The Columbus Food Truck Festival, celebrating its 10th year in existence, will be taking place at the Franklin County Fairgrounds this weekend.
Credit: The Columbus Food Truck Festival
Chas Kaplan realized he had created something special when the first-ever Columbus Food Truck Festival in 2011 brought in a crowd of 20,000 people.
Growing exponentially after its conception, the festival eventually became too large for its original home at the Columbus Commons, Kaplan, the co-creator and co-owner of the Columbus Food Truck Festival alongside Mike Gallicchio, said. Moving to the Franklin County Fairgrounds this year, the decade-old festival will offer over 50 food vendors, such as Mikey’s Late Night Slice, Amish Country Donuts and Chicken Mac Truck, and more than 25 retail crafters this weekend.
Despite amassing crowds of 50,000-100,000 people in years past, Kaplan said this year they will cap entrance ticket sales at 15,000 people and will hold the festival at the Franklin County Fairgrounds to allow for distancing during the pandemic.
“Our main goal here is to make sure that everybody has an enjoyable, safe, comfortable experience,” Kaplan said. “So we really took into play the spacing and the size to give everyone the ability to roam around and enjoy.”
Vendors will be scattered around the fairgrounds in small, versatile bunches. Trucks specializing in wholly different foods, such as Twisted Tacos, Grilled Cheese Gangsters, Pizza Cottage and Graeter’s Ice Cream, will all be found in one section while other groups of completely different trucks will be found in each corner of the festival.
Kaplan said this orientation will allow visitors to try a multitude of different cuisines all at once, instead of grouping similar vendors together.
Although Kaplan said he doesn’t play favorites when it comes to food vendors, emphasizing the versatility of the festival’s vendors, he highlighted public excitement surrounding Island Noodles, a Hilliard-based food truck that specializes in authentic Hawaiian Yakisoba noodles.
“Hale Lake is a Native Hawaiian. He’s actually the founder of Island Noodles,” Brad Esposite, owner and operator of Island Noodles, said. “I used to work in Major League Baseball stadiums and was in one of our stadiums in Arizona, and [Hale] and I became friends, and then we went into business together.”
The fan-favorite serves just one dish – soba noodles with 21 fresh-cut veggies and optional teriyaki chicken – but Esposite said they do it well.
Island Noodles has been at every Columbus Food Truck Festival since 2012, after hearing what a hit the festival had been the previous year. The festival is one of their favorite events of the year to attend, and Esposite said they look forward to serving new and regular customers alike.
“They just do a really good job with their organization, setup, everything, so we really like working that festival, and since we’ve been there so long, there’s so many of the same customers we’ve served over the years,” Esposite said. “So, it’s always fun to go back.”
In addition to the plethora of edible options, almost 20 bands and musicians will be in attendance at the festival, including local talent such as the Largemouth Brass Band and Willie Phoenix.
“My main objective when it comes to the music – besides bringing in music that I personally love and the artists that work so hard every day that I love and respect – is to find the perfect match for attendees that may not be used to hearing certain music, but the music is so good that it doesn’t irritate their ears, either,” Kaplan said. “I have a statement that I use often, which is, ‘Music and food both feed the soul.’”
The festival will be held Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 7 p.m. Entrance tickets are $5 and include complimentary parking on a first-come-first-served basis. Entry for children aged 12 and under is free. More information on logistics and vendors, craft retailers and musicians that will be in attendance can be found on the festival’s website.
