Chicago Mayor Richard Daley says the annual Taste of Chicago festival should always be free.
The city put out a request for proposals to privatize the event, and only one bidder, a group called Celebrate Chicago, answered the call.
Daley says the bidder’s proposal to charge a $20 admission fee for nights and weekends is unacceptable. He says the Taste isn’t like Summer Fest in Milwaukee which charges for admission to draw in bigger musical acts.
“No, it’s called taste of food. We’re not into music. We’re not into anything else. We got into tangents, and the cost kept going up. We’re going to get it back down and do the Taste of Chicago for food, and that’s all,” Daley said.
The mayor wouldn’t say he would reject the proposal, but he says the review committee could revise it.