21st annual Taste of Downtown set for June 21

Delectable fare comes to the heart of Carson City as Taste of Downtown turns 21 in less than two weeks.

Featuring 43 booths at which restaurant vendors offer up almost anything taste buds want to sample, the event is on Saturday, June 21. It will cover 13 blocks and bring in nine bands to provide music of nearly every genre. The annual event has become a summertime favorite and is a fund raising effort for Advocates to End Domestic Violence.

“It’s gotten bigger every year,” said Lisa Lee, executive director of the organization to counter and combat abuse. She said the event’s spurt to top attraction over two decades was unexpected but gratifying. “We’ve been surprised at how it’s grown.”

Just 2,000 tickets are sold because that’s the amount vendors can accommodate during the event, which runs from 5:30 p.m. until midnight. This year tickets are $40 in advance, $45 for those left the day of the event to sell at the gate.

Tickets are available at the Purple Avocado, a gift shop at 904 N. Curry St., or Classy Seconds, the domestic violence organization’s thrift store in north Carson City at 411 Hot Springs Road. They also may be had by telephoning the organization’s office at (775) 883-7654, or via an online link at the website, www.tasteofdowntowncarson.com. At that site, there is a $2 fee atop the $40 charge.

Lee said the lively event has taken on a magical air as it’s grown through the years, bringing people into the historic heart of Carson City for what she views as the community’s premier neighborhood gala.

“I just hope everybody gets to come out and enjoy the night,” she said. “It has become a large neighborhood block party.”

She touted the musical fare this year, noting long-standing favorites are being joined by a newbie.

“I’ve got nine bands,” she said, calling the Mustache Kitty group that will play until midnight at Telegraph Square her newest entry.

“We’ve never had them before,” she said of the performers who do rock ‘n roll and lots of covers from tunes through the years. Mustache Kitty plays at Telegraph and Curry streets from 8:30 p,m, until midnight.

Lee said the Bootleggers, a country band, will be performing country music on Third Street from 5:30 until 9 p.m. A long time goal, however, again went unfulfilled again this year as a bid to get a Motown band fell short, according to Lee.

But most other genres are represented and the rest of the lineup is: The Cutters, 5:30-8:30 p.m. on Telegraph Square; Mike Badinger & Friends, 5:30-9 p.m. on East Proctor Street; Smooth Two, 5:30-9 p.m. at Red’s Patio; Chaser, 5:30-9 p.m. at Second and Curry streets; Nevada Hazzurd, 5:30-9 p.m. at Musser and Curry streets; The Refiners, 4:30-7 p.m. at Comma Coffee Courtyard, and Millennium Bugs from 5:30-9 p.m. at the Carson Mall,

The 21st Taste of Downtown, Lee said, is crucial for her organization.

“It’s a challenge to raise money,” she said. “That’s why ‘Taste’ is important, along with the awareness it provides.”