Get a TASTE of Tippecanoe

The 2024 TASTE of Tippecanoe Festival is this Saturday from 6 p.m. to midnight. Food, drink and art vendors will line Main Street to highlight Lafayette’s culinary culture and support the arts community.

Children 12 and under have free admission to TASTE. Pre-sale General Admission tickets are only $5 until the event stSs. Then, tickets will be sold for $10 at the festival’s gates. Tickets are available on the TASTE of Tippecanoe website. VIP tickets allow access to a VIP center and complimentary food and beverages for $50.

“Taste of Tippecanoe is an annual fundraising festival. It's actually The Arts Federation’s largest fundraiser that we do throughout the year,” Lizzy Lewis, director of TASTE, said.

“This is the 43rd year TASTE has been going on,” she said. “We shut down downtown Lafayette and invite local restaurants and even restaurants across Indiana to come in and set up vendor booths. They donate 20% of their proceeds at the end of the evening to TAF. So it's a really great fundraiser.”

The festival will have about 32 food and drink vendors ranging from restaurants and food trucks to breweries and wineries.

Popular food vendors include Arni’s Pizza, Revolution BBQ, Nom Nom Tacos and Tequila and Digby’s Pub and Patio.

“I really am excited for the traditional, the oldie, Arnie’s Pizza. They’re a popular favorite. They have crazy lines," Lewis said. "We will also have Dippin Dots here. That's a childhood favorite for me. It’s very 90s."

A few new restaurants along Main Street will be participating in TASTE of Tippecanoe for the first time this year like the Vegan Cheese Lady and Rise and Grind Donuts.

“They actually do sourdough donuts, which isn’t very common and I love it,” she said. "We’re also going to have some drink vendors like Travelin’ Tom’s Coffee, Kona Ice and Gibson’s Shaved Ice. Gibson’s is a smaller business but is everywhere around here. We try to push those businesses into the spotlight.”

Other food trucks participating include L Kora Authentic Mexican Food, Beverly Ann’s Cookies and Mr. Ice Cream.

A family fun zone will be located at the Big Four Depot near the end of Main Street.

“There’ we’re going to have these giant blow-up unicorn sprinklers that we're really excited to use,” Lewis said. “We want to incorporate the water fountain. We're also going to have chalk and different kinds of games and things like that.”

Flourish Studio and Classroom will be setting up a mobile art studio at the family fun zone. They will offer free banner painting and other activities.

“Everybody is going to be able to make their own art while they’re there,” she said. “It’s really cool that they’ll be able to take something home with them. They call it Art-iana Grande which cracks me up.”

A photographer will be operating photo booths on Main Street. They will have 360 cameras and digital booths that will send photos taken to festival enjoyers.

A 21+ area will also be available called the beer and wine garden. Like the TAP for TAF event, this area will showcase local craft breweries and wineries.

“We’re going to have Thieme and Wagner, Ash and Elm Cider Company, Fruitshine Wine and Wildcat Winery there,” Lewis said.

For entertainment, the festival will have three stages located throughout the event’s footprint. The Market Stage, will have rotating acts of different DJs. Meanwhile, the Depot Stage will present local bands and artists.

This year, Digby’s Pub and Patio made their stage available as well to local bands from greater Lafayette and Purdue.

“There will be all different genres playing that night,” Lewis said. “Palace Kat is a local band from Lafayette. They’re all about 18 years old. They’re very young but really great musicians that are jazz-funk oriented.”

The Greater Lafayette Dance Collective will be performing throughout the night.

“They’re going to be doing a free-style interpretive dancing which is super fun,” she said. “They do belly-dancing at Mosey Down Main Street. They’ll be splitting up and dancing in the crowd, almost like a flash mob.”

The 6-hour-long festival will allow participants to enter at any time throughout the night. The nearest parking garage is the Columbia Street Parking Garage at 18 N. Fifth St. Parking will be free during the event.