Taste of Chicago has notoriously taken place in Grant Park since the 1980s, but now a series of special events will take over the park this summer, meaning the annual tasting festival has to find a new open venue.
From the first NASCAR race covering a portion of the park for six weeks to the Sueños Music Festival, and Lollapalooza, the park is booked with back-to-back events, moving Taste of Chicago out during their usual July weekend.
Grant Park is fully booked starting May 18 and extending to mid-August, so the beloved July event is not even listed in the summer lineup thus far. Taste of Chicago’s 2023 date has not been announced but is tentatively scheduled for the July 7th weekend.
While private events won’t be held every weekend, there is already a large bit of designated time blocked off for setting up and tearing down these massive events. In terms of the NASCAR street race, the city has sectioned off 20+ days to set up and 13 or more days to tear down the world-class course and event space.
As the Chicago Public Park District works to balance a series of large-scale private events with needed public park space, Taste of Chicago has not yet announced a new venue going forward.
Check out the official schedule below:
Taking place from May 27 to 28, the Sueños Music Festival has designated setup blocked off for May 18 to the 26 with teardown lasting from May 29 to June 1st.
Traditionally, Taste of Chicago takes place in Grant Park in early July from the 8th to the 10th, but NASCAR has the dates blocked off with setup taking place from June 5 through the 30th, as they work to create a massive 2.2-mile course. The event isn’t until July 1st and 2nd with teardown lasting from July 3rd to July 15th.
Then, Lollapalooza takes over Grant Park from August 3rd to the 6th with setup going from July 17 to Aug. 2 and teardown starting August 7th through to the 13th.
Address: 331 E. Randolph St. (Columbus Drive), Chicago, IL 60601