TIFTON — First Baptist Church of Tifton is hosting its first Taste of Tifton as part of “Merry Christmas For Tifton” on Sunday, Dec. 8.

“Our primary goal here is to introduce people to Jesus,” said Barry Cook, FBC minister of music. “I’m always looking for something we can do to engage people outside the church and draw them in.”

Cook and Jan Moore, hospitality relations director for FBC, came up with the idea for the Taste of Tifton as a way to do something for not only the people of Tifton but local vendors as well.

Local food vendors will bring samples of their menu items for those attending the Merry Christmas concert to try. Attendees will receive 10 tickets before the concert, which they can then trade for samples. Everything from the concert to the samples will be completely free for the public. Cook said they are planning for approximately 1,000 people to come to the event.

“We hope that people will either get excited about the musical presentation part of it or get excited about the concept of being able to sample local vendors’ food, or both,” Cook said. “We’re about serving the community as well. We’d love for this to be an opportunity for the vendors to get out in front of the people of the area. There’s so many places I’ve gone to (while handing out vendor applications) that I never even knew were there, much less what they serve or the people who own and run those businesses. I’m excited about people around here being introduced to them.”

“So many people eat out and we’re always saying, ‘Where do you want to eat?’” said Moore. “Tifton has a lot to offer now, more-so than we did 10 years ago. I think with this it’ll give people the opportunity to visit those little places that they may not have thought of, and they’ll get to see the musical and, what we hope to accomplish through this, to visit with Jesus.”

Vendor signups will be open through two weeks prior to the event. Those interested should contact Moore at jmoore@fbctifton.org