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Event

A Message Regarding Our Best of Baltimore Party

The fact that some people fell ill after such a joyful night weighs on us heavily.

By Michael Teitelbaum, President of Baltimore magazine

As you may have heard, there were some people who became ill after our August 18 Best of Baltimore party at the American Visionary Art Museum.

We were first made aware of this when we saw a post on social media five days after the event. Attendees reported that they were suffering from stomach pain and flu-like symptoms. At the same time, we had a few members of our own staff reporting similar symptoms.

The mysterious nature of the illness, along with the various and conflicting theories being espoused by those in social media as to the source of the illness, led us to proactively reach out to the Maryland Department of Health, as well as all restaurants and vendors that participated in the event. We did our best to respond to emails and social media messages in a timely manner, and made it our priority to determine how best to ensure the health and well-being of those who had gotten ill.

Here’s what happened next:

  • At their request, we provided the Department of Health with a complete list of every restaurant and vendor who served food and drink at the party, along with the dish or drink being served if we had that information. In some cases, we didn’t know the exact food being served by each participating restaurant and followed up with the Department of Health the moment we did.
  • Additionally, at their request, we provided the Department of Health with the names and email addresses of every guest who purchased tickets.
  • We then sent an email to every person who purchased tickets, informing them of the situation and telling them to look out for an email from the Department of Health.
  • The Department of Health survey was sent out earlier this week, and its officials are attempting to determine the source.

We are grateful for the responsiveness at the Department of Health. Once the investigation is complete, we will be reaching out to everyone who was affected with next steps. We appreciate everyone’s patience and understanding as we navigate through this unfortunate situation and respond in the most caring and responsible way.

Baltimore magazine has been an institution in this great city of ours since 1907. We have built a reputation for trusted journalism in print and online. We are also proud of how we bring this editorial to life with events like our popular Best of Baltimore party. The fact is, Baltimore magazine has hosted hundreds and hundreds of events big and small over the years, and we are navigating something we’ve never experienced before.

Most of the reporting in other media outlets has been highly responsible, fact-checked, and helpful in bringing more awareness so that those in attendance can report back to the Department of Health, and for that we are grateful. But we live in a social media world where everyone is a reporter, and while many of those who posted understood the complexity of this situation, some—including one local media outlet—erroneously suggested that certain restaurants were intentionally left off the survey.

The survey’s goal is to determine what food was consumed, and as previously mentioned, we weren’t immediately able to provide information on all the dishes that were served. Due to the time sensitivity of the matter, the Department of Health sent the survey with the information they had in hand. We can assure you that no restaurant was left off for any other reason. While we were not in control of what was included in their survey or when it was sent, I know they are doing the best they can just like we are. They care about the health and well-being of those affected in the same way that we do. In fact, we just received notice this morning that the Department of Health sent a supplemental survey to include a few restaurants they did not have complete information on initially.

On a personal note, I can’t tell you how upset the staff is over what occurred. Best of Baltimore is a celebration of our city and supports a local nonprofit through a portion of its proceeds. The party, which had been on hiatus for the last two years because of COVID, is always one of our favorite nights of the year. The fact that some people fell ill after such a joyful night weighs on us heavily.

If you have questions, new information, or concerns, we encourage you to reach out to us at [email protected]. In addition to the survey, we are passing all emails directly to the Department of Health when we feel it will help with their investigation.

We always say that the Best of Baltimore party is the best party in the best city on earth. We will be back again next year, taking the lessons learned from this year’s event. But for now, we are doing whatever we can to assist the Department of Health with their investigation.

From all of us at Baltimore magazine, we wish everyone affected by this illness a speedy recovery.