Gypsy Picnic Trailer Food Festival
Has the food trailer fad gotten away from you? Catch up at this weekend's trailer food fest.
By Virginia B. Wood, Fri., Nov. 5, 2010
Auditorium Shores, Saturday, Nov. 6, 11am-8pm
Few Austin trends have grown faster than our local food trailer phenomenon. It seems that new mobile food vendors appear almost every week, making it difficult for even the hungriest and most intrepid foodie to sample them all. Here's a possible solution: Ambitious, young entrepreneur Tiffany Harelik turned a local food truck crawl with friends into a very popular blog that chronicles Austin's trailer food scene. Now Trailer Food Diaries is a full-blown multimedia project that includes guides, a food festival with a cook-off, and the potential for radio and television programs on the horizon.
Things kick off this weekend with the first Gypsy Picnic Trailer Food Festival on Auditorium Shores, featuring 30 mobile food vendors, a cook-off, and plenty of live local music. Admission to the event is free, which means hungry Austin foodies can spend their money on sample portions of everything from pies, ice cream sandwiches, and doughnuts to barbecue, tacos, arepas, and crawfish pies. Local media celebrities will judge the cook-off, awarding prizes in five categories: meat, vegetarian/vegan, sweets, drinks, and creativity. Critics' Choice winners will receive gift baskets and signs for their trucks. The crowd will get in on the voting as well, thanks to a text message system sponsored by KGSR. The real winners will be Austin food lovers, who will have the rare opportunity to experience many examples of the innovation and diversity of the local trailer food scene all in one place! For the most current list of participating trailers, go to www.gypsypicnic.com.