RSS
Twitter
Facebook
YouTube
The Food Truck and Cart Festival debuted with a bang last summer. An estimated 12,000 people descended upon Columbus Commons, overwhelming the food trucks with long lines and leaving some attendees hungry.
“We learned from our mistakes last year,” says event organizer Mike Gallicchio. “We have more vendors, longer hours and more beverage stations.”
Over 40 food trucks and carts (compared to last year’s 25) will be on hand Friday, July 13th starting at Noon to feed Downtown lunchtime crowds. In addition to the food trucks and carts, local crafters will have a market place set up, there will be kids activities, cornhole, bocci ball, live music and other family friendly activities throughout the day.
Want to open your own food truck or food cart? Check out this How To Guide from The Metropreneur!
One big draw at last year’s event was the inclusion of food trucks from outside Columbus that are rarely present in the region. That aspect has returned in 2012, and food trucks from Dayton, Athens, Toledo, Cincinnati and Cleveland will all be present at the festival.
In addition to all of the accommodations made for a larger capacity, Gallichio is also expecting a smaller turnout in 2012, stating that 2011 was a unique point in the “food truck craze” and the event happened at the exact right moment in time. Dozens of smaller food truck events, festivals and gatherings have occurred since last year’s big event, diluting some of the big buzz this second time around.
“This year our focus is all about creating a smooth running and safe event and our focus is on the food trucks and carts and promoting them,” he said. “We are a food truck fest, not a ‘lets all wait in long lines’ fest!”
The Columbus Food Truck & Cart Festival takes place Friday, July 13th from Noon to 10pm at Columbus Commons.
More information can be found online at www.columbusfoodtruckfest.com.
Nice writeup. This gives me hope and ammunition to help persuade my fiance and friends to go.
And you can avoid parking costs by riding your bike and enjoying free bike valet.
bike valet? that sounds weird and unnecessary.
Why? Keeps bikes largely in one spot and provides incentive to come down. May even free up some garage spots if biking isn’t your thing.
MORPC is our event sponsor and is offering a free COTA day pass or scoop of Jeni’s if you sign up for their 5 Days of Freedom pledge. In addition Chipotle is offering a BOGO coupon to anyone who rides and parks. How much is parking at the Commons again? ;)
Sorry, I must have totally misunderstood what “valet” means. “Valet” gave me the impression that I have to tip someone to park and lock my bike up :P
We have volunteers that will take the bike after you fill out the claim check. The corral is fenced and staffed so there is no need to lock it and lights, pumps and bike specific bags can be left without fear of theft.
Take a lot of small bills – it moves the lines faster and makes for less ATM’s out of cash.
Also – have fun.
Aww, I wish Foodie Cart were making a special appearance at this thing…
@lilbit It’s close to Double Happiness. You could walk down there after you go to the festival.
here is a link to the map of todays festivities!!
http://columbusfoodtruckfest.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/July13-Final-Map-BW-Source-copy-copy-copy.jpg
1:00 PM 2:00pm Mary Adam 12
2:30pm 3:30pm Jared Mahone
4:00pm 5:00pm Post Coma Network
5:30pm 6:30pm Travelers By Dawn
7:00pm 8:00pm Angela Perley and The Howlin’ Moons
8:30pm 9:45pm Alex White and Friends aka “Xander Von project”
If they were still serving Japanese crepes I’d brave going to Double Happiness again.
@lilbit – No Japanese crepes, but the yakitori is awesome! Worth going to eat IMO.
Went to families (chicken and waffles). Probably only had 7 or 8 people in front of me but it took nearly 45 minutes to get through line and get my food. HORRIBLE experience. All other lines seemed much quicker. I probably wont be back tonight now.
Or, you could go back and get in a different line…
Yesss I could but I wont! :)
I didn’t have any problems with ajumama. line was as expected. i did walk around a bit to look for a shorter line and see which lines moved along fairly well. I guess I caught the line at a good time, about 130. heard it was a long line before I got there.
We were there between 3 and 5. No line issues, all the food was amazing. The one issue is it seemed a lot of the trucks were already running out of several of their items.
Stand outs: Ray Rays brisket, Swoop trucks’ pork belly blt, and Sophie’s Italian pierogies.