Taste of Park Ridge to serve up French, Indian, American, Italian and Mexican food

Food and music are the big draws of Taste of Park Ridge, a long-running festival that takes place in the city's Uptown area.

Festival hours are 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Thursday, July 14; and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, July 15-16, on Summit Avenue between Prospect and Touhy avenues. This outdoor food fest features live music and booths from area restaurants and vendors.

An opening ceremony will kick things off at 6:15 p.m. Thursday.

Participating food vendors include: Crème of the Crepe, Triple Scoop'd, Mi Restaurante, Murray Bros. Caddy Shack, Dairy Queen, Marco's Tacos, Phoenix Flame, D'Agostinos, Sunrise Grill, Charcoal Delights, Himalayan Restaurant, B's Sweet Bites, Panino's Pizza, Mel's Craft Barbecue, Spuntino's and Tricafe.

Bands include: on Thursday, Everett Dean and the Lonesome Hearts at 6:45 p.m. and 7th Heaven at 8:30 p.m.; on Friday, Cole Brandt at 3:15 p.m., The Gingers at 6:45 p.m. and Rod Tuffcurls and the Bench Press at 9 p.m.; and on Saturday, The Pickpockets at 3:30 p.m., Ginger Road at 5 p.m., Simply Elton at 6:45 p.m. and Kashmir: The Led Zeppelin Concert at 9 p.m.

Other bands will perform earlier in the day on the main stage, as will local performers, schools of dance and gymnastics.

Families are invited to visit the Kids Zone from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at Hodges Park.

Those 21 and older can visit the wine oasis, where sauvignon blanc, rose and cabernet sauvignon will be served.

The Taste of Park Ridge grew out of Taste of Uptown, an effort to boost foot traffic for local businesses. In the early years, they worked with the Park Ridge Chamber of Commerce to put on the festival. Now the festival is put on by a volunteer board of directors and management committee.

Admission is free; food and drink tickets are 8 for $10. Cash and credit cards are accepted. For details and a complete schedule of events, visit tasteofparkridge.com.