Taste Of Bethesda Canceled, Urban Partnership Cites COVID Concern

BETHESDA, MD — The Taste of Bethesda has been canceled for the second year, the Bethesda Urban Partnership (BUP) announced. It said that rising concern about COVID-19 and the Delta variant led to the decision.

“We think it’s best to hold our annual festival celebrating downtown Bethesda when crowds can safely gather in large numbers and enjoy all of the wonderful food and fun that Taste of Bethesda provides,” said Jeff Burton, executive director of the Bethesda Urban Partnership, in the announcement. “We look forward to again producing our marquis festival in 2022.”

The festival was scheduled to begin on Oct. 1 — it usually attracts around 45,000 people, BUP said in the announcement. People are usually eating and talking at the festival, which would make masking difficult, a BUP spokesperson told Bethesda Beat, which first reported the story.

Admission to the Taste of Bethesda is typically free, and visitors can buy tickets that are traded in for food from the participating restaurant stands.

The spokesperson told Bethesda Beat that they are exploring other options for promoting restaurants in the fall. Earlier this summer, restaurant week "Savor Bethesda" ran with with more than two dozen participating restaurants.