Taking over West Side Park this past weekend was the 40th annual Taste of Champaign-Urbana. This year, the annual festival was packed full of food from restaurants from all around the C-U area, as well as craft booths and attractions like rock climbing, musical performances and a BMX bike team.
Tony Oligney-Estill, the Champaign Park District special events manager, explained the events and great food found at the Taste of C-U.
“This is our 40th year for the event,” Oligney-Estill said. “It’s always a three-day weekend from Friday through Sunday.
“The main festival is the food, of course, but we do have an arts and crafts section, live music on a couple different stages, a magician making blow-up animals for the kids, our new teen zone with Rise Above BMX doing bike tricks and a rock climbing wall. This year we have 33 food vendors and 46 arts and crafts vendors.”
Rise Above BMX was the newest attraction to take part in the Taste of C-U festivities and provided an interactive show for the young guests who were awed by the bike tricks.
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Ron Thomas, owner and performer for Rise Above BMX, said he was excited to take part in the festival.
“We’ve been doing shows for about eight years now and we probably do about 600 performances a year, which generally take place in schools,” Thomas said. “I’ve been to Champaign a few times and have always liked the town, and this is our first year riding in the festival. We have three guys that have been riding this weekend and about 25 guys that work for the company.”
With all the festival’s activities, it is almost easy to overlook the most important part: the food. Champaign residents Don and Jacquie Worthington, who have been coming to the Taste of C-U for three years, commented about the food and explained how the festival helps promote the communities’ restaurants.
“I think it’s great for restaurants to get their name out there,” Don said. “Some people just get into a rut and go to the same restaurants, but here you can find out what some of the other restaurants offer.”
Jodi Barnhill and Ted Hermann are two Champaign residents who have been coming to the Taste of C-U for 15 years.
“I think the appeal of the festival is a combination of things,” Barnhill said. “It’s the music going on with the variety of foods and being able to walk around and look at the artists and events.”
“I think it’s great for the community, and an event that everyone looks forward to each year,” Hermann added. “It’s nice to find new restaurants and to be able to try something that we have never had before.”
Whether drawing people in by the events, the music or the food, the long-running Taste of C-U has become a staple in the summertime for the community of Champaign-Urbana and a festival for people of all ages.
