Chicago Country Music Festival Rejoins Taste of Chicago as a Side Dish.
It’s official. The Chicago Country Music Festival will join the Gospel Fest, Celtic Fest and the Viva Chicago Latin Music Festival as scaled-back, one-day stints as part of the annual Taste of Chicago.
As reported by the Chicago Tribune, the annual downtown food festival will now be under the direction of Chicago Park District. The future of the annual mid-summer food festival will focus on “family friendly” entertainment and lose the “major music acts” and, in exchange, provide a “taste” of the niche music genres.
These changes do not come as a surprise. Recently, the City announced a major overhaul to the offices of Special Events and Cultural Affairs, the departments responsible for the majority of Chicago’s music and film festivals.
In 2008, Chicago Country Music Festival became it’s own independent two-day festival held on Chicago’s lakefront. In 2010, the early fall festival featured a host of major country touring artist, regional acts and local talent.
A move to privatize the Taste was recently turned down after the sole proposal floated a $20 admission charge. The Taste will run from June 24 to July 3, 2011.
Update: the 2011 Country Music Day at the Taste of Chicago lineup.
Sorry, comments are closed for this post.