On Saturday, May 11, Wyoming’s Village Green filled with tables, blankets, belly dancers and a drum-circle beat for the city’s first annual World Food and Music Festival, aptly named Taste the Love.
Residents from Wyoming and neighboring communities took in the music on a glorious, warm spring day, with the sun shining over food trucks and vendors representing cultures from all over the world.
Visitors to the festival enjoyed foods from Andy’s Mediterranean Grille, street tacos from La Casita, coffee from Carabello Coffee, African cuisine from Teranga, and Vietnamese and Chinese dishes by Song Long. Wyoming’s Gabby’s Café was on hand with Italian cuisine, and Station Family + BBQ offered picnic basket meals to go.
Street Pops provided cool treats for kids of all ages. Taft’s Ale House Brewporium brought a selection of beers and event sponsor LL Spirits had kid-friendly fresh fruit drinks and cocktails for adults.
In addition, artisans from our area’s immigrant and refugee community were on hand with handmade goods like photography, jewelry, crafts, coffee, soaps and bath items, and leather items, thanks in part to The Welcome Project (a social enterprise co-founded by Wyoming’s Sheryl Rajbhandari).
The event was a collaborative effort between Wyoming producer and event planner Monica Tuck, City Manager Lynn Tetley, headliner Baoku Moses, the Wyoming Cultural Collaborative, and City Councilmembers Jeff LeRoy and Sarah Stankorb Taylor. Sponsors L. L. Spirits and Air-Plus Heating and Cooling made the day profitable for the city before it even began, and Vermont’s third graders created an art installation that celebrated Wyoming’s diversity.
Originally scheduled to end at 5pm, the party kept rolling for several extra hours due to its success.
