BUFFALO, N.Y. — If you're looking for something to do this weekend, head down to Niagara Square in downtown Buffalo and come hungry!
The 39th annual Taste of Buffalo is back. The nation's largest two-day food festival runs Saturday, July 9 from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sunday, July 10 from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m.
This year 40 restaurants, food trucks, and five New York State wineries are participating. They'll be set up along Delaware Avenue near Chippewa and stretch down and around Niagara Square.
You can buy food and beverage tickets at one of three ticket tents at the festival. Sheets of 10 tickets are $6 each; food items cost between two and 10 tickets. Pre-sale food ticket vouchers are available at participating Tops Markets locations through 5 p.m. on July 10. If you buy a $60 food ticket voucher, you'll get four free non-alcoholic drinks at the Taste of Buffalo.
Each participating restaurant will offer a healthy menu item that is lower in fat and sodium. They will also have smaller, "taste portions" of one or more of their menu items.
In addition to all of the food and drinks, there will also be live entertainment, demonstrations, free samples, and more.
Chef Darian Bryan from The Plating Society will do cooking demos on the culinary stage, which is located in the New Era parking lot on Delaware Avenue.
Each year, the Taste of Buffalo and Tops, the presenting sponsor, work with a number of nonprofit groups to help them earn money for their groups and organizations. Volunteers staff beverage tents, sell tickets, and help in other ways at the festival.
If you're headed to the Taste of Buffalo, you can support victims of the Tops mass shooting by making an on-the-spot donation. Look for heart-shaped QR codes throughout the festival and scan one with your phone to donate. One-hundred percent of the donations will go to the Buffalo 5/14 Survivors Fund.
This year there will be a community tent in front of Buffalo City Hall where people can sit, eat, and chat. Festival organizers say this is another way for people to come together.