Gardner, Winchendon to host summer food truck festivals: When are they and who's cooking?

Two annual Greater Gardner food truck festivals are returning bigger and better this summer.

First up will be Winchendon’s third annual Food Truck Festival which will take place at GAR Park on Friday, June 28 from 4 to 9 p.m.

Tiffany Newton, the town’s recreation coordinator, said the annual event has become wildly popular over the last two years. She said nearly 2,000 people turn out to sample the variety of food available.

“The first one was very well-attended – more than we could have ever imagined,” she said. “Even the food truck (vendors) weren’t sure how it was going to go, and they ran out of food because they didn’t want to overprepare.”

Even though there were more food trucks at the town’s second festival, the threat of rain throughout the day kept attendance slightly lower than the inaugural event, Newton said. Still, she said there were long lines of people patiently waiting for food at each truck.

“We lucked out. It looked really gloomy for most of it, but it didn’t rain until the very end when there were some sprinkles,” she said. “We still had around 1,500 people show up. Everyone really liked it.”

Food trucks scheduled to appear at the event include Potato Potato, Uncle Joey’s Cannoli, the Nom Nom Hut, Smokestack Roasters, and Shimmy’s Polish Express.

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Toy Town event to feature annual Battle of the Bands contest

The event will be held in conjunction with the Toy Town’s annual Battle of the Bands. The reigning champions, Sheepdip, will return to defend their title against three challengers: M.F.B., Down Daizy, and Ezra Holloway.

GAR Park is across the street from the Old Murdock Senior Center at 52 Murdock Ave. Officials say that some of the side streets in the area will be closed to traffic during the event.

“The good thing about GAR Park, which we don’t use that much, is that it’s a large rectangle and it’s completely flat, so we can put the trucks and bands in there. It’s centrally located, and it’s easy to close off the roads without interrupting any other traffic,” Newton said. “And there’s plenty of parking. The food truck owners really like the spot.”

Chair City food truck festival on July 13

Gardner’s seventh annual Food Truck Festival will be held on Saturday, July 13 from noon to 7 p.m. The event will also feature live music throughout the day.

Organizer Mark Gallant, who operates the food truck organization WooTrucks and owns the Dogfather food truck, is helping to organize both events. He said food truck festivals, which he has been helping put together across the state, are becoming increasingly popular as the variety of foods available means there is something for everyone’s taste.

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“People can go and sample eight or 10 cuisines in one place,” he said. “If you work in an office and order lunch and you want hamburgers, I want hot dogs, Mary Beth wants mac and cheese, and someone else wants Asian food, where do you go? These events give everyone something to sample.”

Among the food trucks signed up for the Gardner event are Travelin’ Bones, Mac Daddy, Sauced and Tossed Chicken, Thee Taco Dude, and Gallant’s own Dogfather. Several trucks are scheduled to appear at both events, Gallant said.

“We wanted to make it kind of a bigger deal this year in Gardner, so we’ve brought on more vendors, more crafters, more artists,” he said. “We’ve got some new trucks in the mix for both events.”

Adult beverages will be available at both events, according to organizers. Admission will be free.

This article originally appeared on Gardner News: Gardner, Winchendon MA food truck festivals coming this summer