Under a brilliant, blue sky Sunday, thousands of suburbanites and city dwellers packed Grant Park to finish off Chicago’s annual festival of gluttony.
While hot and humid weather kept many at home, this year’s Taste of Chicago managed to attract a record 3.65 million people, who spent millions of dollars on giant turkey legs, buffalo burgers, stuffed artichokes and other delicacies.
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“We had really strong crowds every single day,” said Tracy Shields, a spokeswoman with the Mayor’s Office of Special Events.
Among those in the crowd Sunday was John Ruggiero of Oak Lawn, who sought the shady refuge of the elm trees in Grant Park. Polishing off a slice of deep-dish pizza, Ruggiero said he was overwhelmed by the sheer number of mouth-watering choices.
“You can’t decide, can you? You see somebody walking by and you say, `Yeah, I want that,’ ” he said.
The 11-day festival began on a miserable note as the heat index soared as high as 101 degrees during the first three days beginning June 25. The humidity claimed more than its share of brave souls working the grills.
Rib purveyor Charlie Robinson lost no fewer than six cooks because of the heat.
Eli’s Cheesecake, another perennial favorite, also sent two employees home with heat-related illnesses.
“It was really tough,” said Hilda Carrillo, Eli’s morning manager. “Under the conditions, you just couldn’t function well.”
Still, she estimated that the restaurant dished out more than 100,000 slices of strawberry and mud pie cheesecakes.
Other vendors made a killing from the weather. A thirsty throng threatened to clean out the stock at soda booths throughout Grant Park, said manager Teri Gillerlain.
“I don’t think (the heat) helped the rest of the restaurants. It was too hot to eat. But I was swamped,” Gillerlain said.
Perhaps the most popular booth was the tent for Zantac 75–“the final word in heartburn relief,” as a banner proclaimed. Strategically placed amid dozens of booths pushing fried, grilled and greasy fare, the vendor handed out 80,000 free samples.
The heartburn aid certainly came in handy. According to final figures released Sunday night, this year’s crowd chowed down some 201,000 slices of pizza, 100,000 frozen bananas, 20,000 lobster tails and 13,000 stuffed artichokes, among other food.
The final tally beat the 1997 record, when 3.46 million people attended. The 18th annual Taste drew huge crowds with big-name music acts such as Phil Collins, Smokey Robinson, Joe Walsh, Chaka Khan, the Doobie Brothers, the BoDeans and Kenny Loggins.
The festival’s most memorable moment came shortly before the traditional Independence Day fireworks show July 3. A torrential downpour about 8 p.m. Friday drenched the record crowd of 1.3 million people, prompting thousands to scurry for cover.
While many gave up on the event, others rode out the sheets of rain and severe lightning. The festival soon became something like Woodstock, as die-hard Taste-goers pranced in the mud.
The intense rain also canceled the Grant Park Symphony Orchestra’s annual concert, although the fireworks show went ahead as scheduled.
City officials said they decided to proceed with the show after the rain and lightning stopped for about 20 minutes. They also said the federal permit that was necessary to shoot off the fireworks was good only for July 3.
James Gray, a private paramedic with Ambulance Transportation Inc., said he responded to 58 injuries on Friday, including 10 cases where people were taken to hospitals.
Police officials, however, said this year’s Taste was tamer than previous ones. In all, about 60 people were arrested on suspicion of various offenses, most of them minor. The most serious incident involved an altercation between two men on July 3 that resulted in a stabbing, police said.
“That’s pretty good compared to years past,” said Chicago Police Cmdr. Patrick McNulty of the arrest numbers. “It’s a much more family-oriented affair these days.”
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