Although one of Chicago's longstanding summer festivals is set to return for 2023, its accompanied by one big change that some aren't in favor of: A new date.
The Taste of Chicago — a hot topic among fans, politicos and social media for nearly a week after Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s recent announcement about moving the festival to Navy Pier — will return to its home in Grant Park, according to a recent announcement from the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.
The dates of the festival however, have changed. According to the city, the Taste of Chicago is now scheduled to take place in September to accommodate the NASCAR racing extravaganza in the lakefront park over the 4th of July weekend.
MORE: What to Know About NASCAR's Upcoming Chicago Street Race
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Instead of occurring during its typical early-to mid-July timeslot, the festival will take place from Sept. 8 to Sept. 10, according to the city of Chicago.
The Taste’s three neighborhood pop-ups will, however, take place once a month June through August.
"It's unfortunate that a tradition like Taste of Chicago is getting elbowed aside by something that is not associated with Chicago," said Alderman Brian Hopkins, whose 2nd Ward covers parts of Streeterville and Old Town.
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However, others see the shift in dates as a welcome change.
"It would be super fun in July, but it definitely will be chilly or cooler in September, which would be nice," said Victoria Fleming of Des Plaines. "I mean, Chicago in July gets a little sweltering. So it's be nice to have a little bit of a cool off."
What the City of Chicago Says
City officials included the announcement in the release of its official list of 2023 summer festivals, saying "In an effort to continue reimagining the Taste of Chicago in a post-pandemic world, DCASE along with its partners have been working to evaluate several possible locations and dates for the event."
"Moving this iconic event to the tail end of summer will prolong our vibrant festival season and spur additional tourism and economic activity downtown," the release continues. "The summer doesn't have to begin and end with Memorial and Labor Day."
NASCAR, Lollapalooza Also Planned For Summer in Grant Park
With the schedule at Grant Park already packed this summer and a private NASCAR race shutting down the event's long-established home, officials last week blasted an apparent plan to move the Taste of Chicago festival to Navy Pier. The city said, at the time, that it intended to hold the Taste of Chicago, despite it not being on the calendar of events at Grant Park this summer. However, neither a location or firm dates had been announced at that point.
Ald. Brendan Reilly, of the city's 42nd Ward blasted Mayor Lori Lightfoot for her actions in greenlighting the planned NASCAR race, as well as her administration’s seeming insistence on having the Taste on the same weekend.
“It means all that traffic to Navy Pier for the Taste of Chicago is going to go on Illinois and Grand, two streets that run through a neighborhood,” Reilly said. “They’re not designed for that kind of traffic volume.”
Reilly had also said that the City Council’s special events committee had postponed a vote to approve the summer calendar that the Department of Cultural Activities and Special Events put forth, a move that is normally a formality.
“Typically in years past this is approved with hardly any discussion, but because these decisions are being made in the dark, we have no choice but to slow it down,” he said.
According to a report from Block Club Chicago, Grant Park will be booked for 84 days during the summer months, with NASCAR and Lollapalooza responsible for most of that booking. They cite records that show NASCAR will be allowed to begin setup for the race 26 days prior to the green flag dropping and they’ll have 13 days to clean everything up.
According to organizers, the two-day, NASCAR Chicago Street Race will take place July 1 and 2, and Lollapalooza is scheduled for Aug. 3-6.
In 2022, the Taste of Chicago was held in Grant Park July 8-10.
