Visitors get taste of Springfield through new festival

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) - Saturday marked Springfield's first 217 Foodie Festival at The Railyard on 66. Many visitors compared the event to the Taste of Chicago, but organizers were going for the taste of Springfield.

"We have a good community that is always wanting to find something new to do," said Festival Co-Organizer Nicole Shomidie-Copp. "A lot of people were missing the ethnic festival, so we decided to try and recreate that kind of environment and bring that to the community with different ethnic vendors and regular vendors that are on site."

Copp and a team of admins partnered with The Railyard to bring a different experience surrounding food.

Their goal was to bring small business vendors more customers and give the community the opportunity to step out of their shell and try new things.

"I want to get to know other people and bond," said community member Ellie Nowkaowski.

Each vendor offered a different experience, but many were excited about the soul food cupcake made by Marissa Benson. Benson is the owner of LTE Catering by Marissa.

"I am a black female small business owner, so just getting the opportunity to have this many people try my food is amazing to me," said Benson.

Many people expressed their desire for this to become an annual festival in Springfield, but organizers made no promises for the future.