The early morning drizzle did little to dampen the spirits of festival-goers, as Taste Edmonds officially got underway Friday at Frances Anderson Playfield in downtown Edmonds.
Almost as soon as the gates opened at noon, music began flowing out of the soundstage speakers, warming up participants for the 4 p.m. start of live music.
The cornhole tournament was a big draw, pulling in several teams from across the region as well as ad hoc teams, all competing for cash prizes and bragging rights.
On the other side of the field, kids’ activities held sway with bouncy houses, face painting and glitter tattoos. Food vendors offered everything from ice cream to tacos to corndogs, providing something for every taste, while the beer and wine garden provided a choice of libations.
The festival runs through Sunday, Aug. 21. For a full schedule of music and other Taste activities, check the official website here.
— Story and photos by Larry Vogel
Photos look fabulous! We enjoyed the evening very much, although for the surrounding houses the music was too loud.
The problem was that the Taste of Edmonds was hardly a Taste of Edmonds. Local vendors? Where were they? and also the food for sale was hardly a taste as there were very few vans. This once was an event for food. Now, very little. The field was mainly the beer tent area, children came in if not drinking beer, there were some games for them, but otherwise it was drinking and music.
It was overall a fun event because the people were enjoying themselves as the music was great, BUT where was the food??
As Edmond’s celebrations go, this one is my least favorite, but I have no objections to it. It’s good that it is again at least partly a family event. Since we live close by where it’s held, I try to keep our vehicles on our property so there is plenty of close by street parking for some of our visitors to town. I consider this our contribution to the Chamber’s on going implementation of the free events for the benefit of us all. I’d like to see more in the way of our great local food trucks and maybe some sort of encouragement (maybe like ten or fifteen % off coupons) for the downtown and waterfront food/drink venues) as part of the entry fee. This seems like more the “Party” of Edmonds than the “Taste” but overall, it’s a good thing.