Taste of St. Louis canceled again for lack of sponsors

ST. LOUIS -- A lack of corporate sponsorship has caused Taste of St. Louis to be called off for another year.

The annual event, intended to showcase restaurants and draw people into downtown, had been scheduled for Sept. 13 and 14 at the Gateway Mall.

But organizers were unable to garner the $150,000 to $200,000 needed from corporate sponsors, said Anne Chance, special events manager for the Downtown St. Louis Partnership.

"Local corporations are having the same money problems that everyone else is having," Chance said. "Were we in a different economic climate, I think it would have worked out."

Begun in 1992 under then-Mayor Vincent Schoemehl, Taste of St. Louis was halted after the 1997 edition when then-Mayor Freeman Bosley Jr. disbanded the city's special events office.

The Downtown Partnership decided to revive the event this year. About 25 restaurants had agreed to participate and more were expected to sign on as the date approached, Chance said.

"I think we easily would have reached 30 or 40 total," she said.