Taste of Lombard opens five-day run

Lombard-area residents keeping a close eye on their waistlines can be excused this week if they cheat just a little on their diets.

The Taste of Lombard opened Tuesday night and continues through Saturday at Madison Meadow Park near Madison Street and Ahrens Avenue. Roughly 50,000 visitors are expected to sample the goodies from about 20 restaurants — along with carnival rides, booths from roughly 45 vendors and the music of several bands — before the Taste closes shop Saturday night.

“It's called The Heart Attack, and it's going to kill me,” he joked, before getting a cellphone photo of the concoction.

The annual party is sponsored by the Lombard Jaycees.

Many residents visit the festival every year, including Sarah Manson, who was checking out the carnival rides with her 9-year-old son.

“It's always a good time. I love the food, and my son loves the rides”, she said.

Tuesday's opening also was Bill Mueller Memorial Day in honor of the late village president, Bill Mueller, who died in 2012. The Jaycees are donating $1 from every paid admission to a fund for the Bill Mueller community memorial site that's expected to include a garden-like gathering place with a Victorian-style gazebo on the grounds of the Lombard Historical Society.

The Taste will be open from 5 to 11 p.m. through Thursday and noon to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

For details and a complete list of entertainment and vendors, visit tasteoflombard.com or lombardjaycees.org.