The 13 Best Food Truck Festivals in the US in 2024
Food trucks are often a solitary affair: the Hawaiian shaved ice truck comes to a school fundraiser, a taco truck supplies the wedding reception and so on — but not so at a food truck festival.
Events like these give foodies the chance to sample the offerings of several food trucks in one place, and they’re a growing trend in the gourmet world. But with so many events like this going on, which ones rise to the top? To answer that question, we’ve narrowed that growing list down to 13 festivals you won’t want to miss.
Jump to Section
13 Top Food Truck Festivals To Attend
1. The Texas Food Truck Showdown
At this annual, one-day-only Waco event, you’ll get to do more than just eat: you can also participate as a judge to help select one food truck as that year’s champion. The Texas Food Truck Showdown distinguishes itself from the state’s other food truck festivals by that competition setup, and after nine consecutive festivals, the event is now a renowned statewide showdown for the title of the best food truck in Texas.
The festival, held annually in April, now attracts over 25,000 people annually to sample the offerings of 40 food trucks from all over Texas. Add yourself to that list and be sure to catch the next one.
Festival Location: 101 S. 3rd St., Waco, TX 76701
Month of Festival: April
2. Portland Food Cart Week
Now for something a little more limited-edition: Portland Food Cart Week, a food truck festival held in dozens of locations throughout Portland, Oregon. Its concept? Spreading a food truck festival throughout an entire city!
With its dozens of “pods,” or meeting points for food trucks in Portland, Portland Food Cart Week is widely accessible. What’s more, each pod offers different food truck options, making for a hugely diverse selection of cuisines.
Festival Location: Multiple Locations
Month of Festival: April
3. Food Truck Carnival
Taking place annually in the Denver suburb of Northglenn, Food Truck Carnival is a food truck festival with a state fair twist: in addition to food trucks, it also offers carnival rides. If you’ve ever thought it might be fun to wash down your gourmet burger with a craft beer and then test your luck on the tilt-a-whirl, this might just be the festival of your dreams.
The annual May event also features live music, and trucks offer dozens of options, from pierogies to Tibetan cuisine. This is one of the food festivals that is free to enter, but you’ll need to purchase tickets for the rides. The event comes around annually in mid-May, so be sure to mark your calendars.
Festival Location: E.B. Rains Jr. Memorial Park, 11701 Community Center Dr., Northglenn, Denver, CO 80233
Month of Festival: May
4. Seattle Street Food Festival
After several missed years due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Washington State’s best food truck festival is now firmly back in the calendar. The Seattle Street Food Festival, which debuted in 2015 to critical acclaim, brings together 50-plus food trucks for a celebration of Seattle’s unique culinary culture. Featured in prestigious food publications nationwide, the Seattle Street Food Festival takes good food seriously.
Festival Location: Multiple Locations
Month of Festival: June
5. Food Truck Festival at the Mount
With so many food trucks in NYC, it’s a pretty competitive market, but one event that continually lives up to the city’s insanely high culinary standards is the Food Truck Festival At the Mount. The proceeds of this event, with food trucks, live music, beer gardens and sangria for a cool $5 entrance fee, support the Staten Island University Hospital.
This food truck festival is known both for the variety of its food trucks and for the quality of its musical acts, so expect a fun and full day out! The festival takes place annually in June at Mount Loretto in the borough of Staten Island.
Festival Location: Mount Loretto, Hylan Boulevard, Staten Island, NY 10308
Month of Festival: June
6. Chicago Food Truck Festival
Among the food festivals Chicago has to offer, this annual summer event has been running for more than a decade, and for good reason. An annual showcase of the best food trucks in Chicago, it combines culinary excellence with a vibrant atmosphere. In a culinary city as renowned as Chicago, flavor is never in short supply, and the Chicago Food Truck Festival is one of the biggest and buzziest food truck events in the U.S.
Festival Location: 1800 S. Wabash Ave., Chicago, IL 601616
Month of Festival: July
7. Columbus Food Truck Festival
Every August, Columbus, Ohio showcases some of its culinary stars in an annual food truck festival. Now in its 14th year, the Columbus Food Truck Festival is an all-out event, taking over the county fairgrounds to gather over 50 food trucks, and other vendors, in one place.
With live music, an endless variety of culinary offerings and shopping opportunities, it’s a hugely popular community event, regularly raking in over 100,000 attendees. This hugely popular festival comes around every August, so be sure to add it to your diary!
Festival Location: Multiple Locations
Month of Festival: August
8. Atlanta Street Food Festival
If you’re in the Atlanta area and looking for something to do on Labor Day, look no further than the Atlanta Street Food Festival. At this end-of-summer event, dozens of food trucks and craft vendors will descend on Atlanta’s spacious Westside Park for a festive, family-friendly celebration of the city’s cultural and culinary diversity.
With so much to offer in the laid-back, refreshing setting of one of Atlanta’s finest city parks, you might just end up browsing and snacking all day. Bonus: this festival makes a point of providing activities for younger visitors, so it’s a great opportunity for a family outing.
Festival Location: Westside Park, 1660 Johnson Road NW, Atlanta, GA 30318
Month of Festival: September
9. Main Street Food Truck Festival
Originally, Main Street Food Truck Festival began as an effort to capitalize on the growing popularity of food trucks for a cause: breathing some life back into Little Rock, AR’s downtown area, which had seen better days.
Now, after 13 consecutive runs, Main Street Food Truck Festival has been one of the many success stories in the revitalization of Main Street, a now-thriving district which owes its new liveliness to the efforts of passionate residents and events like this one. It’s a meaningful event for the city — and a fun one! Hosting 70 food trucks as well as craft vendors, musicians and street performers, this festival is not to be missed.
Festival Location: 101 E. Capitol Ave., Ste. 106, Little Rock, AR 72201
Month of Festival: September
10. ATX Food Truck Festival
Everything’s bigger in Texas, and that includes food truck festivals. For one, ATX Food Truck Festival isn’t just a one-time annual event: it’s a group that regularly organizes food truck events throughout Austin.
Even outside of its culinary offerings, the list of attractions at Austin’s ATX Food Truck Festival is staggering. In fact, some of its past events have hosted a petting zoo, interactive games, a live DJ and more.
ATX Food Truck Festival also hosts creative events with a variety of target audiences in mind, with examples including a mixer for adult singles and a school supply shopping event in collaboration with local vendors. With so much going on throughout the year, ATX Food Truck Festival provides you with great opportunities to sample food trucks in Austin, no matter when you’re in town.
Festival Location: Barton Creek Square, 2901 S. Capital of Texas Highway, Austin, TX 78746
Month of Festival: Monthly
11. Curbside Bites Downtown
A weekly event catering to workday lunch-breakers, Curbside Bites Downtown brings together a small, curated selection of food trucks in San Diego’s trendy Gaslamp District. This gathering takes place every Wednesday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.
Trucks rotate weekly, so there’s always something new to try. And while the downtown location is great for grabbing a bite during your lunch break, there are several other locations throughout San Diego on different days of the week if you can’t make it on a Wednesday. With its small size and rotating selections, Curbside Bites is a casual, approachable introduction to San Diego’s food truck scene.
Festival Location: Downtown San Diego W, B Street & India Street, San Diego, CA 92101
Month of Festival: Every Wednesday
12. Off the Grid Food Truck Party
San Francisco might not be the sunny-year-round outdoor destination of some of its Californian cousins, but it’s not about to miss out on the state’s happening food truck scene just because of a little fog. One prime example of this? Off the Grid, a weekly Friday gathering of food trucks in San Francisco.
This nighttime festival gathers dozens of food trucks offering a staggeringly wide and diverse selection of cuisines, along with live music and a festive atmosphere, in various rotating locations. As its name implies, it’s a perfect chance to get face-to-face in a tech-focused city of screens. Check the Off the Grid website for rotating Friday night locations.
Festival Location: 1000 Oak St., Oakland, San Francisco, CA 94607
Month of Festival: Every Friday
13. Miami Food Trucks Events
A tropical city like Miami seems like a great place for food trucks, and the people of the city are capitalizing on that fact with a unique food truck event: it happens every single day! Miami Food Trucks Events see food trucks in Miami gathering in different locations every day except Sunday.
These casual gatherings of food trucks in Miami feature a rotating roster of dozens of trucks serving everything from burgers and churros to French and Venezuelan cuisine, as well as live music, extensive outdoor seating and family activities. If you’re new to food truck festivals and want to check out the scene in a low-key environment, Miami Food Trucks Events might be just the thing for you.
Festival Location: Multiple Locations
Month of Festival: Daily (except Sundays)
Discover the Best Food Trucks Near You
It can be hard to know where to start when exploring the thriving food truck scene. With gatherings of food trucks popping up seemingly everywhere, how are we to know which ones are the real deal?
To solve that problem, why not take a food tour? An experienced guide can make all the difference in helping you get a taste of the food scene in a new city — or even your hometown. And while festivals are undoubtedly a great way to sample the local cuisine, food tours will let you in on the best brick-and-mortar dining experiences, too. For a one-of-a-kind foodie experience with the insight of an expert guide, check out fun food tours near you.
If you’re looking to make your meal out a whole day out, a food truck event like these 13 might be just what you’re after. Food truck festivals aren’t just for food — what makes them such a unique experience is their festive atmosphere.
Good food can bring people together, and a good gathering of food trucks might bring in thousands! That makes for a great time, whether your nearest festival is over-the-top or local and intimate. Even if you’ve missed some of the above events this year, there’s no time like the present to start planning your adventures for next year.
For even more ways to explore your favorite foods, check out other experiences happening on Cozymeal!
FOOD FOR THOUGHT?
Join the conversation.