2007-07 Taste of Minnesota

On Sunday afternoon we headed down to Harriet Island on the Mississippi River to attend the Taste of Minnesota festival. The festival is across the river from downtown St. Paul, so there are some nice views of the city skyline.

Shuttle buses run from downtown to the festival grounds, or you can park on the festival side of the river and walk in. The festival has vendors selling their wares and crafts (sunglasses were the most popular item this year, there must have been at least a dozen vendors) along with local restaurants selling food and beverage. The variety of food is great, form Australian Breaky Pies, to Shwarma/Gyros, turkey legs, sweet corn, onion blossoms, ice cream, fresh squeezed lemonade, beer, wine and dozens of other options. Since you can't bring in your won food or beverage, your are a captive audience for the sights and smells of the food booths.


You have to buy tickets (scrip) for the food and beverage from various ticket booths on the grounds. This serves 2 purposes. The first is reduce the cash handling and build-up of cash at the individual food booth. The second is to make it seem like you are not spending real money for the food. It is also less easy to figure out what exactly they are charging you for the food.

There was a carnival area with rides and a midway to help entertain the kids. Radio Disney also had a stage where they were playing music and having dance contests. There is a large open area with a main stage for the bigger music acts. When we were there, a military band was playing as it was the middle of the afternoon. The bigger name entertainment took the stage in the evening, but we left around dinner time. The evening show was followed by a fireworks each night. The festival runs from the weekend through the 4th of July.