Central Iowa City will welcome more than 40 vendors on its streets from 4-8 p.m. today for the ninth-annual Taste of Iowa City. The event, strategically held just as new students flood the city, is designed to allow attendees to sample small portions from the culinarily diverse restaurants of the North Side and Downtown District. Tickets can be purchased at MidWestOne Bank, 102 S. Clinton St., in strips of five; they will also be available at booths around downtown during the event.

New this year, live entertainment has been added to the menu. Chase Garrett will take to the piano on Washington Street at 4:30 p.m., and IC Balloons will use the Weatherdance Fountain. At 5 p.m., the Trouble Arrows will perform in the North Side Marketplace. The Weatherdance Fountain stage will be turned over to Funny Stuff Caricatures at 6:30 p.m. Closing out the evening, the University of Iowa Intersection All-Male A Cappella group will perform.

This year’s participating vendors include:

Airliner

Aspen Leaf Rocky Mountain Chocolate & Yogurt

Atlas World Grill

Basta

Bo-James

 Bread Garden Market

Brix Wine & Cheese Shop

Iowa Chop House

Cold Stone

Devotay

Donnelly’s

El Banditos

 Forbidden Planet

Formosa

Givanni’s

Graze

Hamburg Inn

Heirloom Salad Co.

High Ground Coffee

Java House

Joe’s Place

Linn Street Café

Masala

Mesa Pizza

Micky’s

 Molly’s Cupcakes

 nodo Downtown

 North Side Bistro

 Oasis Falafel

 One Twenty-Six

 Panchero’s

 Pop’s New & Old BBQ

 Pullman Bar & Diner

 Quinton’s

 Saloon

 Share

 Takanami

 Mill

Which Wich

 Yotopia Frozen Yogurt

Z’Mariks Noodle Café