Many local municipalities have had their own “Taste of … ” festivals, and Liverpool’s chance will come March 11 at Great Northern Mall.
The Greater Liverpool Chamber of Commerce is hosting the inaugural Taste of Liverpool to show off the area’s finest foods and raise money for JDRF (formerly known as the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation) and the American Red Cross.
Lucretia Hudzinski, executive director of the chamber, said she had toyed with the idea of Taste of Liverpool for several years, but it wasn’t until this year that the event came together.
“Liverpool has so many venues for eating, whether it be fine dining or a hamburger or hot dog place,” Hudzinski said. “A lot of times, people don’t realize where [the restaurants] are or what they do.”
In addition to the eats, Taste of Liverpool will also feature activities for children sponsored by the Liverpool Public Library. Budding chefs can create “dirt cups” with chocolate pudding and gummy worms. Adults can pick up a copy of the “Foodie Fiction” booklist, a recipe for good reads that weave the culinary with the literary.
Hudzinski said Taste of Liverpool is the chamber’s way of curing winter “cabin fever.”
“There are so many things going on in the summer,” she said. “We’ve had a lot of snow, and people want to get out and have some fun in a warm place.”
Taste-goers will also be able to enter hourly raffles and catch some live music, courtesy of the Liverpool Community Chorus and Rhythm n’ Shoes of the Northside Baptist Church.
So far, about 10 vendors have signed up, including the Speach Family Candy Shoppe of Syracuse and the Liverpool Stewart’s Shops, which opened in October of last year.
There is room for more vendors, who will have the chance to win awards in different food categories and for the booth with the best theme.
Booths cost $40 for members of the Greater Liverpool Chamber of Commerce or $160 for non-members, which includes a one-year chamber membership. Find the application at bit.ly/tasteoflpool or call the chamber at 457-3895 for more information.
Taste of Liverpool will take place from 4 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, March 11, at Great Northern Mall.
