Gainesville’s third Original Food Truck Rally will take to the streets Saturday with more vendors and more sounds.
The event will be hosted on the parking lot of High Dive, 210 SW Second Ave., and will begin at 5 p.m.
Eleven vendors will sell food, including three new vendors: local food truck Gotta Have It, Popcraft Artisan Popsicles of Alachua and Kona Dog, a Hawaiian-style hot dog vendor from Orlando.
“What we’re trying to do is create a good mix of local vendors and feature some out-of-town vendors that you can’t see on a daily basis,” said Pat Lavery, who helped found the rallies and handles promotions for High Dive.
DJs from local radio station Grow Radio will set the mood outside, and live music from the Partials, Pilly Wete and Leela & the Rams will begin inside the club at 9 p.m. At the previous two rallies, Lavery said, music was played from an iPod.
UF alumnus Doug Trovillion, the owner of Kona Dog, said he decided to join the rally after hearing about the success of the March rally.
“The environment is ripe for people from larger areas where there are a lot of food trucks,” said Trovillion, who got inspiration for his food truck menu after being stationed in Hawaii with the Marine Corps.
The long wait times that marked the first rally in January will be “a thing of the past” due to more vendors and an earlier starting time, Lavery said.
On the city level, Commissioner Lauren Poe said the community development committee is considering reducing restrictions on mobile food vendors within city limits due to the popularity of the rallies. He said research into the impacts on established brick-and-mortar restaurants in the area and traffic flow concerns will be considered in the discussion.
“It’s obviously something that’s been popular in the community,” Poe said.
Lavery agreed that residents are backing the concept of making food truck rallies a regular event.
He said the rallies have created a wider acceptance of food trucks in town and have inspired others to start their own food trucks locally.
“This is a really cool thing that Gainesville wants,” Lavery said.
Staff writer Kelcee Griffis contributed to this report.
