Taste Edmonds will stay in downtown Edmonds after all.
The Edmonds Chamber of Commerce — which last month said it was planning to relocate the annual food and music festival to Esperance Park pending a permit from Snohomish County — said Friday that the county denied a permit for Taste Edmonds due to the event’s size.
As a result, the chamber said, the 2023 event will again be held at the City of Edmonds-owned Frances Anderson Center Playfield, where it has been for the past two years. The event will run Friday-Sunday, Aug. 11-13.
Taste Edmonds has traditionally been at downtown Edmonds’ Civic Field, but was moved to the Frances Anderson Playfield to accommodate Civic Field renovations now underway. Having Taste Edmonds return to the renovated Civic Park isn’t an option because the event is a major fundraiser for the chamber, and events requiring paid admission won’t be permitted at Civic Park, Chamber President and CEO Ryan Crowther said.
At the time of its announcement regarding a move to Esperance Park — located at 7830 222nd St. S.W — the chamber said it was looking forward to having the event closer to Edmonds’ Highway 99 neighborhoods and the International District. However, the idea received pushback from some Esperance residents, who said they weren’t consulted about the idea and expressed worries about the impact such a large event would have on their residential neighborhood.
“Although we were excited about the prospect of bringing the event to a new location, we are fortunate to have an equally desirable venue where the event has been held for the past two years,” Crowther said.
Crowther said the chamber has “spent the last three months laying the groundwork for a whole new event that we’re still going to deliver on. Taste Edmonds has a new look and will include broader, elevated food options, as well as more local Edmonds chefs, breweries, cideries, artists and makers than ever before,” he continued.
Taste Edmonds — which was first launched as the Taste of Edmonds in 1983 — remains a signature city celebration. Event proceeds go to producing several other beloved, free chamber-sponsored community events such as the Fourth of July parade, Edmonds Classic Car Show, Halloween Trick-or-treating and the Holiday Tree Lighting.
A limited number of early bird tickets are available at TasteEdmonds.com.
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