Overview Taste of Cincinnati is a free street food festival that has taken over downtown Cincinnati every Memorial Day weekend since 1979, and the Cincinnati Regional Chamber, which produces it, bills it as the nation's longest-running culinary festival. Restaurants, food trucks and Findlay Market vendors take the four blocks between Main Street and Sentinel Street, and there is no gate and no admission charge. In 2026 it ran four days for the first time, adding a Friday night, with more than 65 restaurants, trucks and market vendors selling over 300 menu items. On site The city closes Fifth Street from 9 a.m. on the Wednesday before until 7 a.m. on the Tuesday after, along with stretches of Sycamore, Broadway, Sentinel and Lawrence, and the roadway belongs to the festival in between. Vendors sell in four groups: food, beverage, retail and a Taste of Findlay Market row, and most menu items are single portions sized for trying several stops. In 2026 three stages ran: the Ultimate Fish Stick Main Stage, a Food Truck Zone Stage and a Findlay Market Stage. The first three days ran until 11 p.m. and Memorial Day closed at 8. Talent and Influencers Gym Class Heroes headlined the main stage on the Friday night of 2026. The rest of that bill was Cincinnati and regional acts in two- and three-hour sets, from Soul Pocket to Naked Karate Girls. The cooks compete as well: Best of Taste is judged over two days in three classes - restaurants, Findlay Kitchen start-ups and food trucks - with Gold, Silver, Bronze and CinGourmand awards in appetizer and side dish, entree and dessert. The 2026 golds included Fusako's street corn gyoza and POP Bakery's berry cloud cake. Track record The first Taste was a one-day event in Piatt Park in 1979 with about 5,000 people. A second day came in 1981, and in 1988 a third day and a move to Central Parkway. It moved to Fifth Street in 2007, after the renovation of Fountain Square, went virtual for 2020, and added its fourth day in 2026. Events Business News named it Food Event of the Year in 1997. Brand presence In 2026 Kroger was presenting sponsor, Trident Seafoods named the main stage the Ultimate Fish Stick Stage, United Rentals was official equipment sponsor and Bounty was billed as the festival's Official Quicker Picker Upper. Twenty supporting sponsors sat below them on the festival's sponsor page.