Buffalo, N.Y. (WBEN) - It will be a return to normalcy for the folks who run the annual Taste of Buffalo festivities. After two years away from normal operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the nation's largest two-day food festival - presented by Tops Friendly Markets - returns to Downtown Buffalo.
"It feels amazing," said Taste of Buffalo Chair Luke Baecker on Wednesday during a press conference at the Tops Friendly Market on Elmwood Avenue. "I mean, last year with us planning the COVID event we did what we could to plan that, and then when we got told six weeks out that we could have a full, open event, we're like, 'Oh, we can't.' It just takes too long to bring that back, so this year we were really happy just to be able to plan a normal event, I guess as we want to call it and bring everybody back down."
The 39th annual event takes place on Saturday, July 9 from 11 a.m. ET to 9 p.m. ET, and will also run Sunday, July 10 from 11 a.m. ET to 7 p.m. ET along Delaware Avenue starting at Chippewa Street and continuing into Niagara Square.
This year's event will feature 40 restaurants and food trucks, along with five New York State wineries, live music and much more for families and others to enjoy.
"We don't have as many restaurants as we normally would like," Baecker admitted. "I know the restaurant community is still suffering, so anything we can do to help these great businesses out, that's what we're here for. We're here for them, to introduce everybody to these great, amazing restaurants, culinary creations, you name it. We can't wait for them to show Buffalo what they've got.
"I know there's a lot of people that they don't know about a restaurant until they try them at the Taste of Buffalo, or we hope that you can come down and try something new. You can get Caribbean food, you can get Indian food, we've got pizza and wings, but it's just an opportunity for you to try some different. Hopefully you can try a new restaurant that you've never had before, and we want to support these great restaurants."
"Getting back to the Taste of Buffalo full-force is just a wonderful thing, certainly for the City of Buffalo, Western New York, and certainly for Tops Markets," said President and COO of Tops Friendly Market, John Persons. "This is really the premier summertime event in Western New York, and it's exciting to see so much support and so much energy around the event. We're really looking forward to it."
The Taste of Buffalo welcomes 11 new restaurants and food trucks to this year’s event, including Alchemy Wine and Beer, Big Ditch Brewing Co., Brodies, Caribbean Flava, Fat Lady’s Cakes & Pies, Hofbräuhaus Buffalo, KT Caribbean Cuisine, Mi IsLa, Mother Cluckers, Steaksters, and Unbridled Café.
"I love it so much. It brings the community together," Baecker said. "You're able to try new foods, different foods that you don't really think of where you live in your town. You're like, 'You know what, I'm going to drive 20 minutes to go try that Caribbean food or that Indian food, just because I've never had it before.' Just the way we bring the community together is fantastic."
Pre-sale food ticket vouchers for the Taste of Buffalo will be available for purchase beginning Sunday, June 12 at registers of participating Tops Markets. Vouchers are available in $10 and $60 increments, and are redeemable at the festival ticket tents. Each $60 voucher comes with four free, non-alcoholic beverages.
Baecker encourages all to come on down to the 2022 event, as they are hoping to help bring a return to normal for the community.
"We want to have a great summer festival. It's free, we want to have a community event, we want to get people involved. We want to get everybody talking, we want everybody to get to know each other," Baecker said. "We're the 'City of Good Neighbors,' so why wouldn't you want to come down?"
You can listen to the entire press conference in the player below: