Food Festival Offers a Taste of the Berkshires
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The wind pulled at the party tents set up on the roadway and a few errant trash cans had to be chased down. Then, luckily, the fickle Berkshire weather relented and the rains stopped — leaving the street slightly steamy but bearable.
"There were about a dozen or so people standing around when it started," said Rod Bunt, head of the Mayor's Office of Tourism and organizer of the event. "Afterward, people began to show up. We're very resilient here."
In fact, the rain may have helped alleviate a problem in food festivals past - too much heat. Two years ago the temperature hit nearly 100, which felt even hotter on the pavement. That didn't help the crowd's appetite.
The 15 so vendors seemed happy enough, with several running low or out of some offerings; the closest restaurant, Moulton's, kept up fresh deliveries of pizzas. Each restaurant was asked to offer three entrees and several had desserts as well.
Berkshire Brewing Co. was offering samples of its microbrews. Salesman Dick Solomon said the most popular request was for the company's Steel Rail, no surprising because the ale is also its best-selling beer. Girardi Distributors and West Fine Liquors had a wide array of beverages to chose from and their booths were rarely empty of customers.
The event ran from noon until shortly before 4.
