Sure, on the weekend of October 25 (12-10) & 26 (11-8) you could go to any ‘ole Halloween party and get some candy, chips, and if you’re lucky a cute little cupcake with a gummy worm on top… or you could go to the Westfield Mall in Meriden and hit up the Meriden Food Truck Fest where you can stuff your face with fantastic food from an estimated 40 food trucks. With both trucks AND treats, there’s no excuse not to go…
But OmNom, the best part of Halloween parties is we can dress up in slutty, errr, I mean scary, costumes!
Fret not our friends, the Meriden Food Truck Festival has you covered. They WANT you to come dressed in your best costume and they’ll have a professional photographer booth set up so you can show it off.
But we have the kids and can’t get a sitter.
This is a family fun event! There will even be a special appearance from Elsa and Anna (from Frozen) for your youngins (or the youngins at heart). A $5 wristband will get you photos with these two ladies and your photos developed right on the spot. Plus you get a shot at a raffle and $1 from each band will go to St. Jude Children’s Hospital and local dog rescue organizations.
But we like to dance at our favorite bar’s Halloween party!
Oh, Meriden Food Truck festival promises you can get your boogie (monster) on in the dining area where they’ll be a live DJ.
But we stay in that weekend to watch scary movies.
Of course Meriden Food Truck Fest has that covered too, showing Beetlejuice (Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice) on a monstrous 20 foot screen.
But money’s too tight to be paying a ridiculous entry fee.
BAM, entry is free!
See? There’s no good excuse not to go! Need more convincing? Check out our interview with Rob Ferrie of the Meriden Food Truck Fest for more info along with a list of confirmed food trucks…
1) Who are the organizers of the Meriden Food Truck Fest?
Franks & Pattys Concession Trailers/Partyprosplus.com! We’ve been building custom trucks, trailers, and carts (mainly trailers) for the past 8 years in Wallingford, CT. We don’t just build them though, we help the customer establish a business model, locate financing, scout spots, give them festival leads, and also offer ServSafe financing. If they have 50% down and a great product idea and cannot find financing, we sometimes in house finance them on our own. I really believe great ideas & ambition is more valuable and more rare than a pocket full of money these days. If someone has a great idea they believe in and at least half of their own funds to invest I will finance them the balance.
2) Where did the idea for the festival come from?
We wanted to have one in Meriden due to the lack of restaurants in the area and the number of complaints from the residents about this issue. JC Penny had gone out of business at the Westfield Meriden Mall so we decided to approach them about renting the lot for the 2 days, after almost 2 months of negotiating I got the deal done. For me the time of the year is special. My grandfather was a Chef in the Navy during the Korean War, he loved Halloween time and actually passed away in 1995 on Oct 30th, this is another way of thanking him for being like a father to me, that is actually where Frank in Franks and Pattys comes from, Patty being my grandmother :)
3) What have the responses on FB been like so far?
It has been very supportive and interactive. Each day the excitement grows. I think it is important to interact with your fans as well to let them know you are not some big corp, that you are a small business that understands what other small businesses need and also understands what the community wants, EXCITEMENT. The vendors are all saying that the plan layout is the most organized they’ve seen so far, which is a compliment as that is very important when it comes to upscale events, to be organized so everyone involved can have an enjoyable stress free time.
4) What excites you the most about your festival?
Working with small businesses, I’ve owned several of my own since 15 years old always worked hard to make the start up capital myself with no help, this is larger scale festival so I am excited about bringing the consumer together with the vendors all while having fun. I think there is so much sadness in the world these days, so events like these are really important to boost the positive morale in our communities. If you can make someone smile then at the end of the day that is what’s considered success to me.
5) How will parking work?
Good question. Fortunately the mall has approximately 5000 parking spaces. This should cover most of the parking concerns. Also, each entrance has its own traffic light to control the flow of traffic.
And here are just some of the trux:
Fruit Whirled (bicycle smoothie cart)
Sweet Madeline’s (kettle corn and cider donuts)
…and 2 more will be announced for every 200 likes (they are almost at 1,300 already)
If you’re a food truck and you’re thinking, “Hey, this sound awesome, sign me up,” make sure you email USFOODFEST@YAHOO.COM ASAP since space is limited. And, if you’re worried about food storage, they’ll have an onsite walk-in fridge reefer truck and secure dry storage which will also reduce the chances of running out of food. Finally, (we know you don’t want to hear it now), if there’s too much snow, an alternate date(s) will be announced.
In the meantime, get your costume together and start dieting!
Dan and Kristien Del Ferraro
OmNomCT 
impressive
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