City ponders how to fill void left by Burlington Food Truck Festival

There is an open summer weekend on the calendar at Spencer Smith Park, left by the Burlington Food Truck Festival. 

City council voted in October to relocate the popular event due to pressures from two local business groups, the Downtown Business Development Association and the Burlington Restaurant Association.

At Thursday morning's Environment, Infrastructure and Community Services meeting, committee members discussed the future use of the park and the future of the festival, which had been running each July since 2017 and drew roughly 40,000 people to the downtown. 

“Staff are recommending to keep the open weekend open and available for passive park use,” Emilie Cote, director of recreation, community and culture for the city said. “However, in our report you’ll see various other options that staff considered as well.”

Cote added that once city staff has developed criteria and a policy to determine the best-use cases for the park, they will determine whether the weekend will be filled or remain open. City workers are also making sure there is no conflict with the BDBA.

There was significant interest from committee members about the inclusion of food trucks at festivals moving forward. 

“It was interesting to see the full list of potential requests that have come forward,” Mayor Marianne Meed Ward said. “I am interested to see what we’ve said no, or we don’t know yet, to.”

It is the city's plan to fill every available weekend at the park, as events can be a significant boost for the community. 

Angela Paparizo, manager of arts and culture, says the proper use of the park is important for the entire community. 

“The intent is to have a vibrant community, and what better than festivals and events can create that sense of belonging,” she said. “The intent is to fill out those weekends, but to fill them with the proper events that will satisfy the many needs the community has.”

In the report, events such as Beer, Bubbles & BBQ, Burlington Latin Festival and Burlington Veg Fest were some of the highlights. The full report can be read here. 

“The very first event on the list is a food truck event; it’s beer and wine as opposed to food,” Meed Ward says. “We’ve talked about it, and I understand that it wasn’t unanimous, but was close. Council is not wanting to disadvantage the bricks and mortar.”

Following the October decision, Burlington Food Truck Festival executive director Ben Freeman said he was searching for a new municipality to host the Food Truck Festival, though no specific towns were mentioned. Ward 3 councillor Rory Nisan, the only councillor who voted to keep the event at Spencer Smith Park, asked Cote for an update on the Food Truck Festival. 

“I was expecting you were going to ask that,” Cote said. “Staff have been in conversation with that event organizer, and I can say things are looking promising for the festival to stay in Burlington.”