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Got a question about the Taste of Chicago this year?
Here are answers to some Frequently Asked Questions about the Taste of Chicago 2010.
Q: Where is the Taste of Chicago?
A: The Taste of Chicago is in Grant Park (On Michigan Avenue across Jackson Drive from the Art Institute ). Trolleys run on weekdays from 11am to 2pm. Buses and the El also provide transportation to the event.
Q: When is the Taste of Chicago?
A: June25th-July4th. Hours: June25th-July2nd 11am-9pm, July3rd 11am-7pm, July4th 11am-6pm.
Q: How do the tickets work?
A: Tickets work as currency at the Taste of Chicago. You can purchase strips of 12 tickets for $8 at the entrance and around the event at labeled booths. You can also purchase tickets ahead of time (until June 24th) at Dominick’s stores.
Q:What is a “Taste Of” portion?
A: “Taste Of” portions are smaller portions of the vendor’s classic items. They are usually 2-4 tickets, so they are cheaper than the full-sized items. Getting several “Taste Of” portions around the event is a great way to sample and experience a variety of foods at the Taste.
Q: How do I find a vendor that I know I want to visit?
A: The brochures (which are available at the entrance, at the ticket booths, and at information booths around the event) contain a map of the location of every vendor, bathroom, ticket booth, beverage booth, and special event area. The brochures also contain a list of every vendor and what they offer, and highlight daily performances and special events.
Q: Who is performing this year at the Taste?
A: Live performances occur daily and include: Friday June 25th 5:30pm – Rap Down Rewind feat. Bell Biv Devoe and Salt-N-Pepa, Saturday June 26th 5:30pm – Gavin Rossdale and Band From TV, Sunday June 27th 2:30pm – Emily Osment and Allstar Weekend, Monday June 28th 6:00pm – Broadway in Chicago, Tuesday June 29th 5:30pm – Los Lobos and Los Lonely Boys, Wednesday June 30th 5:30pm – Matt Kearney and Brett Dennen, Thursday July 1st 5:30pm – Trey Songz and Teairra Mari, Friday July 2nd 5:30pm – Rob Thomas, Saturday July 3rd 3:00pm – Steve Miller Band, and Sunday July 4th 12:00pm – Passion Pit and Robert Randolf and Carney.
Q: What is new at the Taste this year?
A: There are 11 new restaurants added to the Taste this year, including: Abundance Bakery, Bobak Sausage Co., Carbon, Churro Factory, Cubby Bear, Doreen’s Pizzeria, Iyanze, Pegasus Restaurant and Taverna, Shokoland Pastry & Cafe, Summer Rice and Noodle, and Timothy O’Toole’s Pub.
Q: What is happening at the Dominick’s Cooking Corner?
A: Star chefs such as Mario Batali, Lucinda Scala Quinn, Jimmy Bannos, and Giada De Laurentiis will present at the Dominic’s Cooking Corner near Buckingham Fountain. See Batali on une 25th at 1pm, Quinn on June 26th at noon, Bannos on June 25th and 28th, and Laurentiis on July 1st at 3pm.
Q: What else goes on at the Taste?
A: As usual, from 11am to 2pm every day you can work out at the Taste Sports area. Seniors can relax under the shaded Humana Senior Pavillion near Buckingham Fountain. The Family Village and Fun Times Stage has an exciting line up for family fun, as well as the Illinois Lottery Taste Stage. Also, on Sunday June 27th, don’t miss the 18th annual Humana Race to Taste event. Also, don’t miss the sponsor’s booths around the event for fun information and promotional materials.
More questions? Leave a comment and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.
According to the Sun-Times, a large sculpture of an eyeball constructed by artist Tony Tasset will stand in Pritzker Park on the corner of State and Van Buren. The sculpture will be unveiled on July 7th and will stay in its location through October. The Eye is expected to become a tourist attraction much like the Bean, and will draw people to the South Loop area. The artist, Tony Tasset, specializes in contemporary art and is based in Chicago. The 30-foot sculpture is made of “steel reinforced fiberglass” and features a blue iris, which happens to be the color of the artist’s own iris.
Even if you aren’t Irish, St. Patrick’s Day is one of the best celebrations in Chicago. We dye the river emerald. We wear green. We host parades. We eat corned beef and cabbage for breakfast, and we eat fish and chips for lunch. We drink enough Irish stout to actually see a leprechaun (or at least act like one). We sing about sweet Molly Malone. We catch a game of hurling on TV or try to play it ourselves. Basically, unless you head to Dublin, Chicago is the number spot to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day.
Click here for Chicago.com’s complete guide to St. Patrick’s Day 2010 in Chicago!
Every year, the Illinois Governor’s Conference on Tourism gives industry experts and professionals a chance to meet and learn about new innovative advances in the tourism industry. This year’s conference, “The New Reality” gave conference attendees the chance to gain new insights from speakers at the top of their fields such as Google, Vimeo and the Illinois Bureau of Tourism panel; to learn about advances in products and services, technology and networking with industry peers.
Obviously to sustain a stable economy within the state, everyone needs to discuss how to get people to Illinois. Following this further, this is where travel sites like Illinois.com and Chicago.com are able to utilize current industry standards and find out the skinny on tourism as a whole. I learned that a lot more people are having stay-cations, This is where a family travels within their own state or even city. Knowing this allows us to leverage the situation by marketing to families with local group travel packages (i.e. rental or limo car (Carey Limos), hotel, and possibly entertainment like Museum of science and industry or tours by (Chicago Trolley) and dinner packages). Also discussed was the demand for social networking such as Twitter, Facebook, blogs and so on.
They said that 7 out of 10 kindergartners today will work at jobs that have not been created yet. Speaking of such, the position as my personal assistant is forthcoming. “Internet location specialists” was a term that was thrown around through this whole conference. We are entering a new age of information “adapt or perish”, and I completely agree that the face of the Internet is changing, and Chicago.com will be at the forefront of this change.