The smell of smash burgers, street tacos and freshly fried cheese curds filled the air at Cravath Lakefront Park on Saturday. Residents and guests from the greater Wisconsin area gathered for the second-annual Whitewater Food Truck Festival.
Whitewater Parks & Recreation hosted the event Sept. 13 from noon to 6 p.m. and brought over a dozen food trucks and vendors to the community. A variety of food and drinks were offered ranging from classic Wisconsin comfort foods to global cuisines. The festival was promoted with the phrase, “Good Grub, Great Music, Growing Community,” a theme that was apparent throughout the day.
“This is our first time participating in the Whitewater Food Truck Festival,” said Chris Ghobrial, owner of 18 Acres Food Truck based in Oconomowoc, Wisconsin. “Last year, we heard some great, interesting results from a few other friends that were down here with their food trucks. I think it will benefit our business because we’re always looking to expand and grow. Getting down to southeastern Wisconsin and opening up our experience to our wonderful clients and customers down this way.”
Families, students, residents and visitors filled the park throughout the afternoon, eating everything from chicken teriyaki on a stick, Mexican food, soul food and sweet treats. Vendors included 18 Acres Food Trucks, Mindoro Island Grill, Rocky Rococo, Fernando’s Tacos & BBQ and many more.
In addition to the food trucks, live music was featured from Cold Sweat and the Brew City Horns.
“It’s my first time at the festival and trying different foods is what made me want to come,” Whitewater resident Sandra Johnson said. “So far I’ve had cheese curds and they’re good. What’s not to like? We’re from Wisconsin! Being with my brother is my favorite part of the festival. He lives in St. Louis so it’s been nice to see him walking around, meeting new people and making friends.”
The tagline of the festival seems to have lived up to its meaning as attendees noted the delicious food while enjoying the ambience provided by the live music and the community being fostered amongst what once were strangers.
Alexis Serbil came to visit from Green Bay and said, “This is our first time here. I saw it on Facebook and was interested, so we came up.”
“There’s a lot of diverse foods here and some of the places, we didn’t really know about them, but this is good exposure and brings in a lot of different business they probably wouldn’t get,” festival attendee Alex Dodge said. “I just got food from this Mexican place. I wanted to try it but didn’t really have a reason to, but this festival was a good reason to. It’s nice because it’s local. I don’t know if we’d travel to go to a different one, but with it being in town, it’s a convenience thing.”
No information has been released to the public about the plans for a potential third-annual Food Truck Festival, but anticipation is already in the air.
