Erie Food Truck Festival will bring 13 cuisines, The Groove, beer and wine to Lawrence Park

For five years, Kate Philips, owner of marketing firm Parker Philips, and her team of 150 volunteers has spent her June pulling together the Erie Food Truck Festival in Lawrence Park. Even when all seemed lost in 2020.

"We had one interrupted by COVID," she said about that year. "We turned that into a Front Porch Festival and we raised the money and donated it to the food truck operators. So we have we have pushed through."

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She said they roared back in 2021, once again donating the proceeds to the Iroquois School District Foundation.

"Last year we had a great year," Philips said. "We had The Groove. And this year we have them again, and Mambo.

"We think this is going to be our biggest year yet."

She said organizers are expecting 13 food trucks on Saturday with "a nice mix of cuisines." She said she likes the music lineup as as well as six breweries and wineries to wash it all down.

Time to make the Donutology

Melissa Fink, co-owner of Donutology food truck with her husband, David, are excited to return to the Food Truck Festival.

"(2021) was a giant success for us, which is why we're coming back," Melissa Fink said. "I love that they have music and a variety of trucks and a nice big open field. Last year we had a continual line the whole time."

This is the Fink family's third season with their donut truck.

"We started in May 2020 not knowing what would happen," she said. "It's been beyond our wildest dreams. The support of the community and surrounding communities, people have been great and it's so much fun.

"It's also a lot of work," she said, adding that it's a parttime gig for both owners, who also have other full-time jobs. She said that they do private events, but that they need a lot of time to work them into their schedules.

"Sometimes people reach out to us and ask if we can do their event the next day and I just have to say no because it takes many hours to prepare the truck and even when we get there, it takes us three hours to set up.

"We're booked through August and into September," for this season, she said.

"It’s a lot of fun," Melissa Fink said. "We enjoy it immensely and we learn more all the time."

Flavor Bucket on the List

Mark Mitchell will be there as owner of The Flavor Bucket, his first major festival since starting his truck in September.

"A lot of people out there have been living in the house for a couple of years and it's time for them to come out and see the different types of food that Erie has to offer," Michell said. "There's going to be a lot of people. I'm excited and I'm ready for them?

He said his lifelong cooking background includes stints at Oliver’s, Safari Grill and Smokey Bones.

"I've been cooking all my life really," he said, listing menu items such as crabcake egg rolls, pineapple chicken tacos, Jumburger an the One-pound Smoke D burger, which includes brisket.

"I've been cooking my own way and bringing what I knew about food to this venture," he said. "I always wanted a food truck and get a great opportunity."

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Tickets available now

Philips said they raised the original price to $11 in 2021, but it came back down to $10 this year. Of course, that's in advance, which you'll find at bit.ly/foodtruckfestival22. If you wait until the day of the festival, that goes up to $15 at the gate.

That's to have everyone plan how many people they'll be serving.

"We don’t charge the trucks," Philips said. "We keep this 100 percent local. The money we raise goes to the Iroquois School District Foundation."

That's an organization that supports field trips, grants for teacher education and other academic grants to the school, Philips said. "For example, students toured the Brig Niagara," she said. "There was a reading competition over the summer with a prize. Any creative way to engage students in learning."

Philips said the first year of the festival, they served approximately 5,000 people and she expects twice that on Saturday.

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She also said 150 volunteers who live in the school district help out and attend the festival.

"This is a complete volunteer effort," she said.

If you go ...

• What: Fifth annual Food Truck Festival

• When: Saturday, 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.

• Where: Water & Main streets, the former G.E. Fields in Lawrence Park.

• Tickets: Advance tickets are $10 at eriefoodtruckfestival.com. Your $10 advance ticket includes an #ErieFoodTruckFestival souvenir pint cup, access to local food trucks, and local bands.

Music lineup

• 2 to 3:15 p.m., Two for the Show: Lindsey Vendetti & Erie Brewer

• 3:15 to 4:30 p.m., Zach Orr

• 4:30 to 5:45 p.m., Mambo

• 6 to 8 p.m., The Groove

Trucks lineup

• Big Cheese

• Donutology

• The Flavor Bucket

• Food for Thought

• Happy Camper Snack Shack

• JEB Concessions

• The Mad Tortilla

• R B Concessions

• Sarah’s Sweet Kettle Korn

• Spanglish Skillet

• Tony’s Tasty Twist

• Triple D’s

• Underdog BBQ

Local breweries

• Black Monk Brewing

• Lavery Brewing

• Nostrovia Brewing

Local wineries

• Arundel Cellars & Brewing

• 6 Mile Cellars

• Cellar 54

• Mazza Vineyards

• Driftwood Wine Cellars

Contact Jennie Geisler at jgeisler@timesnews.com or at 814-870-1885.

This article originally appeared on Erie Times-News: 5th annual Food Truck Festival will bring 13 trucks to Lawrence Park