{"id":221251,"date":"2025-09-12T15:59:10","date_gmt":"2025-09-12T15:59:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/221251\/"},"modified":"2025-09-12T15:59:10","modified_gmt":"2025-09-12T15:59:10","slug":"taste-of-chicago-to-return-to-july-slot-in-2026-as-nascar-leaves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/221251\/","title":{"rendered":"Taste of Chicago to return to July slot in 2026 as NASCAR leaves"},"content":{"rendered":"

Taste of Chicago will return to its long-held July slot in Grant Park next summer, the city\u2019s cultural commissioner told aldermen this week.<\/p>\n

The free, city-run food and music festival had been bounced from the spot<\/a> by NASCAR three years ago. But with the race not taking place in 2026<\/a>, the once-iconic public pig-out is returning to its marquee mid-summer perch, said Clinee Hedspeth, commissioner of the Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think overwhelmingly, the citizens want it back in July, and so we\u2019re excited to do that in 2026,\u201d Hedspeth told aldermen during mid-year budget hearings Thursday.<\/p>\n

Hedspeth, a Mayor Brandon Johnson appointee, touted the change as a key reason her department expects to bring in 50% more revenue next year.<\/p>\n

She said her department is \u201cstill working\u201d to see if the festival should return to the Fourth of July or some other time that month.<\/p>\n

Taste routinely drew over three million people to the lakefront during its heyday to nosh on turkey legs, empanadas and meatloaf cupcakes from dozens of neighborhood eateries. The fest also hosted everyone from Stevie Wonder<\/a> to The Replacements<\/a> to De La Soul at Taste concerts in the park over the years.<\/p>\n

The 2023 arrival of NASCAR\u2019s Chicago Street Race bumped Taste beyond Labor Day as busy Grant Park\u2019s schedule filled up. The race, recruited to the city by former Mayor Lori Lightfoot, drew criticism from downtown aldermen for its at-first sprawling set-up and tear-down times.<\/p>\n

The featured Cup Series race was marred by torrential downpours for two of the three years the NASCAR spectacle came to Chicago. Race organizers said in July, two weeks after this year\u2019s race, that they will \u201cpause\u201d the event next year, but hope to return in the future.<\/p>\n

Downtown Ald. Bill Conway, 34th, Hedspeth that NASCAR leaders in private conversations told him they \u201canticipate coming back\u201d in 2027. People want the food festival back in its mid-summer slot, but it will be successful if it\u2019s pushed back to September, Hedspeth said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think overwhelmingly, the citizens want it back in July, and so we\u2019re excited to do that in 2026,\u201d Hedspeth said. \u201cThat\u2019s something your body will have to talk about.\u201d<\/p>\n

The city plans to continue hosting smaller neighborhood-based Taste of Chicago offshoots, she added.<\/p>\n

\"FestFest participants share food items, Sept. 7, 2025, during the Taste of Chicago in Grant Park. (Brian Cassella\/Chicago Tribune)<\/p>\n

Ald. David Moore, 17th, questioned whether Taste of Chicago is even worth hosting if it occurs in September. This year, when the city hosted the event last weekend, it simply \u201ccame and went,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome didn\u2019t even know it was going on,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The festival generated $2.8 million in food and beverage sales in its 3-day run this September, up 12% from last year, Hedspeth told Moore.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt seems to be trending up, I think moving back to July will be even more beneficial,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

She said she did not have an answer when Moore asked if the event made money.<\/p>\n

Originally Published: September 12, 2025 at 10:13 AM CDT<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Taste of Chicago will return to its long-held July slot in Grant Park next summer, the city\u2019s cultural…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":221252,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[46],"tags":[960,5404,1818,1370,1406,50,80,62,1072,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-221251","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nascar","8":"tag-chicago","9":"tag-cook-county","10":"tag-illinois","11":"tag-latest-headlines","12":"tag-nascar","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-politics","15":"tag-sports","16":"tag-things-to-do","17":"tag-united-states","18":"tag-unitedstates","19":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115192159604960559","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221251","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=221251"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/221251\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/221252"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=221251"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=221251"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=221251"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}