ST. LOUIS (KMOX ) - After decades in downtown St. Louis, and a short-lived stint in Chesterfield last decade, 'Taste of St. Louis' is moving to Clayton.
On Tuesday, Taste of St. Louis announced the move, citing Clayton as 'the best opportunity to continue producing an incredible event'.
"Unfortunately, the environment downtown has made it increasingly difficult for large-scale events to thrive, which is evident in the number of long-running festivals that have shut down in recent years," said the festival in a statement.
Taste of St. Louis co-director Chuck Justus previously told KMOX that regionwide events are tough now.
"For example, maybe 25 years ago, if you want to see a great fireworks show, you went to downtown St. Louis and you saw what St. Louis had to offer," said Justus. "Now, every municipality has one now and people don't have to go as far."
Justus told KMOX that Clayton is convenient to more of the metro area and city crime did not have anything to do with the decision.
Closing streets in Clayton would give the event more space than what Ballpark Village could provide, according to Justus.
"If there's a sweet, and we're trying to thread the needle here, I think that's really what it is," said Justus.
Justus says they've never had an incident in all their years hosting 'Taste of St. Louis' downtown.
Last week, organizer presented plans to Clayton's Board of Aldermen.
The plan in order to hold the festival is to close several streets around Shaw Park, including Brentwood, Forsyth, and Meramec.
The Board of Aldermen last week offered a verbal agreement with the festivals plans to host the three-day event in Clayton, with the festival set to begin on Aug. 15.
This isn't the first time Taste of St. Louis would be held somewhere other than St. Louis; the festival left for Chesterfield in 2014, but was back downtown five years later.