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Taste Pavilion at heart of Downtown Summerfest

The faint sound of laughter and the telltale smell of delicious delights are already wafting through the city, calling everyone to Downtown Summerfest.
taste
Claire Lapointe, left, Dustin Headstrom and Joani Tom from The Great Canadian Brewhouse serve up bacon-wrapped jalapenos at Downtown Summerfest 2017. – Citizen file photo

The faint sound of laughter and the telltale smell of delicious delights are already wafting through the city, calling everyone to Downtown Summerfest.

The annual extravaganza reverberates from the heart of Canada Games Plaza and radiates across the city's core. The festivities roar to life at 11 a.m. and purr along to 5 p.m. on Sunday.

The TD Mainstage is entertainment central for kickoff headliner Matt "The Magician" Johnson who has been seen on programs like Penn & Teller: Fool Us and Britain's Got Talent.

Next on the mainstage agenda is Genevieve Jaide at 11:50 a.m. who put out one of the most popular local albums of the past year. Then the lineup presents good-time rockers Bralorne at 12:30, Flying Machine at 1:30, Rebelinx at 2:30, Saltwater Hank at 3:15 and the stage closes with a concert by The Inversion starting at 4:15.

The Community Kidz Zone is always a family magnet, with compelling words like petting zoo, butterfly house, fire engine, dinosaur dig, motorsports, road hockey, super heroes and much more all working their magic. Oh, and speaking of magic, Johnson will appear there as well.

The star of the Downtown Summerfest show is never a person, though. It is always the food. Dozens of the city's best chefs bring their restaurant talents to the Canadian Western Bank Taste Pavilion. Creative sample-sized tummy treasures are grilling and chilling for this once-a-year special culinary event. The public buys bouquets of Taste Pavilion tickets, then use them to mix and match all the appetizers, desserts, drinks and mini-meals that catch their fancy.

Downtown Prince George, the city's central business improvement association, is the annual host for this unique showcase.