Bite of Seattle | |
---|---|
![]() Crowds at the 2008 Bite of Seattle event | |
Status | Active |
Genre | Food Festival |
Frequency | Annual |
Location(s) | Seattle Center, Seattle, Washington, U.S. |
Years active | 1982–2019, 2023– |
Next event | July 19-21, 2024 |
Attendance | 400,000 |
Website | biteofseattle |
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.
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]
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.
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]
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