More than 30 food trucks are set to take part in the city of Aurora’s Spring Food Truck Festival on Friday, organizers said.
The fest, to run from 5 to 9 p.m. on Benton Street between River Street and Broadway in downtown Aurora, will feature “a diverse collection of top-tier food trucks,” said Aurora Special Events Coordinator Christina DiCristofano.
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“With over 30 trucks set to come out, plus a DJ and no admission fee, we are proud to provide everyone with an opportunity to visit Aurora and enjoy all that the city has to offer,” DiCristofano said in a press release.
Along with the food trucks, the event will also include music and free family-friendly activities such as face painting, balloon animals and bubble shows, the release said.
Jon Zaghloul, communications manager for the city of Aurora, said the event will be one of two food truck fests to be held in the city this year, with the other planned in the fall. Last year the city had three food truck festivals, including one in the summer.
“Attendance is really, really high at the spring and the fall ones and while a lot of people come in the summer, the attendance is so much higher and there seems to be a much bigger demand for the spring and the fall, so we’re choosing to go back to just one in the spring and the fall,” he said.
Regarding this season’s opener, Zaghloul said organizers are “expecting tons of people to come.”
“This is the first one we’ve had since last fall and we’re expecting a great turnout and hopefully good weather,” he said. “This is such a popular festival. Year after year, we get thousands of people, not just from the city itself but from surrounding areas to come and sample the delicious cuisine that’s going to be on display, and we expect that to be the case again this year.”
Zaghloul praised the staff from the city’s Community Events Division, who he said “do a really great job of recruiting different food trucks each and every year.”
Some of the food trucks that are scheduled to appear at the fest Friday include Ricobene’s, Yum Dum, Tiki Terrace Hawaiian, The Happy Lobster, Strawberries BBQ, The Hippie Gourmet Grilled Cheese Truck and more.
“We have a number of restaurants that really stand out and, of course, this is a really family-friendly event,” Zaghloul said. “We expect a lot of families to come out.”
For more information on the festival, go to https://www.aurora.il.us/Recreation-and-Amenities/Events/Special-Events/Food-Truck-Fest
David Sharos is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.