CLAYTON — Taste of St. Louis expects to move to Clayton this summer and leave downtown St. Louis, citing rising costs and limitations in the city.

Organizers planned to present a plan to Clayton leaders on Tuesday for hosting the 30th annual three-day regional food festival, scheduled to begin Aug. 15.

Chuck Justus, who produces Taste of St. Louis through his production company Taste It Productions, said he couldn't keep the festival free while holding it in downtown St. Louis. It was too difficult to attract new sponsors at Ballpark Village — and too costly to move onto downtown streets, he said.

"What we are looking to do is to make an event that everyone has a good, safe time at and we don’t have to write a check to keep it going," he said.

Taste of St. Louis has drawn more than 50,000 attendees to a three-day weekend showcasing dozens of regional restaurants and vendors as well as culinary battles, live music and other activities.

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Its departure from downtown comes after the Annie Malone May Day Parade, a 110-year tradition known as one of the largest African-American parades in the country, cancelled its 2025 event, in part citing rising costs to close and secure downtown streets for the event.

This isn't the first time Taste of St. Louis has been held outside of the city proper. The festival moved from Soldiers Memorial to Chesterfield between 2014 and 2018. Organizers at the time cited limited parking in St. Louis and said the suburban city's amphitheater gave it more flexibility to put on cooking displays and other events.

After buying the festival, Taste it Productions moved it back to Soldiers Memorial in 2019. The festival took a hiatus in 2020 during the first weeks of the coronavirus pandemic and moved to Ballpark Village in 2021.

Justus said Tuesday that sponsorship revenue had declined, and the festival was limited in bringing in new sponsors because they might conflict with Ballpark Village's existing sponsors, he said. Meanwhile costs to put on the event had risen.

"It restricts the way we can raise funds to keep the festival free and provide a quality experience," he said. "Be it music on a stage, tents and electricity — all those things all take a lot of money. You have to find new ways to raise revenue, and we're just limited in what you can do."

Moving the event to downtown streets would cost at least $200,000 because of insurance costs and fees for closing streets, obtaining parking and other measures, he said.

"It’s very difficult to find a spot the size of Taste of St. Louis in downtown St. Louis," he said.