History of Taste of Charlotte

Taste of Charlotte began in 1999 with 23 local restaurants. Located on 2nd Street near the Education Center, the first year kicked off with 8,000 festival goers.

Throughout the years, the event has grown along with the festival attendance. In 2000, the festival moved to the heart of Uptown Charlotte on Tryon Street and for the 2001 event, expanded from 2 days to the current 3 day event. It was a great addition welcoming thousands of Uptown Charlotte workers the opportunity to enjoy the festival during their lunch on Friday afternoon.

Adventure Village Kids Area arrived in 2001 providing interactive kids activities for a nominal fee or in some circumstances, free of charge. Tavern at the Taste had festival guests raising their glasses in 2002. Tavern at the Taste is a great spot to cool off and relax with micro-brews, a variety of wine and Live Music on the Tavern Stage.

In 2005, The MarketPlace brought a unique, open-air shopping experience to the festival with a wide variety of handmade arts and crafts including purses, pottery, jewelry, woodcraft, boutique style clothing and much more.

In 1999, the first Taste of Charlotte featured 23 Restaurants and 42 Sponsors. Today, Taste of Charlotte boasts over 30 Restaurants, more than 100 menu items, over 100 Unique Sponsors and over 100,000 festival guests!

Taste of Charlotte is produced by Centurion Entertainment, Inc., which is a family owned and operated company. Chris and Kim DuBois along with Matt and Lori DuBois founded the event which was designed after the Taste of Buffalo, their hometown.