Food Truck Festival will step to the plate in July
Visitors enjoy a previous Greater Pittsburgh Food Truck Festival.
The Greater Pittsburgh Food Truck Festival will be returning next weekend after the event was canceled in 2020 due to the pandemic.
Here’s something to whet one’s appetite for fun: the Greater Pittsburgh Food Truck Festival is coming back.
The annual event, co-sponsored by the Observer-Reporter and The Meadows Racetrack & Casino, is scheduled for July 16-18 at the entertainment venue off Racetrack Road.
Last year’s festival, initially postponed from May to September, was ultimately canceled because of the pandemic.
“We’re really excited to hold this again,” said Carole DeAngelo, advertising director of the O-R. “Everyone in the community has been asking whether we’re going to have the Food Truck Festival. The community is ready for it.”
This 5-year-old festival traditionally takes place on a weekend around Memorial Day. COVID-19, however, dictated a two-month delay in 2021, allowing more people to be vaccinated, ostensibly creating a safer environment for gathering.
“By mid-July, hopefully, the world will be a little different,” said Rahul Kaushik, vice president of marketing at the North Strabane Township entertainment destination. “The festival will be entirely outdoors, but we will comply with (Centers for Disease Control) guidelines for the protocols we put in place.”
Kaushik, an employee of Penn National Gaming Inc., operator of The Meadows, said there will be “approximately 30 food trucks and 30 vendors. We won’t have as many as in the past, keeping in mind social distancing.”
Hours for the Food Truck weekend will be 5 to 9 p.m. on Friday; noon to 9 p.m. on Saturday; and 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday. There will be harness racing on Friday, but not on Saturday or Sunday. Live regional bands will perform the second and third days.
Family-friendly activities, including wiener dog and bike races, will predominate on Friday. Shopping, DeAngelo said, “will be intertwined around the apron.”
“This year we’re bringing back things people want,” Kaushik said. “We’re not making a whole lot of changes. This is a growing event and we always want to improve it, but nothing major (will be added).”
A growing event, indeed. The Food Truck Festival draws about 2,000 patrons each year – but didn’t have the opportunity to do that in 2020. Last year’s cancellation, Kaushik said, was a financial blow to the host facility, but more so for the truck operators and vendors.
“It was a collective loss,” he said. “The Meadows lost visitation, but it was not a large revenue loss (for the facility). The revenues go mostly to the small vendors and the food trucks. Multiply 2,000 people by how much they spend and that’s what was lost. We feel badly because we are part of the community.
“But we are really excited to bring back this event, as we all hope for life back in normalcy. We’re excited to get the food trucks and vendors back and offer something for Washington County tourism.”