Dishes from downtown’s best restaurants. Cooking and cocktail demos. Fun for the kids and a feel-good mission. That’s right: Taste of the Seaport is back.

Now in its eleventh year, the local food festival hits Piers 16 and 17 on Saturday, October 16. Come on out between 12–3pm to treat your taste buds and support the neighborhood’s students while you’re at it. Proceeds from Taste of the Seaport are used for enrichment programs at Spruce Street School PS 397 and Peck Slip School PS 343.

The 2021 Taste of the Seaport will showcase more than 30 restaurants—including the Seaport’s own Malibu Farm, The Fulton and Cobble & Co., along with Eataly, Brooklyn Chop House, and neighborhood favorites like Fresh Salt and Cowgirl SeaHorse. (See the full lineup here.)

“The Seaport is a super special community, almost like one big, giant family,” says Maria Ho-Burge, Co-chair of Taste of the Seaport and owner of the neighborhood’s beauty hub, PrimpNYC. “Previously, we didn’t have many restaurants, so we were fiercely loyal to our neighborhood places. And now, as we grow, we still celebrate every new opening.”

Taste of the Seaport began, Ho-Burge explains, as “Taste of Front Street,” a way to support small business owners after Hurricane Sandy. Parents of students at Spruce Street School founded the festival, and later, when Peck Slip School opened, parents of those students joined the organizing efforts. “All proceeds go to the PTAs of the schools and are earmarked to support the arts in the schools,” says Ho-Burge.

The event’s growth can be seen in this year’s lineup, which includes live music, a VIP area, a KidsZone, and a slew of participating restaurants, who all donate their food and make sure they include dishes for kids, such as pasta and appetizers.

This year, for the first time, Taste of the Seaport will have a demonstration stage where guests can learn the Art of Pizza Making from Kesté and watch an Interactive Potion Mixology demo by The Cauldron NYC. “With the proliferation of cooking shows, people want to be hands-on with food,” says Ho-Burge of the decision to include these interactive elements. “It’s fun! Especially if you come along with friends.”

Tickets for Taste of the Seaport start at $45, and VIP tickets and tables are also available, providing unlimited “tastes,” beer and wine, along with personal food runners and reserved seating.

Taste of the Seaport is presented by The Howard Hughes Corporation and South Street Seaport Museum. For more information, visit tasteoftheseaport.org.