MINNEAPOLIS — Prepare your taste buds and loosen your belts, as a flavorful Minnesota tradition is set to return!
Organizers are planning to revive Taste of Minnesota in downtown Minneapolis this summer. At a press conference Thursday, festival organizers announced that the free festival will take place on Nicollet Mall on July 2 and 3.
The two-day festival will be headlined by Third Eye Blind on Sunday, July 2, and Outkast rapper Big Boi on Monday, July 3, with opener Uncle Kraker.
Along with more free music, live wrestling, an art market, food trucks and other vendors will pack Nicollet for Taste of Minnesota. Chef Andrew Zimmern is serving as the festival's food ambassador, and Surly Brewing is the flagship beer sponsor for the event.
"This is a big deal for Minneapolis. This is a big deal for Minnesota. It's coming back," Mayor Jacob Frey, a self-proclaimed Third Eye Blind Fan, said Thursday. "Let's keep the momentum going."
Taste of Minnesota originally began in St. Paul in 1983 as a free festival with food and fireworks on the grounds of the state capitol during the Fourth of July weekend. The annual event ended in 2010 following a change in ownership and bankruptcy.
Following the death of original Taste of Minnesota founder Ron Maddox in 2010, his wife Linda briefly revived the event in 2014 and 2015 in a new location in Waconia before she decided to retire and officially end the festival.
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