Vendors will be lined up on downtown streets, offering taste samples to the public for the 26th annual Taste of Muncie on Sunday.
Advanced tickets for the event will be on sale until Friday. Tickets cost $20 for the public and $15 for students with their student I.D. and can also be purchased the day of the event for $25.
Cornerstone Center for the Arts Event Coordinator Tricia Sutton said 19 local restaurants makeup this year's vendors. The theme for Taste of Muncie is Mardi Gras.
Sutton said students will enjoy attending this event because it will give them a chance to venture away from the university.
"It would be a great chance for students to get off campus," she said. "I work with several interns, and they were going down the list of the different restaurants that are involved and they didn't even know half of them existed."
Once guests arrive, they will receive a ballot to vote for their favorite food in categories such as best appetizer and best dessert. Guests will also be given the chance to enter the 50/50 drawing for a door prize.
Sutton said Taste of Muncie takes a lot time and effort to plan. Planning starts in January, weekly committee meetings happen until the day of the event.
"I wouldn't even know the countless hours that go on just getting door prizes together and getting in touch with the vendors and making sure they are set up," Sutton said.
Sutton said she looks forward to the new ice cream concoctions from Dairy Dream of Albany and the crawfish nachos from Vera Mae's Bistro. Sutton said she is expecting a turnout that will surpass last year's record number.
"It's a great mix of people that attend; all ages and families are starting to come to it as well," Sutton said. "People get accustomed to coming. I've seen familiar faces over the years, [and] for $20 you get to come in and taste great stuff."
Six new vendors will contribute to the total 19 vendors at this year's tasting. One of the new vendors will be cardinal cupcakes & coneys.
Melissa Bucur, owner of cardinal cupcakes & coneys, said deciding to be a part of Taste of Muncie was an easy decision.
"I think it's just exposure and a way for people to try our cupcakes that have not yet tried them," Bucur said. "So it was a very easy decision when they called and asked us to do it."
Bucur and her team have been planning for the event for over a month now and have decided on including six different flavors for the 400 mini cupcakes they will have at their table.
Bucur is expecting a large turnout for their first experience with the event. She said she has spoken with many people who have already purchased tickets.
"Anytime we can help [Cornerstone] with anything, then I think it just helps with the community in general," she said.
Taste of Muncie is from 4 to 6 p.m. on Sunday.
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