Some popular food trucks will roll into Cloverdale this Saturday and Sunday (Sept. 26-27) during another drive-thru festival on the fairgrounds.
It’s part of a touring series of events organized by Greater Vancouver Food Truck Festival. Admission is free on both days, with food served from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.
“Coming back to Surrey for round two, we’re bringing some new amazing food and lots of your favourites,” promises a post at greatervanfoodtruckfest.com. “We’ll be offering vegan, vegetarian, gluten free & meatarian options for all.”
Saturday’s food trucks include Hunky Bill’s, Little oOtie’s Mini Donuts, Melt Town Grilled Cheese, Next Gen. Concessions Inc.’s Street Dogs/Smash Burgers/Inner Animal Fries, Fusion Icy & Juicy Green (Juicy Green Express), Japanese Teriyaki Express/Twisted Potato and REEL Mac And Cheese.
Sunday’s options are G’s Donairs, Hunky Bill’s, Next Gen. Concessions’ Corndog King, Lenny’s Lemons, WINGS Restaurants & Pubs, Tin Lizzy Concessions’s Mini Donuts and Steve-O’s Fried Chicken.
CLICK HERE to see video of a previous drive-thru food truck festival.
Earlier this month, a similar two-day event attracted close to 1,000 people to the parking lot at Langley’s Christian Life Assembly, providing a much-needed boost to the bottom line of an industry that is struggling. Most who attended visited more than one truck.
Festival co-organizer Kat King, who operates a six-truck business with her husband, estimated their revenues were down 76 per cent because of the pandemic, which has shut down the many public fairs that are a crucial sources of income.
Pre-pandemic, she said, the festival would usually set up around two dozen trucks and live entertainment, all of it close together, with people walking from truck to truck.
King said the industry is adjusting. “Adapt to survive,” she said.
COVID-19 has fostered innovation because it has “given us time to dig down into our business,” King explained. The drive-through version of the event has shown there is a way forward. “Now we know that, in the spring next year, rain or shine, we can host them,” King said.
with a file from Dan Ferguson, Black Press Media