Taste of Muskegon hosts largest crowd yet

MUSKEGON, Mich. –  Ann Meisch and her team of volunteers prepared for the largest crowd in the history of Taste of Muskegon. From 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. on June 8, there would be thousands of people waiting in lines to try food from local Muskegon businesses. 

“We sold 30,000 additional tickets than we’ve ever had before in the past,” Meisch said, the city clerk of Muskegon and the director of Taste of Muskegon. “It was very much a success.”  

Taste of Muskegon began in 2007 with little community involvement and only a few vendors participating. This year, over 25 vendors were in attendance, lining up the streets around Hackley Park with food and activities. 

“At this point, they [the vendors] are totally overwhelmed and excited and like ‘wow, I’m already using Saturday’s food on Friday. I’m gonna be up all night cooking,’” Mesich said.

With an increase in volunteers and more involvement from city employees, the event was more successful than it had been in the past, Meisch said, adding that there had been problems in previous years with tickets running out, long lines, power, ice and financial support. 

“The sponsorship is always hard no matter what event you’re doing,” Meisch said. “Asking for money is difficult. Getting money is difficult. I think, you know, the economy can be difficult but I think people do as much as they can and I think people step up all the time.”

Lisa Kraus, the marketing director of Taste of Muskegon, said the event highlights the best of Muskegon and also includes local businesses with no relation to food.  

“It’s mostly supporting local businesses, local restaurants, local food trucks,” Kraus said. “The Museum Center [booth] is here. The library [booth] is here too because it’s a taste of what Muskegon has to offer.”

Other community members were also in attendance to either help or participate. The owner of Wonderland Distilling Co. Allen Serio, was one of the founders of Taste of Muskegon 17 years ago. 

“I had worked in the food and beverage industry with a bunch of the restaurants around Muskegon and there was really nothing going on downtown,” Serio said. “The idea came up to bring together our local restaurants on Western avenue at the time and to celebrate the culinary industry of Muskegon.” 

After founding the event, Serio became the owner of Wonderland Distilling Co. and became a vendor at Taste of Muskegon.

“Listening to the vendors, as an organizer, to put on a better festival was something we learned from on that side and now it’s been great to be on the other side and be working alongside the vendors,” Serio said. “There is this real sense of the culinary industry in Muskegon and it’s awesome.”

Brent Mullen, a software engineer and another founder of the event, said he finds time to show up every year in support of the event. 

“We were helping out friends on a committee for a different event, the Main Street Car Show, back in 2005,” Mullen said. “And at one point we decided we wanna have food at this car show and it kind of ballooned into something a lot bigger.”

Mullen said the event is all about bringing the community together and promoting the restaurants. Mullen said this event has allowed the people of Muskegon to be introduced to foods they were not familiar with before. 

“To see it from one tiny block to, you know, filling Hackley Park with lines everywhere, people everywhere, it’s uh, it’s pretty amazing,” Mullen said. 

Wonderland Distilling Co. won the People’s Choice Award, the Sustainability Award and the Best Fresh Bite Award with their beet & feta salad.

Corine Rose, another popular vendor of the event and the owner of Corine’s Cakes and Catering, located at 90 W. Broadway Ave., attended for the fourth consecutive year. Rose said the visibility of her restaurant has grown because of her participation. 

“A lot of people who never knew about us, they found out about us down here,” Rose said. “A lady from Whitehall, somewhere up north, she likes that sweet potato pie and now she comes to find me every week.” 

Rose said the event, in her eyes, is one of the biggest events that Muskegon has and it benefits both her business and the city itself. 

Taste of Muskegon’s list of vendors are all locally owned businesses and vendors can not be chain restaurants to participate. The event has continued for 17 years consecutively and went online during the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to limited space, some vendors do get denied from participating. 

“Every year we get one or two that graduate from Taste of Muskegon,” Kraus said. “They say they needed Taste of Muskegon to help get them started, to grow their business and they wanna make room for others, and sometimes we graduate them because they’ve been with us for a long time and they’ve really grown and maybe franchised out.” 

Kraus said they most likely will not be relocating the event, even with space shortage, because the area has the perfect spirit for Taste of Muskegon. 

“There’s a special magical atmosphere that happens out here that I just don’t think we can recreate in another park,” Kraus said. 

Kraus and Meisch said they are excited for the future of Taste of Muskegon and all that it can bring to the community.