Attendees of the Taste of Minnesota festival will be able to smell sugary and savory foods and hear jazz music from the sky this year, or at least from 30 feet above the ground.
The returning Taste of Minnesota event will feature the usual attractions — food and music — but it also comes with a 300-foot zipline across Washington Avenue S.
The two-day event with free admission will feature around 30 bands and 60 food vendors from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. on July 6-7 on downtown Minneapolis’ Nicollet Mall, according to details announced this week.
The zipline from Nicollet Mall to S. Marquette Avenue along Washington Avenue S. will give attendees a bird’s-eye view of parts of the festival, including what Taste of Minnesota associate Jessie Storovich is calling the Magical Midway and Jazz Junction. The zipline is reminiscent of one across the Mississippi River during the 2018 Super Bowl, but Storovich said one did not inspire the other.
The festival will be divided into five neighborhoods based on the experiences provided by the food and art vendors there, Storovich said.
The main stage acts will include The Wallflowers, Gear Daddies and Martina McBride. There will also be two other stages for jazz music and singer/songwriters.
Parents and children will be able to relax in an area that offers arts and crafts as well as a “Puppy Party” where kids can interact with puppies.
This is the second year in a row the event is hosted in downtown Minneapolis, with last year’s event seeing more than 100,000 attendees. The Minneapolis-based festival is a reinvention of earlier events held in St. Paul and Waconia that ended in 2015.
