events – Page 3 – What the Truck?!

One of the things you may not know about our What the Truck?! events is that we seek to minimize menu duplication. We know food festivals such as this one are better when people have more variety and options, so we ask trucks to submit their menus in advance, and ask that similar items be changed or dropped.

But recently, we were thinking – why couldn’t we use this duplication to our advantage? Why not throw a bit of friendly competition into the mix? And with that, Truck Stop: Throwdown Edition was born.

Join us on August 15, 2012 for a pulled pork throwdown, where The Act, Nomad and Smokehouse BBQ will be putting their best sandwiches forward in the hopes of winning your vote!

What: Truck Stop: Throwdown Edition
When: Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Where: Edmonton Public Schools Archives (10425 99 Avenue)
Time: 5-8pm

The three trucks will be serving up slider-sized portions of their pulled pork, so you’ll have enough room to consider all three if you so choose!

To vote, we ask that you donate at least $2 to the Edmonton Public Schools Foundation in exchange for a ballot. Given the location of this event, we thought it was the perfect opportunity to partner with a charity with a great cause – learn more about how the Foundation supports early learning and full-day kindergarten here.

Stay tuned for more details this week on what else you can expect at Truck Stop!

Friday was sunny and warm here in Edmonton, the perfect day for a stroll down Victoria Promenade while enjoying delicious eats from some of our best food trucks. Thousands of people descended upon our biggest What the Truck?! yet to fill up on tasty food and the amazing view of Edmonton’s river valley.

It was probably the most diverse crowd yet! We think the sights and smells helped attract curious residents from the apartments above, and we heard from many other Oliver residents were excited that What the Truck?! was finally making a stop in their neighbourhood. But we think the conditions were perfect for others new to the food truck scene to take advantage of the location and the weather to experience this trend for themselves!

As organizers, we envisioned that an event like this would again help draw attention to what we believe is an underutilized space in the city. So although we admit it was a bit crowded, it really was rewarding to see people turning every corner of the Promenade into their own little picnic spot – from the curbs and railings to apartment stoops.

We’ve heard lots of feedback about Friday’s event already – thank you to everyone who has been in touch. We know that some of the lines were long, chaotic, and that some of the trucks ran out of food rather quickly. We always try to learn from our events, and we definitely have some ideas about how we can improve future events.

We do want to emphasize however that long lines and trucks selling out aren’t necessarily all bad! Food trucks do have limited capacity, so they’re going to sell out at some point. And keep in mind that for many of the trucks, there is no restaurant backing them up – everything is being created on-the-spot in the truck. Besides, what fun is a food truck without some anticipation?

We couldn’t have done the event without the support of our volunteers and partners. Big thanks to the Oliver Community League, who worked with us right from the start and was a key partner in making the event happen. Thanks also to Tri-Line Disposal who provided us with the excellent red toters for waste so we could keep the promenade tidy.

Most of all, thank you to everyone who came! You can see more photos of the event here.

Coming up next…

On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday this week, Eat Street will be in town filming three food trucks: Molly’s Eats, Drift, and The Act. Make sure you get out and support all three!

Our next event is a very special Truck Stop, and it’ll take place on August 15 downtown. Save the date and stay tuned for details tomorrow!

Tag: events

Truck Stop: Throwdown Edition on August 15, 2012

Recap: What the Truck?! at Victoria Promenade