More than 15 local Alamance County restaurants came together to host Taste of Alamance, a food festival Oct. 25 at the Holly Hill Mall and Business Center. There was food and music while people from all over the county and surrounding areas came to support the festival.  

All of the proceeds from Taste of Alamance benefited United Way of Alamance County which supports programs and initiatives to help families thrive. 

Lacey Dabbs, president of United Way of Alamance County said the proceeds of the festival will be directly reinvested back into the community.

“United Way provides community programming,” Dabbs said “Most people know us for investing money back out in the community. So, for this fiscal year we had 20 nonprofits that we provided funding.”

Elon University is one of the sponsors of the Taste of Alamance starting this year including others such as Glen Raven, Labcorp and Impact Alamance.

“We’re proud to have them as a Taste of Alamance sponsor,” Dabbs said. “We also partner with students on a lot of projects throughout the year.” 

Dabbs said the proceeds will also help United Way’s Tax Time program, which provides free income tax preparation to individuals with an annual income of less than $55,000 a year or those who are filing jointly with a household income for less than $75,000 a year, 

This is the first year Taste of Alamance has been hosted since the COVID-19 pandemic. The first Taste of Alamance event was hosted in 1991 and they have restaurants that still participate in the festival today, Dabbs said. 

Knucklehead BBQ, a barbecue restaurant in Mebane, participated in the event for the first time this year. Allison Jennings, director of retail operations for Knucklehead BBQ said they’re all about building community and this event only enforces that more.

Sal’s Italian Restaurant in Burlington has participated in Taste of Alamance for many years. Sal Mazzurco, the second generation owner said this event is their way of supporting the community. 

“This is a way of showing the community that we appreciate what they do for us,” Mazzurco said. “A way to give back and be involved. Local community is the most important. You don’t get 40 years of continued regulars without giving something back.”

The sense of community carried into the event itself.  

“The community gets excited,” Dabbs said. “There was some hesitancy because it was the first year back but we do have 18 restaurants represented here giving out more than 40 samples of food.

Mazzurco said Taste of Alamance is a way to showcase local restaurants and find places outside of chain restaurants.

“It’s nice to see that the local restaurants can pull together and put their differences aside,” Mazzurco said.

Dabbs said they hope to continue the tradition every year from now on.