Taste of the Marianas celebrates 24 years

The 24th Annual Taste of the Marianas International Food Festival & Beer Garden was a resounding success, with hundreds of CNMI residents as well as tourists trooping to the Garapan Fishing Base for the festivities. The event, which will be held every Saturday this June, showcases the diverse cuisines the CNMI has to offer, local art and artists, and live entertainment. (KIMBERLY B. ESMORES)

One of the most anticipated events of the year, the 24th Annual Taste of the Marianas International Food Festival & Beer Garden, went off with a bang over the weekend with insane lines, a plethora of delicious dishes, competitions, free beef, and more.

Streets leading to the Garapan Fishing Base were bustling last Saturday night and traffic was terrible, with cars lined up past Marianas Eye Institute as community members were eager to take part in the Taste of the Marianas festival that is being held every Saturday this month.

Inside the festival grounds at the Garapan Fishing Base, getting around proved to be a challenge as it was so cramped and lines were long as people were eager to taste some of the delicious cuisines the CNMI has to offer (like fresh, grass-fed roasted cow that was flown in by the Tinian Mayor’s Office).

Despite the challenges faced maneuvering in and out of the festival grounds, it’s not necessarily a bad thing, said Marianas Visitors Authority’s managing director Chris Concepcion. In fact, Concepcion said the long lines and traffic only means one thing—a successful Taste of the Marianas festival.

“It’s an amazing opening night, the crowd is lively, the lines are really long and we’re just pleased to see such an amazing turn out for the first night of the 24th Annual Taste of the Marianas festival. We are looking forward to the next three nights because it’s just going to get bigger and better,” he said.

Saipan Tribune managed to speak to some festival goers and a group of tourists who attended the festival last Saturday night found it a fun and novel experience, something that was definitely new to them. In addition, despite it being hot and crowded, they thought the food was great and the live entertainment was awesome, and they enjoyed their time.

Another group of local teens said they were happy to be at the festival.

“The food is always good, and we get to see the different options the island has to offer so, we’re happy to be here. Plus, we get to hang with our friends,” they said.

Aside from the food and live entertainment, the Taste of the Marianas is known for its competitions.

This year’s festival kicked off with a cooking competition that highlights the famous Chamorro cuisine called “Kadun Pika” or spicy chicken.

In total, seven teams joined the competition but only one took home bragging rights as the 24th Annual Taste of the Marianas cook-off champion—they were Oh My Grill represented by Eric Palacios and Kent Kalen.

The other competitors were Hula Pika, Madge, Humble Marianas, Team Oleai, Talayeru, and Distorted.