Wichita Taste will bring two concerts, many restaurants to downtown Wichita this weekend
Eight years ago, local radio celebrity Brett Harris organized Taste of Wichita — a food and wine sampling event featuring samples from local restaurants. He staged it downtown, near Intrust Bank Arena, on the same night as a Dave Matthews Band concert.
This isn’t that.
Late last month, the Wichita City Council voted to give the go-ahead to an event called Wichita Taste that sounds an awful lot like that restaurant party from the past. And even though the setup is similar — food samples from local restaurants paired with live music — this first-year event is the brainchild of a former Wichitan now working in Kansas City.
Marc Harrell, a Wichita native and 1995 Southeast High School graduate, now works as a manager for radio stations in Kansas City, and in August, he put together an event called KC Taste. He staged it at Union Station in downtown Kansas City and recruited restaurants to set up booths and pass out samples. He also booked well-known musical acts, including Spin Doctors, JoDee Messina and David Lee Murphy.
The event went well, Harrell said, so he thought he’d give it a try in his hometown, too. At an August City Council meeting, he got approval to stage the two-day event in the Coleman Parking lot, which sits between First and Second streets and St. Francis and Santa Fe.
Wichita Taste is scheduled Friday and Saturday and it also has recognizable bands on the bill. On Friday, Uncle Kracker — known for songs like “Follow Me” and “Drift Away” — will perform. Saturday’s headliner is country star Jerrod Niemann.
So far, Harrell has recruited 12 local restaurants and food trucks to participate. Each of the restaurants will be offering “small bites” of food that cost between 2 and 3 tickets. A strip of 10 tickets costs $15, although 10 are included with day-of admission.
So far, the participants are Emerson Biggins, Heroes, Big Chill Ice Cream, Buffalo Wings & Rings, Roxie’s in Riverside, LumpiaPalooza, Los Compadres, B.S. Sandwich Press, Slim Chickens, Hog Wild Pit Bar-B-Q, The Kamayan Truck and Kyle’s Mom’s Pickles. The adult beverages will be sold by House of Schwan, Tuaca and Grace Hill Winery.
The difference between his food event and many others, Harrell said, is that restaurants aren’t just donating food. They keep a piece of the profits.
“It’s something that really puts the restaurant in the forefront,” he said. “They get hit up daily for doing donations, but no one’s really thinking about how the restaurants make money.”
Harrell said he doesn’t know how the first year will go but said he hopes that by next year, restaurants and potential ticket buyers will have a better understanding of what he’s trying to do.
“We plan on coming back year after year,” he said. “This is not a one-time pop.”
Wichita Taste
What: A two-day food sampling event with music by nationally known headliners Uncle Kracker and Jerrod Niemann
When: 4 to 10 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday
Where: Coleman Parking Lot at Second and St. Francis
Tickets: Day-of tickets are $35 and include 10 tasting tickets. VIP tickets will be $75 and include 20 tasting tickets. A discount will be offered from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, when all GA tickets will be $25 and all VIP tickets will be $50. Kids under 14 get in free.
Information: https://www.wichitataste.net/
This story was originally published September 20, 2018 at 3:00 PM.