Thousands Flock To North Loop For Food Truck Fair
With a record number of food trucks to choose from–and a much larger area to drink beer–the 2023 North Loop Food Truck Fair drew an estimated 12,000-15,000 people to North 3rd Street this year. Not bad for a volunteer-run event that’s not even 10 years old!
It started in 2018 in the driveway of Heritage Landing with 8 or 9 trucks and has exploded in popularity, to the point that 39 food trucks were on hand this year with several other businesses setting up booths of their own to take advantage of the big crowds.
Scott Woller, long-time board member with the North Loop Neighborhood Association (and owner of Corner Coffee/Corner Church), volunteers to handle most of the pre-planning for the event, which involves a mountain of paperwork and permitting with the city for each food truck, the beer sales, security and live music. And then, of course, there’s the coordination and logistics on the day of the event.
Scott Woller, NLNA board member
“I would love it if it was easier,” Woller said. “The city knows that we would love it to be easier.”
Volunteers from the neighborhood (most of them board members with the NLNA) chipped in to wipe down tables, pick up litter, sell bottles of water and North Loop merchandise, along with dealing with any unexpected circumstances.
For the North Loop, it’s become a big annual draw for people to check out our neighborhood.
“It’s so great,” said Woller. “My favorite is to look out over the grass and see people enjoying our park, to see people walking up and down the streets.”
A big thank you to the local businesses who stepped up help sponsor this year’s event: MartinPatrick3, Sunrise Banks, FirstService Residential, Engel & Völkers, Jeromeo, Edina Realty, Vivid Home, DRG, North Loop Green, Duffey 2.0, Edwards Dessert Kitchen, TownePlace Suites, Thr3Jack, Be The Match and Ascension Catholic Academy.
By Mike Binkley, North Loop volunteer
