Reaction to Joliet's Demise: Patch Readers Share Impactful Remarks

The Decline of the Taste of Joliet

JOLIET, IL — The third week of June in 2024 marked a memorable weekend for the Taste of Joliet. Goo Goo Dolls drew an impressive crowd of 25,000 people to Memorial Stadium, and the momentum continued on Saturday with Lady A attracting another 20,000 country music fans. Sunday’s Hispanic music day set its own attendance record, thanks to Los Huracanes del Norte, a three-time Grammy nominee.

However, the 2025 edition of the event took a significant step backward. Billy Corgan, along with his Machines of God summer touring band, was booked for $275,000 as the main headliner. This time, however, Corgan did not bring his real band from Smashing Pumpkins, including Joliet drummer Jimmy Chamberlin. Despite a spectacular performance, the bleachers on both sides of Memorial Stadium remained mostly empty, a stark contrast to the previous year’s Goo Goo Dolls concert.

The Joliet Park District has decided to cut its losses, opting not to spend nearly $1 million to book another three days of music concerts for next year's entertainment. Instead, they have chosen to cancel the Taste of Joliet entirely, marking the end of an era.

A New Beginning or a Permanent End?

The Joliet Park District is taking a break, announcing that it will not host any summer festivals in the city of Joliet for 2026. While Wednesday’s announcement hinted at a new event for 2027, details about where and when this event will take place remain unclear for now.

As of 7 p.m., 174 readers had commented on the Joliet DISCOVERTRENDFacebook page, sharing their thoughts on the event’s cancellation. Here are some of the reactions:

Kathleen shared her nostalgia:
“This goes back more than two decades, more like four. The Taste of Joliet was held in downtown Joliet in 1985. No big names, no entry fee that I can remember. Just food, vendors, a few bands, and people. They were a lot of fun. Perhaps continue holding it at Inwood, but hire local bands, take that entry fee down to $5 and make it affordable and simple for residents.”

Melendy suggested a different approach:
“Why not do the taste like all other cities do? With the new downtown square, hold music there, however close Cass Street and have restaurants that are truly Joliet line the streets like the old days. Jitters, Juliet, Cut, Chicago Street, and so on... bring restaurants from the west and east side too. Make it a TRUE Taste of Joliet in Joliet.”

Sue Ellen expressed disappointment:
“It's called The Taste of Joliet, but yet every year it gets less and less restaurants from Joliet to participate. They have an abundance of horrible Carnival Food. Is it because they charge too much for the restaurants in Joliet to participate? I stopped going years ago, and the only reason why I would go was maybe there was a performer that I wanted to listen to, but I would make sure I had food before I left my house.”

Angie noted a disconnect:
“I went Friday night and the next day was asked by at least a dozen people if Billy Corgan did any Smashing Pumpkin's songs. They were almost all Smashing Pumpkin's songs. I think if it had been advertised as Smashing Pumpkin's or just Billy Corgan, more people would have come. At least that was the response I got.”

Marla lamented the loss:
“Sad. I enjoyed every year. I didn't go rock night because I didn't like the singer. Had pit tickets for country night but due to the extreme heat this year, I ate the ticket. Didn't want heat stroke. I wouldn't cancel. Maybe make it only Friday and Saturday night starting around 5 p.m. Have local bands open up like 7th Heaven, or hairbanger bangers on rock night, and Hillbilly Rockstarz for country night. If country night is more successful, then 2 nights of country artist.”

Annette suggested adjustments:
“The heat did not help, but I hate to see it cancelled. How about changing the date, making some changes.”

Tom proposed a venue change:
“We usually go every year. Going to be disappointing not to go this year, but I guess we'll find something else to do. I always thought they should have it at the Jackhammer stadium or Slammer stadium, whatever they're calling it now. Seems like it would make more sense.”

Bryan voiced concerns over affordability:
“The music part is great, but each year the food is less and less local and far more expensive than I can afford with my family.”

Matthew offered a critical perspective:
“Music acts never appealed to me, and spending more on talent is oft not the solution. We were one crappy weather weekend away from financial disaster. Nice run though.”

Michael acknowledged the event’s legacy:
“Good run, some great music. It’s probably a money loser overall though, switch it up.”

Tammy criticized the pricing:
“First, it's too expensive. You're going to charge somebody $20 to just walk through the gate, and then everything else inside costs money. Secondly, you need to move the weekend of the event because that weekend every year is either so hot you can't go outside or we have really bad damaging storms.”

Larry questioned the park district’s finances:
“They have no money left. They pay the city employees twice as much as their worth. I don't think twice about it.”

Roger praised the music:
“Music was always great... food just average. Will be missed. Hope they do something new, but don't change the music.”

Donald highlighted the cost barrier:
“Oh, the event didn't do well? I am shocked. I mean - it would have been $75 for our family of 3 to even walk into the gate just to get the privilege of paying $30 or whatever it was for a carnival wristband for our kiddo, and then to pay inflated food prices from food vendors that mostly are not in Joliet — at the 'Taste of Joliet.'"

Noah blamed the community:
“It's the park district's punishment to the community for not showing up last year. Shame on us!”

Gabrielle compared the situation to other events:
“It's not just Joliet. Naperville got rid of their widely popular Ribfest several years ago. It, too, got too big for its britches... starting out as a food fest and then turning into a music festival. Same happened with the Taste of Chicago. Everything has its time and place.”

Tom speculated on administrative changes:
“The city is working on consolidating everything to be under 100% city control to justify the new events positions they've created. Can't have the park district running events outside of full city control anymore. The same transfer of control to the city just happened at Bicentennial Park. Will it work? Well, it can't be much worse than how things are currently run. So at best, it's a wash.”

Jason blamed Billy Corgan:
“Billy killed the taste.”