Food and festival lovers flock to Taste of Minnesota in Minneapolis

The Taste of Minnesota was the spot to grab a bite to eat on Sunday.

Crowds of people flocked to Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis in hot and sunny weather for the first day of the revived food and live music festival.

It's the first year that Taste has been held since 2015. For years, it was known to draw crowds to St. Paul over the Independence Day holiday.

This year's festival opened Sunday at noon and featured food trucks and vendors that celebrated Minnesota culture and cuisine. Hundreds of attendees embraced the food culture as they munched on corn on the cob on a stick, took a savory bite of Rusty's tacos or tried a sweet treat of Original Hockey Mom's brownies.

Leigh Balderrama and Luke Romacker , two self-described foodies from downtown Minneapolis, found the festival on Eventbrite and planned to attend both days.

It's the first year that Balderrama and Romacker have attended the Taste of Minnesota. Romacker said he likes the food fair's proximity for people like him who live downtown.

"During the summer months, this place comes alive, and it's nice that we live somewhere that it's walkable to get here," Romacker, 27, said.

Balderrama, 26, enjoys trying different types of food and is an avid watcher of Food Network shows, so she thought the event was the perfect way to eat through Minneapolis.

Balderrama and Romacker's goal? To try as much food as they could during the festival.

"We didn't really have a plan coming in here," Balderrama said. "A lot of places look good, so it's kind of deciding which one's gonna be worth it."

The Taste of Minnesota started in St. Paul in 1983 and offered free food and music outside the State Capitol. Ron Maddox, a former bar owner and St. Paul City Council member, was long associated with the event, but it began to decline in the late 2000s. New owners filed for bankruptcy after Maddox died, and his widow, Linda Maddox, revived the event in Waconia, Minn., in 2014 and 2015.

For Kathy Larson this was the first year at Taste of Minnesota in 15 years. Larson, 60, said she was glad the festival moved to downtown Minneapolis because public transportation makes it accessible.

"I think given that we have the light rail, it probably makes it easy for people to come and go from here," Larson said.

Larson also enjoyed how the festival offered more than food. In addition to vendors, the Taste of Minnesota this year had an art market, live music, and F1rst Wrestling. Three stages featured jazz music, singer-songwriters and other bands.

Third Eye Blind headlined Sunday night's performance, and Big Boi is set to headline Monday's.

But the food scene was still the highlight for many.

Brooke Sundgren and Sara Vodnick both raved over Animales Barbeque Co.'s burnt pork ends as they sat on the sidewalk Sunday afternoon.

Sundgren, 29, said Animales meets her expectations for delicious barbecue as a Texan who moved to downtown Minneapolis. However, she still wanted to get out of her comfort zone and try classic Minnesota food.

"I'm looking for wild rice, walleye and cheese curds," Sundgren said. "Something that just tastes like Minnesota."

Vodnick, 47, said she likes how the festival is bringing people back downtown.

"Downtown sometimes seems like it's dying, but I think this was a good first step in bringing people back," Vodnick said.

Monday is the second and final day of the Taste of Minnesota, open from noon to 8 p.m. Entrance is free, and Metro Transit is offering free transit passes that can be downloaded online for people to travel to the festival.