CHICAGO — The annual Taste of Chicago is back and bigger than before and begins Friday in Grant Park.

The event is being held for the first time in September this year due to the NASCAR race that was held downtown earlier this summer.

The music headliner for Friday is “Masters of the Mic: Hip Hop 50” which is a tour going on this year consisting of hip hop pioneers Doug E. Fresh, EPMD, KRS-One and Slick Rick.

Headliners Saturday will be Lupita Infante and Proyecto Uno. The Sunday night headliner will be the Chicago indie band Whitney.

For food purchases, organizers are reminding patrons that food tickets are a thing of the past at the Taste and vendors will be taking cards or cash only.

Organizers say the Taste is all about trying new things but also remembering what makes Chicago great from Lou Malnati’s pizza to Eli’s Cheesecake.

“My father Eli Schulman took his cheesecake outside of Eli’s for the first time on July 4, 1980 — that first Taste on Michigan Avenue,” President of Eli’s Cheesecake Marc Schulman said.

“We’re the only vendor that has been at Taste every year since,” Schulman said.

Just like the Taste, a few things have changed over the years, however the cheesecake is staying the same.

The Taste opens up at 11 a.m. and ends at 9 p.m. and is free admission.