FEATURED FOOD
Food Truck Festival Comes to Manchester
Written By Angie Sykeny (asykeny@hippopress.com)
Images: Courtesy/Stock Photo
Manchester will have its first food truck festival when CASA New Hampshire hosts Food Trucks for CASA from Friday, June 2, through Sunday, June 4, at McIntyre Ski Area. Fifteen food trucks from northern New England will be featured, representing an array of cuisine styles.
“The food truck climate is something that hasn’t really hit New Hampshire yet,” event co-coordinator Loren Foxx said. “There’s never been an event like this in Manchester, and Manchester doesn’t have a lot of food trucks, so we’re excited about bringing such a wide variety of food trucks to the largest city in the state.”
The food trucks will offer southern-style barbecue ribs, chicken and pork; Spanish-American cuisine; Jamaican specialties like patties and coco bread; Mediterranean falafel, wraps and salads; french fries and chicken; wood-fired pizza and more. There will also be sweets and snacks like kettle corn, homemade apple crisp, frozen apple cider, Indian pudding, cupcakes, pies, pastries and more.
While food trucks used to have a reputation for inexperienced chefs and mediocre to poor-quality food, Foxx said, they have recently started making their way into the world of gourmet food.
“In a lot of cases, these are chefs with solid cooking resumes and a track record of success,” he said. “Many have been running restaurants and decided to do the food truck thing so they can have more fun and experiment and not be tied down by a lot of the challenges that come with operating a restaurant.”
The three-day festival will feature not only food trucks but also beer from two local breweries, games, family activities and live entertainment. Harpoon Brewery will be onsite pouring four brews on draft: Huckleberry UFO hefeweizen, Camp Wannamango mango pale ale, UFO White Ale and Craft Cider. The other brewery, Great North Aleworks, will be pouring its signature IPA, Tie Dyed pale ale, Robust Vanilla Porter and Northbound American Pilsner.
“Our goal was to give people the opportunity to come to the event and stick around for a bit,” Foxx said. “They can grab something to eat, enjoy a beer or two and play some cornhole, not just grab something to eat and leave.”
Foxx encourages festival-goers to come hungry and bring friends so they can all order food from different trucks and share.
“You can eat a bunch of different types of food that you can’t normally get,” he said, “and it’s restaurant-quality food at what’s close to a fast-food price.”
Proceeds from the festival will help CASA in advocating for abused and neglected children.
Participating Vendors
Belgian Acres Farm
Carol’s Kettle Corn
Clyde’s Cupcakes
Crescent City Catering
Dudley’s Concessions
Great North Aleworks
Harpoon Brewery
Kevin’s French Fries and Chicken
Lester’s BBQ
Made With Love 603
Makin’ Jamaican
McIntyre Ski Area catering
Mediterranean Home Cooking
Northeast Pie Co.
Phoenix Rising Pizza
Road Hawg BBQ Swine Dining
Spiceventure International Food Truck
Food Trucks for CASA
When: Friday, June 2, from 4 to 8 p.m.; Saturday, June 3, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.; and Sunday, June 4, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Where: McIntyre Ski Area, 50 Chalet Court, Manchester
Cost: General admission costs $5 per person. Packages include one admission ticket, a T-shirt and two beer tickets for $25 or two tickets, two desserts and four beer tickets for $30.
Visit: foodtrucksforcasa.com