A record 27 local restaurants are ready to tap into and trap your senses as they offer up the highlights of their menus during the 12th annual Taste of Downtown on Saturday.
A predicted 1,700 ticket holders are expected to crowd downtown bistros and restaurants on Carson and Curry Streets from 5:30 to 9 p.m. as they stroll through mists of live music and sample the summer harvest of a warm night and wonderful food.
"It's a huge street party," said Lisa Lee, one of the organizers of what is easily one of the most popular events of the year.
It's an event that Lee says is not to be missed, but cautions that it normally sells out quickly.
Tickets for the event are $30, and may go up in smoke even faster this year with the addition of the Carson Cigar Co.
The local stogie aficionados will be rolling their own on Friday.
"It's no telling what someone just driving through town for the first time would think, seeing all these well-dressed (men and) women out on the rail, smoking cigars," said Lee.
For shoppers who can never seem to find the time to get downtown, select merchants use the event to throw open their doors and show off their best wares.
Nine musical acts, playing everything from jazz, blues, country to pop, perform until midnight.
Among this year's special guests are local favorites Break Even, Bad Intent and Westbound.
The event is also the major fund-raiser for Advocates to End Domestic Violence, the organization for which Lee serves as executive director.
She says the Taste of Downtown raises around $30,000 for the Carson City-based charity, allowing it to operate Northern Nevada's largest shelter for domestic violence victims.
If you go:
What: Taste of Downtown
When: 5:30-9 p.m. Saturday
Where: Downtown Carson City
Cost of tickets: $30
Where to get tickets: Sugar Pine Cove Gift Shop, 1087 S. Carson St.; Classy Seconds Thrift Store, 411 Hot Springs Road and the Advocates office.
Call: 883-7654.
