Overview Taste of Greektown is a three-day street festival on Halsted Street in Chicago's Greektown, where the neighborhood's own Greek restaurants cook on the street, a Greek band holds one stage all weekend and Saturday brings a gyros eating contest. The Chicago Greektown Chamber of Commerce is the beneficiary and bills it as the city's largest celebration of Hellenic cuisine, and Special Events Management produces it. The 2026 edition, at the end of August, was the 36th. The neighborhood around it is home to the National Hellenic Museum, which holds more than 10,000 artifacts of Greek history and immigration. On site The festival closes Halsted through the heart of Greektown; in 2024 that meant Adams to Van Buren. Entry is free with a suggested donation, and it runs from Friday at 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. each night. The North Stage carries DJs, and in 2026 Hellas 2000 played the South Stage all weekend. The gyros contest runs in front of the stage on Saturday at 5, with sign-ups on site from 3. Saganaki and gyros lead the menus, and a family area runs games and activities. The 2026 restaurants were Athena and its outdoor patio, Ithaki Estiatorio and its wood-fired seafood, Mr Greek Gyros, in Greektown since 1997, 9 Muses Bar and Grill, there since 1989, Spectrum Bar and Grill and Ground Up Coffee and Bites. Track record The 2024 edition was the 34th. That year the festival ran an outdoor art walk of 28 owl sculptures, Little Wise Owls, along Halsted between Monroe and Van Buren, and neighborhood shops set up on the street, among them Athenian Candle Co., a Greektown store for more than 100 years. Vendor applications for 2026 closed once the street reached capacity. Brand presence Nine brands ran on the 2026 sponsor wall, among them Metaxa, the Greek brandy, alongside T-Mobile, CVS Health and Devanco Foods. Special Events Management prices sponsorship to order, building a benefits package for each partner.