Chicken on the grill from Columbus Public House at Saturdays in the Park with Chobani. More than 50 Chenango County food and beverage vendors will be attending the first ever Taste of Chenango, a free event from 1 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, July 29 at the Chenango County Fairgrounds. (Photo by Sarah Genter)

CHENANGO COUNTY — Chenango County residents and beyond will have the opportunity to see more than 50 county food, produce, and beverage vendors at the first ever Taste of Chenango from 1 to 7 p.m. on Saturday, July 29 at the Chenango County Fairgrounds.

Organized by Commerce Chenango and sponsored by Chobani and NBT Bank, Taste of Chenango is meant to be a celebration of all food and beverages grown, produced, and sold in Chenango County.

"Part of the responsibilities that Commerce Chenango has is to generate and create opportunities for tourism here in the county, not only to highlight some of the things that we already do with Gus Macker and Colorscape and the Bluesfest," explained Commerce Chenango President and CEO Sal Testani. "We also wanted to try to have a celebration for the entire county that was more general celebration of all things local."

"We started out with the idea to somewhat mirror the Taste of New York, and that's a celebration of all things that are made and produced in New York State," he continued. "So this celebration will be anybody that makes, sells, grows, any type of food, produce, and/or sells any type of drink, they will be able to set up."

The event is completely free to attend, and will include a kids' zone organized by the Norwich Family YMCA with superheroes, face painting, and other activities. Several musical acts will be performing as well, including the Jason Wicks Band, the Nate Gross Band, a Taylor Swift impersonator, and Blues Brothers impersonators.

Taste of Chenango will also feature a farmers' market to showcase the county's agricultural heritage.

"We don’t have a farmers' market every week here in Norwich. I would love for people to support it, to see what it’s all about," said Testani. "It would be wonderful to show that the people of Norwich would love to support a farmers’ market like that."

"We want it to be a celebration for the people that live here, by the people that live here. So we plan on really emphasizing our agricultural heritage," he added. "It’s the week before the fair so it leads in perfectly to another long tenured historical event at the fairgrounds, again, centered around our agricultural heritage in the county, celebrating the things that are traditionally Chenango County."

Testani said putting on the Taste of Chenango would not be possible without the tremendous support from the local community. He said BID Board Member Mindy Chawgo has been instrumental, volunteering to secure more than 50 vendors for the event.

"She’s actually done everything purely as a volunteer, so she has been a tremendous asset to us, honestly. We feel very fortunate. She’s been great," he said.

Chobani is serving as the naming sponsor of the event, and NBT Bank is sponsoring the entertainment stage. Additionally, both organizations will be bringing employee volunteers to assist with running the event.

"Chobani stepped up in a huge way," said Testani. "They could not step up fast enough to be the naming sponsor for us, so we were very, very pleased ... They have stepped up to give us tremendous support for the event, because it supports the agricultural heritage of the county, it celebrates all things local and all things that are made here, and it’s for the people of the county."

"NBT has stepped up to sponsor the entertainment stage. So we have two tremendous anchor sponsors that have stepped up for the event. We couldn't be happier."

Taste of Chenango has also received support and assistance from Mary Weidman and the Fairgrounds Association, Don Brown from Chobani, Tyler Slater at the Norwich Pennysaver, and Impact Marketing.

A full list of vendors who will be attending Taste of Chenango will be posted by Commerce Chenango as it becomes available.

"I know that many of our Commerce Chenango members are excited to set up and showcase their talents," said Testani.

More information on Taste of Chenango and Commerce Chenango can be found at CommerceChenango.com and the Commerce Chenango Facebook page.