photo by: Nick Krug

Attendees at the 2015 Taste of Lawrence event in a file photo. The annual event will take place at the Douglas County Fairgrounds, 2120 Harper St., Thursday with a more diverse array of vendors than other years.

Taste of Lawrence returns Thursday, with a wider array of vendors and businesses attending the event than ever before.

The Taste of Lawrence event has gone on for over 40 years, said Jared Martin, the director of events for the Lawrence Chamber of Commerce which hosts the event, and its goal was to showcase local food and beverage operations whle honoring educators in the city.

“It’s a way for people to celebrate our educators (who do) so much for the future of our communities,” Martin said.

Martin said the event used to serve as a “kickoff” to the school year, but with hotter weather making the festivities in September less pleasant, the Chamber moved this year’s event to November. Martin said in his three years running the event, it has been to a variety of locations, but this year he thinks the Open Pavilion at the Douglas County Fairgrounds, 2120 Harper St., will provide attendees the “best of both worlds” with the open air feel but the coverage of the pavilion.

Martin said each year the Chamber has worked to make the experience better for attendees or “add some spice” to the event. While the focus will still be on the many food and beverage vendors — this years’ include The Eldridge Hotel, Free State Brewing Company, Eileen’s Colossal Cookies and many others — Martin said this year they’ve allowed all Chamber-affiliated businesses to be vendors.

Some of those vendors include educational partners like Sylvan Learning Center and the Lawrence Schools Foundation. Martin said having those partners is a way to connect parents and teachers who attend the event to find access to more resources to help make sure their kids are getting the best education that they can.

Martin said since he started in his role the Chamber has started partnering more to support different educational opportunities, including the Lawrence Schools Foundation’s LEAP program — a way for local businesses to support classrooms with additional resources, whether that is food donations, coupons or fundraisers for field trips. Martin said through the Taste of Lawrence, the Chamber helps serve as a conduit to help “businesses can make connections with our teachers.”

Although there is a strong theme of supporting the teachers with Taste of Lawrence, the event is open to all Lawrence residents 21 and older and will showcase 25 food and beverage vendors and feature live entertainment and games.

“We want this to be a community event that helps shine a light on the business community,” Martin said.

Tickets for the event, which will run from 4 to 7 p.m. Thursday, are available starting at $10 for educators or teachers and $20 for non-educators. To purchase them and for more information about the event, you can visit the Chamber’s website.