‘Taste of the Underground’ blends music, food

Taste of the Underground, a new McMinnville event, will take place April 2.
Taste of the Underground, a new McMinnville event, will take place April 2.

MCMINNVILLE – “Taste of the Underground,” a first-time event featuring local music and local food competitions, will take place in McMinnville Saturday, April 2.

The craft celebration features a big-ticket prize, too, for at least one performing act. The winner of a “battle of the bands” contest that night will be rewarded with a chance to play the “Greatest Show Under Earth,” Bluegrass Underground.

The event will be held at McMinnville’s recently restored Park Theater, located at 115 W. Main St., from 5-11 p.m. Tickets are $40 a piece in advance and $45 the day of the event.

Frank Solivan & Dirty Kitchen, a 2015 Grammy nominee for Bluegrass Album of the Year and IBMA’s 2014 Instrumental Group of the Year, will headline the musical event. In between, attendees will enjoy tastings during a “battle of the chefs,” in which local food trucks will prepare local farm product. The four bands competing include Joe Harvey, Josh Wanamaker, Mize and the Drive, and Visible Rust.

Sparta’s Calfkiller Brewery will also provide craft beer tastings with the purchase of a commemorative cup.

Each ticket purchased represents one vote for both best band and best chef. Proceeds benefit the McMinnville-Warren County Chamber of Commerce and initiatives like workforce development, business promotion, development and support, education, tourism and relocation, and more.

The chamber has worked in recent years to bring new-to-McMinnville events to town. Last year, it presented the McMinnville Mountain Crawl, a three-leg caving, biking and kayaking race.

“The idea, overall, is to raise the visibility of our community,” Mandy Eller, president at the chamber, said then.

 

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