Allston Village Main Streets, a chapter of the larger Boston Main Streets, hosted the 27th annual Taste of Allston festival at the Jackson Mann Plaza on Saturday.
President of AVMS Scott Matalon said the goal of the event is to introduce Allston residents to local restaurants and help expand businesses throughout the neighborhood.
The festival hosted more than 20 vendors selling food, art and other goods. The festival also featured entertainment in the form of music, face painting and tarot card reading.
This year, the event was made free for both vendors and attendees, a change from pre-COVID years, when there was a $20 entry fee for guests.
Gustavo Barceloni, a vendor who sold homemade ceramics at the event, said paying to set up a table at other festivals could potentially cost between $40 and more than $100.
Barceloni said AVMS waiving their fees makes the Taste of Allston festival “super accessible,” unlike other festivals that require vendors to rent tables and pay entry fees.
Attendees of the festival included both new and long-term residents of Allston.
Tom Quinn, who has lived in Allston for a few years, said he likes the “variety” of the neighborhood’s food scene, which includes Mediterranean, Asian and Italian cuisines among others.
“It’s cool to check [the restaurants] out when they’re putting their best foot forward,” Quinn said.
Margaret O’Connell, an Allston resident of 25 years, said she has come to the festival “every time they’ve had it.” She said that in past years, attendees would pay an entry fee to enjoy an unlimited amount of free food, but now, there are smaller portions of food given to attendees.
“Now, there’s these little samples from just three, four booths,” O’Connell said. “Last year, there were way more food samples.”
Devin McPhie, vice president of AVMS, explained that, in addition to the decreased amount of food samples, the overall number of food vendors has also decreased largely in part to the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We had a lot of long-term restaurants that unfortunately didn’t make it through the pandemic,” McPhie said. “Folks are still trying to get back on their feet.”
One restaurant that did provide free samples was Ajeen, a Mediterranean restaurant known for its flatbreads, as its name derives from the Arabic word for “dough.” This year was the restaurant’s first time offering food at the festival, said owner Simon Boulos.
“The goal is to be in the community and let the people know about us and serve something new,” Boulos said.
McPhie said two years ago, AVMS decided to move the festival from June to September to accommodate the large student population in Allston.
“We figured we’d give [students] the month of September to move into the dorms, get settled, get used to your classes,” McPhie said. “But then we could host an event like this to really showcase for our student population what’s in the neighborhood.”
