A food truck event which can also be referred to as a food truck festival, food truck rally, food truck rodeo, or food truck gathering, is an event where a group of food trucks gather in one location for the purpose of selling their products to a large group of people.
Food truck events usually feature “modern” food trucks which are known to pay more emphasis on food quality and variety, a trend which has grown significantly in popularity in the United States since 2008. Formal gatherings of food trucks in the United States began in 2010.
The first LA Food Festival held in February 2010, appears to have been one of the earliest of such events. In recent time, food truck events are organized in the United States of America and elsewhere in the world on regular intervals.
7 Ways to Find Local Food Trucks Events
Searching for a local food truck event is not really a difficult task in the United States. This is so because food trucks are becoming visible.
For example, for the last seven years; the truck food industry has experienced consistent growth. Despite the fact that food truck events may not be new in the food service industry, they have begun to leverage food truck events to maximize sales.
The industry is growing in leaps and bounds and there are still more room for growth. Despite the introduction of some unfavorable laws and regulations by many cities across the United States and Canada, food truck events are still flourishing.
Depending on the city where you are in, there are two ways you can choose from if you are looking for a food truck event to attend.
a. You Can Use Mobile Apps
In recent time, one of the easiest ways to locate your favorite food truck event is through mobile apps. This is the recent trend in the industry and most food trucks events in the United States can be located via a mobile app. Interestingly, there are some reliable mobile apps you can use to locate any food truck event happening in your city and these are some of the most trusted food truck locators;
1. Roaming Hunger
Roaming Hunger is a blog that records food truck news and events. Although they are based in Los Angeles, but they cover neighboring cities as well and catalog includes a smattering of trucks in most major cities. The free iPhone app uses tweets and calendars to keep track of the trucks. You can search for food truck events near you, those recently tweeted, most liked, savory, sweet or vegetarian.
It also allows you to plan ahead by searching for trucks that are open at different times. Because it covers many cities, its library is not as extensive as some city-specific apps, and like most apps that rely on Twitter and calendars, its map points represent predictions rather than actual locations.
2. TruxMap Lite Food Truck Map
TruxMap’s free iPhone and Android apps plot open food truck events near you in green, and soon-to-open food trucks in blue.
It uses the trucks’ Twitter feeds to track and plot their locations. The app makers say they’re tracking trucks in 21 cities, but the majority of them are in Los Angeles, Austin and New York. Users can request new trucks be added to the app via the website.
3. Road Stoves GPS
Road Stoves GPS is a Los Angeles based app that books food trucks for promotions and events. Its free iPhone and Android apps use actual GPS location to track food trucks. This makes its map one of the most accurate, but also one of the most sparse.
Please note that most of its trucks are in Los Angeles, and only about 15 of them are GPS-enabled. The app makes it easy to access the Twitter feeds and menus of other trucks, but it doesn’t put them on the map.
4. Food Truck Fiesta
Food Truck Fiesta has a mobile app that cost $.99 and the mobile app is compatible with iPhone and Android app and it is based on a blog of the same name.
The site posts updates about new food trucks and food-truck events, maintains a catalog of food trucks and tracks trucks on a live map using their Twitter feeds. The app is basically a map in mobile form. Clicking a truck’s location pulls up its Twitter feed.
5. Eat St.
Eat St. has free iPhone and Android apps that help viewers track down gourmet meals on wheels near them. Food Network’s Eat St. show highlights the most innovative mobile cuisine in North America. Interestingly, Eat St. has a different approach than most of the food-tracking apps on the market.
They allow owners to update their own locations, menus, hours and profiles. Other food trucks can be added by users, but their profiles remain barren and their locations dubious.
6. Event Tracking Software and Website
There are several event tracking software and websites that can be used to track food truck events in your city. This is how it works, you can use the software to search for all types of events happening in your city, including those that are obviously food truck-oriented and those that are not.
Look for things like summer festivals, city or county fairs, art shows, food festivals, concerts, parades, ethnic celebrations, and holiday events. For example, Eventbrite happens to be one of the most reliable and “go to” software or website when it relates to events.
Eventbrite is a U.S.-based event management and ticketing website. The service allows users to browse, create, and promote local events. The service charges a fee to event organizers in exchange for online ticketing services, unless the event is free.
b. Visit Key Locations
Traditionally, people who are looking for food truck events usually go to the locations where they are likely going to find these trucks in droves. Over the years, it is the norm to find different types of food trucks in places such as carnival sites, construction sites, sporting event centers, campgrounds, and beach et al.
Food trucks also take advantage of places like campuses, office complexes, military bases, mechanical village, industrial parks, farmer’s markets, cinemas, and religious centers to sell their foods, snacks and drinks. Please note that in some states the legislation does not allow food trucks to just roam any street or converge in any location that they deem fit.
food truck operator cannot just park their food truck in any event center or sports arena et al without following due process. Following due process means that they are expected to apply for permits before they can be allowed to park and sell from their food trucks to customers.
In Conclusion;
The fact that there has been appreciable increase in the number of food truck business owners in the United States means that you don’t have to stress yourself in search for a food truck events to attend. This increase can be attributed to creativity, the change in lifestyle of the average Americans and of course post-recession and economic factors. In essence the food industry is growing and the future is still bright.