'Fake' Chicago Taco Fest Suspends Ticket Sales

CHICAGO — Whoever is behind an unregistered company with a fake address has apparently expanded their business model of promoting phantom food festivals to the Midwest. Ticket sales have been halted for Saturday's purported Taco Fest Chicago following a Chicago Tribune report questioning its existence. The company behind the event had been selling tickets from $20 to $80 through an online retailer until Tuesday's report.

The alleged taco fest has been organized by Fanoomies Entertainment, which lists an invalid address in California and has not been registered as a business in the state. "Randolph Street" was the vaguely listed location for the June 8 event, which was promoted along with the dubious offer of free parking and a "no shorts or sunglasses" dress code.

Fanoomies could not be reached for comment. No current phone number was listed for the business, and it did not respond to an email. A phone number for a listed contact was disconnected.

"We are your source for online entertainment ticketing," Fanoomies declared. Indeed, it appears to be more adept at selling tickets than organizing actual events.

No vendors have been listed for the event, and Chicago city officials told the Tribune it has not applied for any festival permits. A Rockford man who purchased a ticket for the event told the paper someone he contacted through the Fanoomies website was at first very responsive. But as soon as he bought tickets, the company went silent.

The Fanoomies Chicago Taco Fest website uses a picture of an competitive taco eating event that took place at a San Jose taco festival that actually did happen but was not organized by Fanoomies.

The company included several bold promises:

We are creating a full weekend of fun and food. Bring your family and friends to enjoy the best TACOS in the city. Along with that we will have great live music, Lucha Libre Wrestling, High Speed Daredevil Chihuahua Racing, Live game shows STARRING YOU and much, much more!
...
There will be restaurants and food trucks from all edges of NS selling their signature tacos. Details about the taco tasting competition TBA. Our vendors are all strongly encouraged to make their own corn tortillas, meaning most of our vendors should be offering gluten free options! A Mexican-style market with a selection of vendors with their stunning wares

The Sacramento Bee reported the company had also been selling tickets to a sham sushi festival, online ticket sales were similarly halted. A Los Angeles Fanoomies event was due to occur at an intersection that does not exist.

Ticket seller Brown Paper Tickets concluded it could not verify the existence of the event, which was scheduled to occur at a hotel that Fanoomies had never booked and suggested anyone who bought tickets contact their credit card company for a refund, according to the Bee.

Promotional material, subsequently deleted from a Chicago event listing website, featured identical language to the nonexistent California festivals. It included promises of "several rounds of champagne and beer" and a "dedicated express gate" for $80.

After the Tribune posted its report, the company's Twitter account was deactivated, the Taco Fest Chicago Facebook event page was shut down and the online retailer Shopify ceased selling tickets to it. The number of people who had already purchased tickets to the forthcoming event could not be immediately established.

Hell hath no fury like trying to pass a fake taco festival on me. Taco Fest Chicago is planned for this weekend, but there's still no location or any known vendors. https://t.co/VAlw0DGtlW
— Nick Kindelsperger (@nickdk) June 5, 2018