The annual Taste of Park Ridge festival returns this weekend for another year to celebrate the best of the city’s local food, entertainment and family-friendly activities.
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Running for nearly three decades, the weekend events will feature a variety of cuisine favorites, including American staples like BBQ and burgers, mixed in with Mexican, Japanese, Indian and Italian food offerings for festival-goers.
The musical showcase kicks off Thursday at 6 p.m. in Uptown Park Ridge with pop/rock band Serendipity, followed by the opening ceremony celebration and Midwest favorite 7th Heaven at 8:30 p.m.
Additional bands set to play over the July 9 – 11 weekend include Stonedrift, Hello Weekend, The Renditions, The Ginger Road and Kashmir – The Led Zeppelin Concert, among others.
Taste of Park Ridge originally began as a “Taste of Uptown,” established by then Uptown Park Ridge Business Association President Barbara Scharringhausen and Dean Patras to enhance the yearly Summer Sidewalk Sale in 2000.
Three years later, the Park Ridge Chamber of Commerce and City of Park Ridge hired a professional event planner to coordinate the street festival and in May 2005, then Mayor Howard Frimark secured the seed funding necessary to make it a permanent tradition for the city.
Visitors can expect a plethora of activities for their whole family throughout the weekend and the event includes free admission and free parking.
Vendors will offer food, drink and alcoholic beverage options for purchase.
Event hours vary slightly, but visitors can expect weekend festivities to begin at 11 a.m. and end at 11 p.m. Thursday night’s offerings will wrap up at 10:30 p.m.
Taste of Park Ridge takes place in Uptown on Summit Avenue between Touhy Avenue and Prospect Avenue, adjacent to the Park Ridge Metra station.