Get ready for another week of ribs, packed el cars and more tourists than you can shake a turkey leg at: Taste of Chicago hits this Friday.

The annual festival won’t charge admission, as was controversially proposed earlier this year as the city pondered outsourcing them to a private contractor — some of whom had proposed charging people to get in. Instead, the Park District of Chicago took over the Taste.

Discounted food tickets are on sale at Dominick’s until end-of-day Thursday for those looking to save a buck on their friend plantains with sautéed goat meat (Vee-Vee’s African Restaurant), catfish po’ boys (Lagniappe-Creole Cajun Joint) or popcornsicles (Garrett Popcorn Shops).

This year’s Taste will eschew big-name musical acts, opting instead to engulf music from Gospel Fest, Celtic Fest, Country Music Fest and the Viva Chicago Latin Music Festival. This year’s notable acts include Soul Asylum (Saturday, June 25), The Lemonheads and Jessica Lea Mayfield (Tuesday, June 28), Loretta Lynn (Friday, July 1) and the Jayhawks (Saturday, July 2).