Taste of Roselle serves up food, family, fun

Bring an appetite and an adventurous palate to this weekend's Taste of Roselle, where 32 food vendors and food trucks will be serving pizza, crabcakes, tacos, corn, pierogies and all sorts of barbecue.

Food, drink, music, beer, bingo and kiddie rides, along with a barbecue cook-off, highlight festivities that begin Friday and continue through Sunday on Main Street, between Roselle Road and Park Street.

New this year is the addition of Showcase Plaza, a performance space near Main and Prospect streets, where local bands, street musicians, children's dance troupes, martial arts demonstrations and exercise classes will perform, Taste of Roselle Commission Chairman Stuart Caravello said.

Meanwhile, the main stage, located inside the beer tent, will be in full swing with rock, blues, jazz, country and classic rock shows beginning at 6 p.m. Friday and noon Saturday and Sunday.

Friday's 9 p.m. headliner, the Ethan Bell Band, specializes in country and pop tunes. Stevie Ray Vaughan tribute band Sammy Ray and the Texas Flood take the stage at 7 p.m. Saturday, followed by a 9 p.m. show featuring Voyage, a band that plays '70s and '80s rock.

Sunday's entertainment includes a 5 p.m. performance by The Fairlanes, followed by headliners Sealed With a Kiss at 6 p.m.

Caravello said the festival also features a gospel music performance by the Christian Tabernacle Church choir at 12:15 p.m. Sunday.

The festival's beer offerings will include brews from the Pollyanna Brewing Company, a Lemont-based craft brewer that plans to open a taproom called Roselare this fall in Roselle, Caravello said.

A craft fair with more than 50 vendors will be open from 6 to 10:30 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.

Up to 15 barbecue chefs will compete Sunday in a Barbecue Cook-Off presented by the Roselle Park District, with prizes to be awarded by park district judges.

The Roselle Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring a bingo tent that will be open all three days.

“The bingo tent is bigger and in a new location at the Roselle Public Library parking lot,” Caravello said. The site change was made to accommodate both more food vendors and more festival visitors, he said.

“We're trying to make changes to make it a bigger and better festival,” he said. “Our festival is completely self-funded. It's all paid for with revenue from the food and beer vendors. “

Proceeds are donated to community projects, he said.

Last year, those proceeds helped with the purchase of new furniture for the library. In 2015, the money was used to buy 25 picnic tables for Roselle Park District, he said.

Caravello, who grew up in Roselle, said the fest attracts visitors from throughout the area.

While it's growing, Caravello said the celebration has retained its neighborhood festival atmosphere. Former residents regularly make a pilgrimage back to town for the Taste, he said, and often those returning to their Roselle roots make it a point to gather on the festival's first night.

“Friday night has been coined ‘reunion night,'” he said.

36th annual Taste of Roselle

<b>When:</b> 6 to 11 p.m. Friday, Aug. 4; noon to 11 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 5; and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 6

<b>Where:</b> Main Street, between Roselle Road and Park Street

<b>Cost:</b> Free

<b>Info:</b> <a href="http://www.roselle.il.us'>roselle.il.us</a>