|
Georgia Restaurant Association Hosts Inaugural Georgia Food Festival
in Conjunction with the Atlanta St. Patrick’s Day Parade and Underground Atlanta
What goes better with the Atlanta St. Patrick’s Day Parade, ending at Underground Atlanta, than green beer? Food, of course, and lots of it! Therefore, the Georgia Restaurant Association (GRA), the leading business association in the Georgia restaurant industry, hosts the first annual Georgia Food Festival in Woodruff Park (directly on the parade path), on Saturday, March 18, 2006, from 11:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. (No pets, coolers, glass bottles, grilling, tents or staking allowed.)
The Georgia Food Festival is the state’s premier outdoor food event. The festival showcases an assortment of diverse flavors and cultures in one central location and serves as a “taste of Georgia,” featuring food from 70 of the state’s best restaurants, serving a variety of types of food including Southern Barbeque, Mexican, Italian, steaks, seafood and more. Free to attend, the festival offers booths for each restaurant where people purchase food with tickets, sold for $1.00 each. A portion of the proceeds from the ticket sales benefits the GRA, the Hospitality Education Foundation of Georgia and the Ronald McDonald House Charities, the official beneficiary of the St. Patrick’s Day Parade.
The festival also features carnival games, face painters and other entertainment, including live music, as well as sponsor and vendor booths where patrons can check out the latest in service, merchandise and media. In addition to family, food and fun, the event boasts a ProStart® Cook-off. The ProStart® Cook-off is a high-school-student-chef competition where competitors will be asked to create particular menu items, on the spot, to be judged at the festival. Winners of the ProStart® Cook-off receive scholarships towards Georgia colleges and universities.
According to A.J. Robinson, President of Central Atlanta Progress, “The Georgia Food Festival is packaged and timed perfectly to kick-off some major new programming plans we have for Woodruff Park. Downtown Atlanta, the City’s gathering place, is well known for its variety of attractions and entertainment offerings. This event has got to be the critic’s choice and is a superb addition to our menu of exciting and interesting options for fun. It’s an incredibly unique opportunity to sample the true tastes of Georgia”
The 2006 Atlanta St. Patrick's Parade will have 200 units, including at least 25 major floats, bands of every kind, military units, six Bagpipe & Drum Corps, hundreds of children, Irish dancers, clowns, high tech firefighting equipment, police units, drill teams, dogs, horses, antique cars, dignitaries from Ireland, Atlanta’s own Government leaders and Celebrity Grand Marshall Ronald McDonald. The parade ends at Underground Atlanta for a huge festival featuring live traditional Irish music and performances by Celtic Irish Rock bands, as well as Irish dance contests, children’s activities, Irish food and beverages and unique Irish vendors.
|
