Food Truck Festival vendors have visited a number of communities in the past two years, from Chilliwack to the east, Maple Ridge to the north, and Vancouver to the west.
But never have they had as high attendance as recorded in Fort Langley this past Saturday, said event organizer Laine Ogilvie.
The Maple Ridge event and wedding planner took to organizing the food truck festivals a couple years ago, and said the "vibe" and "excitement" at this year's festival in Fort Langley was "the best yet."
Based on crowd estimations, she said there were about 12,000 people who came to the historic village, not only visiting the food vendors, but also packing the local stores and restaurants.
"Everyone was happy to be there," Ogilvie said. "It was, without question, our best one yet… It was amazing."
Last year, when the festival was in Fort Langley, they set up 10 trucks in a small chunk of Mary Avenue. This year, they took over the entire strip the of main drag (Glover Road), from Mavis Avenue to 96th Avenue, and filled spread 23 vendors out along the road – giving ample room for foodies to meander and line up, said the organizer.
"It was a high energy, exciting, and tasty event," that she said will be back again next September in the village.
Asked about what caused the larger attendance and "fun" vibe, she believes it was the change of location. In past, the festivals have always been held in parks, parking lots, or secondary roads.
Shifting it front-and-centre, on a main thoroughfare live Glover Road, where hundreds of people are already coming to shop and hangout, undoubtedly helped enhance the festival ambiance.
For the first time ever, she said, people were also super engaged on social media leading up to and during Saturday's festival, sharing pictures and comments. In part, the sunny weather could have also been a factor.
The food truck festival season has now wrapped up for the year, but Ogilvie said plans are already in the works for 2017, including the addition of a few possible events in Ladner and Richmond. The first festival is set for April, location to be announced. Stay tuned to www.fraservalleyfoodtruck.com.
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