chicago Jazz Festival, Grant Park Music Festival, Chicago SummerDance, Northalsted Market Days, Outdoor Film Festival, Printers Row Book Fair, Chicago Country Music Festival, Pitchfork Music Festival |
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| NEWS 07.06.09 5:21 PM |
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Local Blogs, News Media Offer Different Accounts of Violence at Independence Eve Fireworks Show
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Gang violence may have caused an early start to this year's Independence Eve fireworks. Chicago Now blogger Mike Doyle wrote that the downtown fireworks display, which was scheduled to begin at 9:30 p.m. on Friday, went off at around 8:50 p.m.—possibly to drown out the noise of gunshots. Other local news media and blogs have differing takes on how much violence occurred in the city that night.
While the Chicago Sun-Times referred to this year's holiday as relatively "peaceful," despite the arrest of a local gang member who attempted to bring a shotgun into the Taste of Chicago food festival in Grant Park, the Chicago Tribune reported arrests near Buckingham Fountain before the fireworks began and, later, a "melee" that required some 30 police officers to break it up. According to Chicago Now, neither paper made mention of the fireworks' early start time.
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RELATED TOPICS
Taste of Chicago |
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| TOP 100 EVENTS 07.03.08 12:35 PM |
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Chicago's Top Festivals 2008
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 | Venetian Night
Photo: Courtesy of Mayor's Office Special Events |
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1. Taste of Chicago
More than 3.5 million people come to Grant Park each summer to sample dishes from around 70 Chicagoland restaurants during the Taste of Chicago. The free 10-day festival, now in its 27th year, took place June 27 to July 6 this year. In addition to tents full of food offerings, the event included an ongoing lineup of entertainment at the Petrillo Music Shell, with acclaimed artists like Stevie Wonder and Chaka Khan performing.
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RELATED TOPICS
Chicago's Top 100 Events, Jazz Institute of Chicago, Northalsted Area Merchants Association, Lollapalooza, Taste of Chicago, Venetian Night, Chicago Air & Water Show, Chicago Blues Festival, Chicago Jazz Festival, Chicago Gospel Music Festival, BET, Chicago Country Music Festival, Chicago SummerDance, Northalsted Market Days |
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| NEWS 07.03.08 12:03 PM |
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Crain's Bills Randolph Street Festival as "Elite" Taste of Chicago
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It's a tale of two Tastes—on one hand, there's the Taste of Chicago, a populist eating extravaganza and a 28-year city tradition currently taking over the Grant Park. And, in the West Loop, there is the Taste of Randolph Street, a relative upstart street festival that has recently gained prominence by catering to residents of the affluent neighborhood as well as area foodies for a few days in June. As Crain's Chicago Business reported this week in an article titled "Execs Take Shelter at a More Elite Taste", the Randolph Street fest may be the better bet of the two, especially for guests who favor quality over quantity.
The story cited the Taste of Randolph Street's V.I.P. tents, which host corporate sponsors and their guests, as well as local media, as a big draw. The Randolph festival's well-edited menu, which includes items from trendy West Loop restaurants such as Veerasway, Sushi Wabi, and Marche, also appeals to a cosmopolitan audience that doesn't want to weed through the randomness of the nearly 70 vendors (ranging from Eli's Cheesecake and Robinson's #1 Ribs to the Billy Goat Inn) at the Taste of Chicago.
Crain's columnist Shia Kapos also said that the come-one-come-all Taste of Chicago could benefit by adding "a preview party for those willing to pony up a special-event price to avoid standing in line holding strips of tickets." —Wendy Wollenberg
RELATED TOPICS
Taste of Chicago, Taste of Randolph Street |
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| NEWS 06.26.08 3:01 PM |
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Higher Food and Fuel Costs Squeezing Taste of Chicago Vendors
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Crain's Chicago Business reported Tuesday that rising food and fuel costs are having an adverse effect on Taste of Chicago vendors this year. The 10-day Taste of Chicago, which opens Friday in Grant Park, features booths from 74 local restaurants. Businesses wanting to participate in the Taste submitted applications in January, before prices for items including wheat, eggs, and vegetables hit record highs. The paperwork outlined vendors' proposed menu items, portion sizes, and prices, which no longer reflect the reality of rising costs. Therefore, the restaurants will see slimmer profit margins than in years past.
According to Taste requirements, the average price for a restaurant's menu item must be $3.75 and no more than $5. The story also reports that restaurant participation fees for the Taste are also up this year, from $2,500 to $4,000, which was spent on recruiting big-name musical entertainment, including Stevie Wonder, Joss Stone, and Chicago natives Plain White T's, with the goal of adding to the Taste's overall attendance numbers. —Wendy Wollenberg
RELATED TOPICS
Taste of Chicago, Stevie Wonder, Joss Stone, Plain White T's |
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| NEWS 05.13.08 5:29 PM |
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Mayor Plans Gourmet Taste of Chicago Spinoff
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According to The Chicago Tribune, Mayor Richard M. Daley will hold a press conference in Millennium Park on May 20 to announce the details of Chicago Gourmet. The three-day event, which will take place from September 26 to 28 (also in Millennium Park), is intended to showcase the city's nationally acclaimed chefs. Though official details won't be revealed until next week's conference, the Tribune article cites chef Rick Bayless (of Topolobampo) and "pastry wizard" Gale Gand as two of the participating chefs.
Chicago Gourmet, which is slated to include food and wine tastings along with cooking demos and dining happenings, will be the upscale answer to the Taste of Chicago festival. The latter event, held in Grant Park, comprises 64 booths and has represented a fair share of lowbrow eateries—including Dunkin' Donuts—in the past. —Jenny Berg
RELATED TOPICS
Taste of Chicago, Chicago Gourmet |
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