Festival won’t take bite out of family budget

The 12th annual Bite of Las Vegas comes to Desert Breeze Park on Saturday.

The daylong festival will serve up food from 46 valley restaurants to the beat of nationally renown rock bands Puddle of Mudd and Lifehouse.

"We're very excited about this year's event and think it will be our most successful ever," said Lori Heeren, sales director for CBS Radio, whose KMXB-FM 94.1 will host and broadcast from the event at 8275 Spring Mountain Road.

The festival will not bite deeply into the average entertainment budget. Admission is $8, $7 with a canned-food donation, and free for kids 5 and younger.

"We have purposely kept the price low to accommodate families during tough economic times," Hereen said. "Normally, you'd see Puddle of Mudd for $30 minimum. We're offering them and multiple other bands for under $10."

The festival's main music stage also will feature rising national artists Metro Station, Secondhand Serenade, Justin Nozuka and Lenka.

Food vendors -- including Fuddruckers, Hash House a Go Go, Lahaina Grill, Tommy Bahama's Tropical Cafe, Golden Spoon Yogurt, Dippin Dots Ice Cream and many others -- have agreed to hold their prices between $1 and $5.

"Local restaurants are really struggling now," Heeren said. "The first place people are cutting when family budgets get cut is dining outside the home.

"This is an opportunity for the restaurants to make money at the event and reach new customers with their great food."

A local music stage will feature valley acts including the Kristina and Tuna Band, Modern Science, Hitting on Hannah and Verbatym -- all winners of a battle-of-the-bands contest at the House of Blues earlier this month.

Bite of Las Vegas also will feature demonstrations on a separate cooking stage and, for the kids, carnival rides and games.

A private enclosed suite will spotlight acoustic sets by main and local stage musicians. However, it will be accessible only to radio station contest winners and VIPs.

One dollar of every ticket sold will be donated to the City Mission to help feed Las Vegas' hungry. Last year, the festival raised $13,000, in addition to hundreds of cans of food, for the charity.

Contact reporter Corey Levitan at clevitan@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0456.