Taste of Marietta festival returns after pandemic hiatus

MARIETTA — On the eve of the pandemic, the city’s annual Taste of Marietta festival had become “probably our most successful gathering on the Square,” according to Mayor Steve Tumlin.

Now, after a two-year pandemic hiatus, its return Sunday “means the world.”

“For the ambiance of the city, for the soul of the city, you know, to show off our Square,” Tumlin explained. “So many people from all around support it, and the locals themselves get out ... you get to see all the restaurants at once, to enjoy what we have every day.”

By noon, Glover Park and the streets around it were packed, long lines snaking out from tents hawking burgers, pizza, New Orleans-style sno-balls, booze and much, much more. Stepping away from the Square and its medley of smells, the smoky scent of barbecue clung to festivalgoers’ clothes.

By 2 p.m., some 60,000 people had already paid the festival a visit, according to Courtney Spiess, executive director at the Marietta Welcome Center, which co-organizes the festival with the city itself.

Friends Barbara McKnight and Coretta King were new to the festival, and walked down South Park Square with halved pineapples carrying cocktails. They had already sampled ribs, funnel cakes and fries, and they needed something to wash it all down.

“I’m having a great time. The food is great, the drink, as you can tell, is empty,” King said, pulling down a face mask and tipping her pineapple to prove it had been drained. “You know, we’re still in the midst of COVID, but I think people are still feeling free, and it’s nice to be out and around. Just going to the different booths, getting food, listening to the music — it’s all fun.

“The weather is beautiful,” she continued. “I mean, look at today — who could ask for a better day?”

Tamboura Pressley, Jared Hamilton and Josh Hamilton grew up a short walk from the Square, but only Pressley had ever been to the festival. Asked why she’d brought along the Hamiltons, her answer was simple.

“Because it’s a good time every year,” she said.

Largely unchanged from its format in years past, the festival did feature new restaurants, as well as a “Marietta Art Stage” spotlighting the Strand Theater, the Georgia Symphony Orchestra and Marietta’s New Theater in the Square, Spiess said.

Not that they had to do anything new, Tumlin said.

“All they had to different was say goodbye to COVID and open back up,” he said with a laugh.