Overview Columbus Taco Fest is a two-day festival of tacos, tequila and live bands that ran its 10th edition in June 2026 at Fortress Obetz, south of Columbus, and with the move it went strictly 21 and over, with no babies, toddlers or children admitted. Admission was free. Taco trucks and stands cover the range from traditional to what the festival calls out-of-the-box, with craft and retail vendors and bands between them. On site The 2026 hours ran noon to 10 p.m. on Saturday and noon to 8 on Sunday. Before Obetz the festival sat on the Scioto riverfront at Genoa Park, and in 2024 it spread onto the Rich Street Bridge, with The Little Market for local makers and a Dessert Alley; that year entry was free before 2 p.m. and $5 after. Photos from the riverfront show food trucks lined along the lawn with the downtown towers behind them, and a Columbus Blue Jackets tent running a prize wheel. Track record The festival raises money for a charity partner. Past beneficiaries include Food Gives Purpose, the Columbus Diaper Coalition, Feed the Kids Columbus and the Ohio Restaurant Association, and the 2026 festival benefited VET Motorsports. Hugo Albornoz was the festival's executive director in 2024. Its site also links to Columbus Taco Week, a restaurant week run by The Taco Squad and House of Media that put nine Central Ohio restaurants on one menu in August 2026 for the Mid-Ohio Food Collective. Brand presence Beer brands sponsor the pours, and the Blue Jackets and the Columbus Crew are among the partners on the festival's site. The festival takes two kinds of partner: paying sponsors, and partners who donate a product or service in place of cash.