CINCINNATI -- Taste of Cincinnati is making way for Cincinnati's streetcar.
The annual Memorial Day food fest is shuffling two blocks east, organizers announced Wednesday.
The festival's relocation shows Cincinnati "can walk and chew gum at the same time," Vice Mayor David Mann said.
It's the second event the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber has moved to accommodate the city's newest transit system; Oktoberfest Zinzinnati moved to Second and Third streets last year for its 40th anniversary celebration.
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Specifically, Taste of Cincinnati will stay on Fifth Street but go from Main Street to Sentinel and beyond to the ramps of Interstate 71 and Columbia Parkway. In past years, the event hugged Fountain Square, which now has streetcar tracks running north and south on either side. And before that, the festival's home was on Central Parkway, between Downtown and Over-the-Rhine. Mann recalled how Taste began at Piatt Park but quickly relocated because of how popular it was.
"Park where you normally would for Taste of Cincinnati or park anywhere from Findlay Market to the Banks and take the Cincinnati Bell Connector streetcar," Taste director Cynthia Oxley said in Wednesday's announcement. "The streetcar will drop you just west of Taste of Cincinnati on Walnut or Main."
The change won't affect traffic, organizers said: The I-71 ramp has been closed for past Taste events, and the Columbia Parkway ramp will already be closed for construction.
"With Mount Adams as its backdrop, Taste of Cincinnati promises to be a better and more beautiful festival," said Jill P. Meyer, president and CEO of the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber.
Taste of Cincinnati will be held May 27-29, 2017.
