BTA To Host Food Truck Festival On October 9
The Bermuda Tourism Authority [BTA] will put a fresh take on celebrating the island’s food culture when it debuts a first-of-its-kind food truck festival next month.
The BTA is organising the event in partnership with local food truck operators to create a festival on Front Street, Sunday, October 9, 2016. It will take place from 1:00pm to 6:00pm. The date was chosen because it’s the Columbus Day holiday weekend in the United States.
“We’re inviting visitors on island for Columbus Day weekend to come into Hamilton and experience this delicious aspect of island life,” said Pat Phillip-Fairn, the BTA’s Chief Product and Experiences Development Officer.
“We encourage the whole community to extend that invitation too, while also coming to enjoy what’s on offer themselves. Our visitors want to mingle with locals, enjoy live local entertainment and we can build on that by helping them sample this facet of Bermuda’s food culture that most visitors miss.
“We know from our consumer research that experiential travellers love food trucks so we’re giving them a festival, with the help of great pop-up vendors and entertainers.”
Photo courtesy of Bermuda Tourism Authority
There will be 13 food trucks and pop-up vendors on hand for the Bermuda Food Truck Festival. Emphasis will be placed on Bermuda dishes, featured alongside traditional food truck favourites like fish sandwiches, hot dogs, snowballs and homemade lemonade. There is no admission. Everyone is welcomed.
The line-up of local live entertainment includes the Simons Brothers, In Motion, Kennel Boys and Working Title. DJ Rusty G will bring an hour-long soca celebration during the festival.
On behalf of the food truck operators, Arthur Dill of Jor-Jay’s Lunch Wagon said: “We, the lunch wagon participants, are excited to participate in the Bermuda Food Truck Festival and look forward to it being a success. We hope that it will become an annual event going forward.”
Kendaree Burgess, Executive Director at the Bermuda Chamber of Commerce stated: “The Chamber constantly seeks to support initiatives that align with our vision, which is to cultivate the best environment in which all businesses can prosper. The food truck industry is one that we are thrilled to see now getting the attention it truly deserves; we applaud and stand behind the Bermuda Tourism Authority on this initiative.”
Since the BTA’s inception, the Product and Experiences team has worked with the culinary community to elevate the island’s food culture and infuse it into the visitor experience.
“Those efforts have included popular Bermuda-inspired menus during Restaurant Weeks, last year’s competitive fish sandwich competition and the support of the City Food Festival. This is the BTA’s first formal partnership with food trucks and pop-up vendors. It’s being referred to as “a ‘greeze’ on wheels”.
Mrs Phillip-Fairn said: “Whether it’s a spiny lobster, cassava pie or fried wahoo from a food truck — If there is a food tradition residents enjoy, we want visitors to have a try too. That’s how we can deliver a true island life experience to the modern-day Bermuda visitor.”
The Bermuda Food Truck Festival will take place on Front Street at No.1 Car Park.
Confirmed Vendors
- AAA Hot Dog Cart
- Ashley’s Lemonade Stand
- Bermuda Cupcake Company
- Cann-Da-Licious
- DeGraff’s Lunch Wagon
- Dandy Donuts
- Ginger Beer Truck
- Jor-Jay’s Take Out
- Keith’s Kitchen
- Scoops n Cones Ice Cream Truck
- Smokin Barrel
- Snowball Shack
- Stevens Lunch Wagon
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I’m hungry lol
Columbus Day, Mmmmmmmm
So they have a holiday for a navigator who was looking for a short cut to East India and stumbled on de Americas which was inhabited thousands of years before he got there !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It might be helpful if as an island we are going to support food trucks and vendors that
A) We don’t make them pay upwards of $50,000 to $100k to licence one and
B) We don’t have a city of hamilton that has an exclusive, discretionary and limiting policy on who they allow in the city, example, they claim ‘they only have space’ for the food trucks they currently have in Hamilton and won’t entertain others.
Food trucks are all the rage in destinations now yes and BTA wants to jump on the boat but all Bermuda ever does is say NO to entrepreneurs with new ideas and taxes small biz unfairly. #startsayingYES
Agreed. The 50-100K barrier is designed as just that – why not a 1000.00 annual licence allowing a greater participant rate – especially those whop want to finance their own venture outside of bank loans…
Congrats to BTA’s Product and Experience aka. Product Development. I wish it much success. Hopefully it’s going to be a Bermudaful Day!!!
Hey.
You cannot re-invent the wheel.
Me?
Bring yah own BBQ and lets party.
Where’s the healthy options?
Yeah I was wondering are there any Vegan or Vegetarian meals being offered
I’d bet someone would be offering those kind of meals,… maybe not the Donut place, but someone would.
Prolly in your kitchen cabinet somewhere
Hey I like food and I like trucks. This is gonna be awesome!
What is the BTA ROI on this? Being taxpayer hosted do they get discount?
Good idea but I have a feeling the most attendees will be Bermudians.
….and Bermudian residents
It is obvious to me they are making it up as they go along and get bonuses or incentive awards. How dull. A food truck festival. Silly. Childish as the world moves with real culture and entertainment that is developed and not this type of nonsense. Next someone will get an award for the macaronni festival and the leapfrog and snowball festival.
Surely the BTA empire can do better than this.
Isn’t there a growing interest in food trucks? Thought Food Network and the like even have shows dedicated to food truck ‘competitions’ and whatnot.
Whether or not BTA is a year behind on the times, maybe that could be a question.
Your pessimistic attitude toward efforts such as these are the reasons they don’t succeed. You must forget you live on a 22 square mile island with access to very little resources. There is only room for so much ‘cultural development’… WHat would your pessimistic mind suggest since you aren’t ‘childish’?
And for someone who is claiming that the world is developing through culture and entertain you must not travel much… Food truck festivals are extremely popular in other places of the world… (I would know because I’ve been to plenty). You also must not know much about culture because food truck festivals are designed to bring cultures together through a universal tool… FOOD.
Seriously, when one thinks of food trucks in any other jurisdiction around the world we see innovative foody trucks with healthy tasty foods that make your taste buds pop. I see nothing on this list outside of Smokin Barrel that even come remotely close to what we should be seeing in this event. With that said I believe that the Corporation and the trucking venders committee are controlling who can come in and at a rediculas cost for a liecensing fee. Most of these food truck will serve you a heart attach on a bun. Nothing special here folks.
Good luck with this event as there is nothing special here. I would rather watch paint dry.
If I am wrong I would like these food venders to note three of there best hot food items on this form so we can all see what they are..? Burgers and fries need not be included.. Give us something amazingly tasty.
Why no burgers and fries? I bet there would be some amazing burgers and fries in a cook off .
@Northshore. Granted if the Burgers you speak of are outside the normal processed cardboard burger then I agree with you. Bring it on.
A good afternoon mostly for locals. Should really be part of Harbour Nights.
I want to see if I can get this straight – BTA wants to encourage tourists to come in Hamilton on a Sunday (when everything is closed) to eat at a food truck (which chances are they have more/better in the cities where they came from) – why???
I guess they are trying to capture the tourists that are here already and grow the product from there?
by getting tourists to go to eat at a food truck on a day when the shops are closed???
If going to do that then why not have the food trucks down at Horeshoe bay or one of the other beaches – namely somewhere tourists will actually WANT to go??
YOU have a great idea here. Hope someone in the know reads this.
The best crepes I ever enjoyed were from a food truck. They were chicken, mushroom, spinach, onion in a garlic cream sauce. Will there be any of those there on Oct. 9th?