Taste the World Festival

I happened to see this advertised on Groupon and figured I'd check it out. It was normally about $15 a ticket plus fees but I snagged a deal off of Groupon so it was pretty much free. Pro-tip: be sure to park further away as ANY event at the fairgrounds will cost you $10 and in CASH ONLY.In addition to the cover charge, you have to buy $5 vouchers which get you sample sized items from all vendors that were put on. It is somewhat of a glorified food truck event. There were only a few places that weren't food trucks. I didn't really like the voucher system as not all vendors accepted them for things like desserts. I ended up having to trade my voucher back for cash toward the end. It would just be easier to hand the vendors cash for all the items, but apparently the vendors only get like $3 out of the $5 paid for the vouchers. I guess the cover charge isn't enough for the event hosts?It's basically just like any other food festival but overpriced if you're paying for the cover charge and parking. It's not a huge event. You come, try a few things and leave or look at some of the little shops.

This festival had an awesome concept! It was a multicultural food tasting festival. There was excellent entertainment with bands, drummers, and even dancers. Some of the food was better than others, but this was there first one. I expect this festival to grow into an even better experience with more time. The parking and alcohol were expensive and I discussed this with the owner, who noted the city was in charge of alcohol and parking, not them. I was pleased to learn they would be using a different venue for the next one to bring down parking and alcohol costs. I will definitely be going back.