GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — If you're looking to try some new foods, the first annual Grand Rapids Foodie Fest is for you!
Coming to Grand Rapids over the Fourth of July weekend, the festival will highlight local restaurants offering a variety of cuisines. There will also be local vendors and live entertainment!
Participating restaurants include Da Boils, Las Rocas Postres, House of Soul and Seafood, Twisted "Aye" Lemonade, Desi's Tropical Sno Shack, Indian Masala, Taqueria El Mariachi, Browndog Creamery and more.
Restaurant owners are gearing up for the festival to kick off Friday, and Da Boils co-owner Deiona Rogers is ready for the festival to get underway.
"I'm excited to do a really big event. We've done events before, but they were smaller," she said. "So to do something on such a grand scale and be able to reach so many people is super exciting. I'm overjoyed. And yeah, I just can't wait."
Rogers says she's excited to show the community what Da Boils has to offer.
"My co-owner and I have traveled the world and tried boils in other places," Rogers said. "So with that we were able to curate our own recipe for a sauce that just, you know I didn't want to say it, but it knocks your socks off."
Foodie Fest co-founders Taia Vinson and Amanda Hadd say the festival will return to Grand Rapids every Fourth of July weekend, and that the feedback has already been positive.
"Oh, yeah, the community seems very excited about everything we've got going on," Taia Vinson said. "All of our vendors are thrilled, all of our merchant vendors are thrilled. The community is ready to experience a taste of everything Grand Rapids has to offer."
Some of the food vendors at the festival have never participated in a pop-up event, Hadd says, and they're looking forward to giving them exposure.
The Foodie Fest is presented by Where AT GR, which aims to shine a spotlight on local restaurants.
The festival runs Friday from 3 p.m. to 10 p.m., Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. No admission is needed.
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