MINNEAPOLIS — It's been 8 years since the last Taste of Minnesota event was held in the Twin Cities and organizers say it's been a long-time coming.
"We have a proclamation in honor of this day," said Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey.
Crowds of people flocked to Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis.
"Everybody – the Taste of MN is back and it's right here in downtown Minneapolis," said Mayor Frey.
The two-day free festival kicked off today at noon, with live music, art, dozens of food trucks, and vendors.
"It's something we discussed for a while and this year seems like a good time to do it and downtown seems like a good option in regard to location," said organizer, Taylor Carik.
It's the first time the event was held since 2015.
"Taste of Minnesota took a couple of years off, and in the interim, COVID and the pandemic cut off live music and now we're coming out of the pandemic and we thought it would be a good time to do a relaunch," he said.
While this year's festival will feature big acts - like headliners Third Eye Blind tonight and Outkast rapper Big Boi Monday.
Organizers are hoping to bring people back downtown -
"Taylor Swift and PRIDE showed that people can come and have a safe time," said Carik."Both days we're expecting good weather and attendance so it would be a good time for people to come down any time of the day."
The event will return Monday from noon to 8 pm.
Metro Transit also has free Transit passes available each day within festival hours. For free passes, visit the link here.
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