BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — On Saturday, we're going to see something in Niagara Square we haven't seen in two years: thousands of people trying out delicious foods from 25 different vendors.
Staff at Babcia's Pierogi were busy steaming, slicing and chopping away as they get ready for their very first Taste of Buffalo.
"It's a lot of prep work; a lot of chopping, and frying and just planning, lots of planning," said owner Linda Lund.
Lund said they're excited to share their delicious treats with festival goers all weekend long.
"We have been steaming our banana pepper pierogi. We've steamed about 15,000 of them, and today we're steaming our apple pierogi. So we're steaming 3,000 of those and prepping them," she said.
"Taste of Buffalo has always been a festival to highlight the local Buffalo food scene. And it's just such a great opportunity to get people down here to the Taste of Buffalo, get them in front of restaurants they may not have ever seen before of experienced," said Amber Hartman, Chairperson of the 2021 Taste of Buffalo.
After taking a year off because of the pandemic, the largest two-day food fest in the nation is back - albeit with a much smaller footprint, stretching from Niagara Square two blocks north on Delaware to Huron.
In 2019, the taste stretched all the way to Chippewa.
Hartman said there's a lot of excitement in the air, and just like years past you don't need admissions tickets. But you will need to buy food tickets.
"This is the time of day that I love on a Friday because you start to see that transformation from the normal streets of Buffalo, into the Taste of Buffalo," she said.
Some road closures to keep in mind this year:
- Delaware Avenue from south of Huron Street to West Eagle Street.
- Mohawk Street between South Elmwood Avenue and Franklin Street.
- Genesee Street between Franklin Avenue and Niagara Square.
- And Court Street between Franklin Avenue and Niagara Square.
"The City of Buffalo is safe, the Taste of Buffalo is safe. There are extra details assigned to the Taste of Buffalo like there is every year, we have extra patrols assigned to the area," said Captain Jeff Rinaldo with Buffalo Police.
The taste runs from 11 to 9 tomorrow and from 11 to 7 on Sunday.
