Taste of Minnesota: It's gonna cost you

After adding just a dash of flavor last year, Taste of Minnesota's new owners have cooked up a bold new recipe for the July 4th weekend festival that draws more than 100,000 people to St. Paul's Harriet Island.

The good news: Look for higher-caliber bands and restaurants, more stages and new family entertainment. The bad news: All of this is going to cost you.

Ticket prices will be based on arrival time -- $20 for ages 12-64 before 4 p.m., $30 after -- and will not include food tickets like last year. The always-free policy that dated to Taste's 1983 inception ended in 2009 when a $10 admission was implemented, in part as a security measure. But those tickets came with $10 worth of food tickets.

Another dramatic change: Fireworks will go off only on July 4 and not all four nights, as in past years.

With the steeper prices comes a sharp shift in main-stage headliners, from 1960s and '70s has-beens to '90s bands Counting Crows, 311 and the Offspring, plus a hip-hop headliner yet to be announced. Sammy Hagar will headline one night, too (so it's not entirely out with the old).

Secondary stages also will be ramped up, with names ranging from R&B greats Marcia Ball, Otis Clay and Willie Murphy to alt-country stars Justin Townes Earle and Dawes to indie-rock band Minus the Bear.

"We crunched all the numbers 'til we were blue in the face, trying to find a way not to charge admission," said Andy Faris, Taste's new managing co-owner. "The reality is, we have to do it if we want it to be as great a festival as we think it can be."

The site of Wednesday's announcement indicated the new direction: the Summit Brewery in St. Paul. After decades awash in Budweiser and Miller, Taste of Minnesota is finally teaming up with a Minnesota-made beer as its chief sponsor and supplier.

"It's nice to see the event living up to the name," said Summit President Mark Stutrud, who complained of feeling shut out in past years.

Several prominent Twin Cities restaurants are also signing on for the July 2-5 festival, including Barrio, Crave and Seven Sushi & Steakhouse.

Look for more Minnesota flavor in the music, too. St. Paul folk label Red House Records and world-music station KFAI-FM are booking one of the new stages.

Locally minded hipster rock station the Current (89.3 FM) will bring in acts on opening night, July 2, when it signed on to be the first of four alternating radio co-sponsors along with Cities 97, 93X and Taste grand poobah KQ92.

Taste's new owners might be taking a cue from a past sponsor, Treasure Island Casino. This is definitely a big gamble.

They already lost one bet in their first year last summer, when their $50 "golden-circle" seated area in front of the main stage mostly sat empty. Fans wound up crashing the fenced-off section, which was nixed for this year (but a $100 VIP area remains).

"This year, your place in front of the stage will depend on how early you get here," Faris promised. "And those who don't get here early can still see the action on our two Jumbotrons."

The main reason for the $20-$30 tickets is a corresponding spike in production and entertainment budgets. The new team claims to be paying almost twice as much for talent as was paid last year, which was almost double that of the year before.

Last summer's shows with Judas Priest and Bret Michaels seemed to pay off, drawing more than 10,000 people.

In terms of value, Faris compared the revamped Taste to other summer music events such as the Basilica Block Party ($40-$45 per night), Rock the Garden ($40) and Minnesota State Fair Grandstand shows (usually more than $30).

He said there will be "many, many ways" of finding discounted tickets through radio stations and other sponsors.

"And there will be a lot more on Harriet Island besides the music," he boasted. Look for daily performances by Circus Juventas, an NBA Nation basketball playground, a new kids stage with music and storytelling, plus a cooking-and-music tent cooked up by Cities 97's Brian (BT) Turner. But some Taste mainstays will be gone.

Many of the aging carnival rides are being ditched for new attractions.

Also missing: Ron Maddox, the event's dedicated and headstrong co-founder, who stayed on as a consultant last year after selling to the new owners. He died in February at 72 after a series of strokes.

"Last year wasn't really our year," Faris said. "This year, it's fair to start judging the new Taste of Minnesota management on where we're going with this thing."

Chris Riemenschneider • 612-673-4658

Tickets go on sale May 7. Acts announced so far include:

July 2 (Current 89.3 Night): Dawes, Minus the Bear, Justin Townes Earle, headliner TBA.

July 3 (KQRS 92.5): Sammy Hagar, Lou Gramm of Foreigner, John Waite.

July 5 (93X): 311, the Offspring, Pepper.

Info: tasteofmn.com or 651-772-9980.