A picture from last year shows how A Taste of Bethesda festival added local flavor
Photo courtesy of Bethesda Urban Partnership

By SAKINA RANGWALA

Bethesda’s Woodmont Triangle is lined with some of the most chic and elegant restaurants in the Greater Washington area. This weekend, they will all come together for the “Taste of Bethesda” food festival. Boasting a great lineup of food and entertainment, the festival is expecting a huge turnout this year.

“In the past, we have had a very nice crowd of 30,000 to 40,000 attendees, and we expect the same turnout this year,” said Stephanie Coppula, a spokeswoman for the festival’s organizer, Bethesda’s Urban Partnership.

The 18th annual festival, which runs Saturday from 11 a.m. until 4 p.m., will feature a variety of ethnic foods, such as Mexican, Thai, Latin American, and Indian, among others. Sweet dishes and desserts will also be available.

In addition to the great eats, the festival will sport four stages of entertainment, with music provided by a swing band, a Latin American orchestra and rock ‘n’ roll bands. One stage will be dedicated to performance-based, dance groups. There will also be a children’s area featuring arts and crafts, and cookie-decorating workshops.

With nearly 200 restaurants clustered in a 300-acre area, Bethesda boasts one of the most vibrant restaurant communities in Greater Washington, making it well-suited for a food festival.

“The festival started nearly 20 years ago by the restaurant community to celebrate the restaurants in downtown Bethesda,” Coppula said.

Only downtown Bethesda restaurants are participating in the event.

The aim of the festival, according to Coppula, is to market and help maintain downtown Bethesda. She said the festival will also promote downtown Bethesda as a cultural destination for businesses and residents.

Admission is free, but tickets are required to purchase food. Each restaurant will price it’s own food, with individual dishes requiring one to three tickets. $5 buys four tickets.