Bite of Seattle

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Bite of Seattle
Bite of Seattle crowds.jpg
Crowds at the 2008 Bite of Seattle event
StatusActive
Genre Food Festival
FrequencyAnnual
Location(s) Seattle Center, Seattle, Washington, U.S.
Years active1982–2019, 2023–
Next eventJuly 19-21, 2024
Attendance400,000
Website biteofseattle.com

The Bite of Seattle is an annual food festival held in Seattle, Washington. It takes place at the Seattle Center. Locally, the festival is known as "The Bite". It is held on one weekend during July and is considered to be Seattle's largest food and beverage event, with over 200 participating vendors. [1] In 2024, the festival will be held on the weekend of July 19-21, 2024.

Contents

History

View over Seattle Center during the 2010 event, with the Space Needle in the background Bite of Seattle Space Needle.jpg
View over Seattle Center during the 2010 event, with the Space Needle in the background

Back in July 1982, Alan Silverman, the president of Festivals, Inc., founded the festival which was originally held at Green Lake Park. [2] Initially, it was expected that roughly 25,000 people would attend, but 25 restaurants were participating and 75,000 people in attendance. In 2006, there were 60 restaurants and food vendors participating and over 425,000 visitors. [3]

Throughout the rest of the years, the number of visitors averaged about 400,000 people throughout the three-day-long festival, with over 150 vendors participating.

The 2020 Bite of Seattle and Taste of Tacoma were both canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [4]

In 2023, CHEQ, a mobile payments platform company, brought the Bite of Seattle back after the COVID-19-induced hiatus. The 2023 event was panned by attendees due to poor functionality of the CHEQ app. [5] [6]

Accomplishments

For two consecutive years, 2016 and 2017, the Bite of Seattle was voted the "Best Food Festival" in the United States. [7]

On April 4, 2019, Alan Silverman was inducted into the Hall of Fame for the Washington Festival and Events Association. [2] This was mainly due to his success in coordinating and creating many popular festivals, including the Bite of Seattle.

Attractions

The Bite offers many attractions, including food sampling from local restaurants, food cook-off competitions, eating competitions, new foods and vendors, commercial vendors, traveling tours, child-friendly activities, and local chefs showcasing their cooking. There are also many activities and entertainment options unrelated to food, which include live entertainment, stage performances, a free movie night, craft beer & cider tasting, and beer gardens.

Bite of Seattle hosts over 80 live bands, primarily local and regional artists, that play on stage. These performances are usually held at one of the three main stages: either the Fountain Lawn Stage, [8] the Mural Stage, [9] or the Fisher Green Stage. [10]

Cook-off at the 2010 event, one of the Bite's attractions Bite of Seattle Cook Off.jpg
Cook-off at the 2010 event, one of the Bite's attractions

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References

  1. "Feast your eyes on what the Bite of Seattle has to offer this weekend". The Seattle Times. 2019-07-18. Retrieved 2020-03-16.
  2. 1 2 "What to Expect?". Albert Lee Appliance Bite of Seattle. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
  3. Broom, Jack (July 19, 2006). "Even after 25 years, Bite of Seattle still delicious". The Seattle Times . Archived from the original on December 14, 2019. Retrieved June 3, 2018.
  4. Sherred, Kristine (July 1, 2020). "Another blow to summer as COVID-19 forces cancellation of Tacoma's favorite food festival". The News Tribune. Retrieved July 29, 2020.
  5. Bek, Nate (July 22, 2023). "Bite of Seattle attendees fed up with food ordering app from tech startup". Geekwire . Retrieved July 24, 2023.
  6. Torres, Nikki (July 28, 2023). "Bite of Seattle payment system frustrates customers, businesses". Fox13 News Seattle . Retrieved July 30, 2023.
  7. "Albert Lee Appliance Bite of Seattle". OutdoorsNW Magazine. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
  8. "Fountain Lawn Stage". Albert Lee Appliance Bite of Seattle. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
  9. "Mural Stage". Albert Lee Appliance Bite of Seattle. Retrieved 2020-02-09.
  10. "Fisher Green Stage". Bite of Seattle. Retrieved 2020-02-09.

[1] [2]

  1. "CHEQ – Get to Know Us". www.cheqplease.com. Retrieved 2023-07-21.
  2. "Home". The Bite of Seattle by CHEQ. Retrieved 2023-07-21.