Taste of Glen Ellyn organizers expand festival to four days

Organizers of the Taste of Glen Ellyn are inviting locals and others alike to kick off the weekend early in the village’s downtown and to plan for an extra day of fun.

The annual event is expanding to four days this year, running Thursday through Sunday, May 17 to 20. For the past two years, the event has been held Thursday through Saturday.

“It really was just a matter of people asking us and talking to us. They’d say, ‘Too bad it’s not another day,’ and we said, ‘Well, we’ll try it and see if four days will accommodate everybody’s wishes,’” said Georgia Koch, co-executive director of the Glen Ellyn Chamber of Commerce, which organizes the event.

Now in its 31st year, the Taste started as a small festival to showcase local restaurants and businesses.

This year it will feature 16 food vendors, including seven local restaurants: Barone’s Pizza, Chicago Prime, Chicks ’n’ Salsa, Ellyn’s Tap and Grill, Salt Creek BBQ, Tap House Grill and Strawberry Patch.

Glen Ellyn native Ryan Mumby joins the musical lineup of festival favorites. Ryan Mumby and the Hundred Year Rain, a blues/rock band, takes the stage at 3 p.m. Sunday. Other performers include 7th Heaven at 7:30 p.m. Thursday; Local Favorite at 5 p.m. Friday and Hi Infidelity at 7:30 p.m. Friday; and American English at 8 p.m. Saturday.

The McNulty Irish Dancers and Elite Feet Dance Center perform at noon Saturday, and the Sunshine Dance Project Studio performs at noon Sunday.

The festival is on Main Street, between Hillside Avenue and Duane Street, and extends into the parking lot next to Giesche Shoes. Admission is free.

The festivities run concurrent with other downtown area events, including the Village Fair carnival, which is north of the railroad tracks and west of Main Street in the Crescent Street parking lot.

With its kickoff night from 5 to 10 p.m. Wednesday, the carnival continues from 5 to 10 p.m. Thursday and Friday, noon to 10 p.m. Saturday, and noon to 8 p.m. Sunday.

The annual craft fair on Main Street runs from noon to 8 p.m. Saturday and noon to 7 p.m. Sunday.