The River Festival was an amazing weekend! Thank you to all of the businesses and community organizations that came together to make the events happen. But most of all, thank you to all of the people who came out to celebrate our city’s art, food and jazz music!

Here are a few highlights from the weekend:

The Taste of Idaho 2009

James Billman, Owner of Hard Hat Steakhouse, our newest restaurant in Snake River Landing

Kids art activities at The River Rocks

Jazz on the River

The annual Taste of Idaho will be held tonight, Thursday, June 18 at Snake River Landing.

The event begins at 6 pm and will be held on Pier View Drive, across from The Pier. Tickets can be purchased for $25 at The Greater Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce or the Snake River Landing Discovery Center.

With culinary tasting from area restaurants, live music by Derek & The Dynamos along with a specialty Idaho Wine & Cheese Tasting - this an event you don’t want to miss!

Participating restaurants include:

• Hard Hat Steakhouse
• Iggy’s Sports Grill
• Jimmy John’s
• Sol Rio
• Red Robin
• Okies Burgers & Chili
• Bajio’s
• Smitty’s Pancake House
• Johnny Carino’s Italian Restaurant
• Bubba’s BBQ
• BJ’s Bayou
• Morenita’s
• Texas Roadhouse
• The Little Deli
• Gandolfo’s
• TGIFriday’s

For more information, please call the Greater Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce at 208-523-1010 or Snake River Landing at 208-557-5300.

The Greater Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce is calling all BBQ and grilling connoisseurs to get their cook on at the First Annual River City Cook-Off.  This will be a featured event at the Taste of Idaho, Thursday, June 18^th, 2009, at Snake River Landing.

This event is a cook-off competition for all interested individuals, not restaurants.  Given the exclusivity of the event, availability has been limited to ten teams.  Teams will prepare their culinary fare onsite and judges rate their prepared dishes against each other.  The categories for the event are the Meat category and the Sides category.  The Meat category consists of three divisions; pulled pork, brisket, and ribs.  The Sides category consists of four divisions; corn on the cob, potato salad, coleslaw, and beans.  Registration fees are $25 for each Meat division and $15 for each Sides division.  If a team is interested in entering all divisions in both categories a $15 discount will be given. Winners will receive cash prizes, trophies, and much more!

Teams are responsible for providing their own food and preparation materials for the event including any devices (i.e. grills, smokers, utensils, etc) used for cooking the food.

Advanced registration is required.  Register today and don’t miss out!  For registration and event information please contact Monica Bitrick at 208-535-0505 or by email at monicaaes@ida.net .

Snake River Landing is adding a new event to their 2009 plans.

Southeast Idaho’s premier culinary sampling event, Taste of Idaho, will officially combine with the second annual art event The River Rocks, says Snake River Landing Marketing Manager Michelle Ziel.

“We are thrilled that the Greater Idaho Falls Chamber of Commerce has asked to bring Taste of Idaho to Snake River Landing. By partnering with our existing event, The River Rocks, the community will be able to experience first-class food, jazz and art amongst the beauty of the Snake River and our classic main-street architecture,” says Ziel.

The event will kick-off with the Taste of Idaho being held Thursday, June 18 along Pier View Drive in the development and ending with an all-day festival on Saturday, June 20.

To participate in Taste of Idaho, please call Merrie Harris at 208-523-1010.

To register as an artist, vendor or musician at The River Rocks, please call Miyai at 208-524-7777.

For overall event information, please call Michelle at 208-557-5300.