- Taste of Chicago will be chopped in half to a five-day event next summer, and the city's annual smorgasbord will be moved to the middle of July from its traditional late June start.
The festival will run from July 11 to July 15 in Grant Park, according to a news release from the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. - Cultural Affairs officials said they would consider shortening the event in an attempt to move the Taste back toward profitability, and that the focus would remain on the food served by local restaurants in Grant Park, rather than on big name entertainers like Stevie Wonder who have appeared at Taste in years past.
Good call shortening the fest, moving it away from the 04 July week, and limiting the number of restaurants. But they still aren't charging admission or fencing off the area - bad call. We'll have to see how it all shakes out. At least the ashes and wreckage from the G-8/NATO summits will have had time to cool off.