Owners will sell the Taste of Minnesota

Vendors
Food vendors prepare for the 26th annual Taste of Minnesota. The festival runs from July 3-6 on Harriet Island on St. Paul.
MPR Photo/Elizabeth Baier

The owners of the Taste of Minnesota, which begins today, are selling the St. Paul summer festival. A purchase agreement signed Wednesday means the festival could change hands a month from now.

Cities 97 radio host Brian Turner and Twin Cities event promoter Kevin Campbell are poised to become the new owners of the Taste.

Turner says the 25-year-old festival is a part of Minnesota tradition. He says the corn dogs and classic rock music that typify the festival will remain, but he hopes to jazz up the event with celebrity chefs, ethnic food and more current bands.

Turner says popular singer-songwriter Jack Johnson represents the kind of talent that he would hope to attract.

"We just hope to infuse a little more of what I do for a living full-time here at Cities 97 on the radio side of things, potentially bring more of that sort of sound into the mix at the Taste of Minnesota, which tends now to lean heavily on oldies act and the classic rock acts," said Turner.

The downtown booster group Capital City Partnership has owned the Taste since 1996. The festival's sale price has not been disclosed.