Entertainment hit the mark, but lack of food trucks a sore spot for new summer event in Whitecourt

For the past few years, during the summer months, the Town of Whitecourt has been putting on Arts in the Park events at Rotary Park which incorporated specific themes, different food vendors, and live
music. This summer, things changed and Arts and Culture Co-ordinator Courtney Milford saw the opportunity to bring an event to Whitecourt that she had been dreaming of doing for three years. The two-day event called Groovy Foodie Fest was pegged as a fun evening with colourful tunes and tasty eats. Starting at 5 p.m. on both July 25 and 26, the entertainment lasted until 10 p.m. and was free to attend.

“People love food and what I often hear at the different events like Arts in the Park and Party in the Park are questions about what food trucks will be there. So, what we wanted was for people who aren’t maybe music buffs but are still foodies to have something for them to enjoy. But we had to make it groovy,” explained Milford. Starting back in November, she booked 30 food trucks with hopes of having a solid 12 each night. Unfortunately, the number on hand didn’t reach that high causing the lines to be very long.
The vendors did their best to keep up, but the lack of selection left some attendees unhappy. “I had lots of food trucks that were interested because it sounded good but if they’re out of Edmonton and something comes up closer to them then I don’t blame them for changing their minds. I would obviously prefer they kept our date, though,” she said. Cancellations ended up coming in very close to the event and, worse yet, several trucks simply didn’t show up. No warning, nothing.
Should the event take place next year, Milford plans to have rented spaces for local aficionados. “I don’t know what the palette is or the appetite is for that, but I would get a few select vendor stalls available for people to rent as if they were a truck with the same expectations that we put on our food truck vendors. I would have 12 to 15 trucks/vendors altogether each night.”
The music portion of the event was a highlight and she said she is very happy about how that area worked out. “This whole event, because it’s new, we really marketed it how we wanted and that was as a very hip thing with trendy music and I think that’s what the lineup showed.”
One of the artists on Thursday was Sebastian Gaskin, an Indigenous R&B singer/songwriter out of Winnipeg who has opened for the likes of rapper Common and had his first single in the number one spot of the National Indigenous Countdown back in 2017. “He’s a super cool artist and he had DJ Boogie with him. His vocals are insane, and he is incredibly talented. Everyone we lined up was very good. We had a little of everything. We had campfire country and smooth melodic alternative pop with an electro mix. A bit of folk mixed in, too, and then some disco. Everything we picked had that cross-genre mix. We also had rock and different alternative mixes. Everything appealed to different genres and provided something for everyone,” said Milford.
Even though the number of food trucks was a sore spot for both organizers and attendees, the ones that did come seemed to please, especially the Blue Giraffe which served up ice cream and other sweet treats. “The weather held out, the music was great, and the beer was cold. We just had less food trucks than any of us would’ have liked. I really appreciate everyone’s leap of faith in coming to this one and it’s only going to get better. It takes a lot to put on something like this and we really want to thank our sponsors. I hope people enjoyed themselves and if we do this again next year then I hope people will come out and support us.”