One of the city’s most well-liked summer festivals, ‘The Taste of Chicago,’ will return to Grant Park, its longtime venue, in 2023, but not over its customary July weekend.
The festival will run three days this year, as it did in 2022, while in previous years, it lasted a total of five days. According to the city of Chicago, the festival will take place from Friday, September 8 to Sunday, September 10, rather than in early- to mid-July.
Moving this famous event to the tail end of summer will prolong our dynamic festival season and promote more tourism and economic activity downtown, the city’s officials stated in the release of its official list of summer festivals for 2023.
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NASCAR Bumps Taste of Chicago Schedule
Officials last week slammed an apparent proposal to shift the festival to Navy Pier because Grant Park is already jam-packed with events this summer and because a NASCAR race will close down the venue where it usually takes place.
‘The Taste of Chicago’ was not scheduled to take place at Grant Park this summer, but the city declared at the time that it still intended to do so. But at that moment, neither a venue nor specific dates had been disclosed.
Aldermen Brian Hopkins, who represents a portion of Streeterville and Old Town in his second ward, and Brendan Reilly, who represents the city’s 42nd Ward, both criticized Mayor Lori Lightfoot for approving the proposed NASCAR race and for her administration’s apparent insistence on holding the Taste on the same weekend.
Whatever the city’s motivation for considering organizing the Taste at Navy Pier, it is obvious that the NASCAR street race’s presence at Grant Park has made it more difficult for the city to plan other significant events this summer.
According to the racing organization’s contract with the Chicago Park District, the city would need NASCAR’s approval if the Taste were to take place in Grant Park 26 days prior to or after the July 1-2 NASCAR races, or the following weekend, July 7-9.
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