A big weekend downtown Minneapolis with the Taste of Minnesota taking place for the first time in the city July 2 and 3 and is free to attend.
Keeping everyone safe during the party is top of mind for former Minneapolis Police Officer Scott Gerlicher who is now the director of security for Taste of Minnesota. He says they will have more than 100 police officers and other security working the event.
"That's not just inside the festival, that's also in the area surrounding the festival itself, where people will be parking." Gerlicher told WCCO Radio's Susie Jones. "There will be other patrol officers included with that. You'll see officers on horses, officers on bikes, and those tend to be really well received by the community."
Gerlicher says people can expect to go through metal detectors to enter the festival area, and you can expect to see a significant presence of police.
"You get to really see some of the crowd dynamics, the flow, what works and what doesn't work," says Gerlicher.
Handling security at big events is nothing new to Gerlicher who worked with the Super Bowl, the Final Four, and All-Star Game in Minnesota, and says he's confident that it will go smoothly.
It's the first time Minneapolis will host the "Taste of Minnesota" along Nicollet Mall. The original Taste of Minnesota started in the early 1980s at the State Capitol in St. Paul. It was always a free event, and eventually became one of the state’s largest gatherings. It moved to Harriet Island in 2003.
Eventually, Taste of Minnesota came undone in the 2000's when money started to become scarce.
The new event ends at 8:00 p.m., earlier than past events which always had fireworks. It will not go past dark. There will be music, art, food, wrestling and pet areas, which organizers say will provide a family-focused event.
The main musical acts will be Third Eye Blind, rapper Big Boi and Uncle Kracker, along with a few smaller acts.
The city will also provide free bus rides to and from the event. You can find more information here.