The Greater Vancouver Food Truck Festival is a series of events involving food trucks, artisan vendors, live music and family-friendly activities.
The first event of the series in 2023 is Food Truck Wars which takes place on March 31st and April 1st and 2nd at KPU Langley. Lots of other events will be happening later in the year too including the Food Truck Festival on campus at the University of British Columbia (UBC) on April 5th and 6th and the Burnaby Block Party at BCIT on April 22nd and 23rd.
2023 is the second year that the festival has had a Food Truck Wars event. The first one was last year in Cloverdale.
For the most up-to-date details about food truck events in the Lower Mainland, see the Greater Vancouver Food Truck Festival‘s official website.
Food Truck Festivals in the Lower Mainland
In years when there isn’t a major pandemic, there are many food truck-related events in the Lower Mainland. Some are huge and others are smaller. In years when COVID-19 was bad, there were still food truck events, but often in drive-thru formats (which was so awesome)!
To learn about all of the Lower Mainland’s various food truck-style events, click Lower Mainland Food Truck Festivals. To learn about the ones run by the Greater Vancouver Food Truck Festival folk, continue reading.
Greater Vancouver Food Truck Festival Events
The Greater Vancouver Food Truck Festival is a series of events in different parts of the Lower Mainland. In a typical year, each event features over 20 food trucks, a small artisan market and live entertainment. Admission to the venue is usually free (but you pay for the food).
2023 Food Truck Festival Events
The following events take place at various locations as part of the Greater Vancouver Food Truck Festival in 2023:
- Food Truck Wars – on the weekend of March 31st and April 1st & 2nd at KPU Langley.
- Food Truck Festival at UBC – on the Wednesday and Thursday of April 5th & 6th on the campus of the University of British Columbia.
- Burnaby Block Party – on April 22nd and 23rd at BCIT in Burnaby.
- Downtown Chilliwack Block Party – on the Saturday and Sunday of April 29th and 30th at Central Community Park in Chilliwack.
- Coquitlam Community Block Party – on Saturday, May 13th, and Sunday, May 14th, at Coquitlam Town Centre Park.
- Surrey Community Block Party – on the weekend of June 3rd and 4th at the Cloverdale Rodeo & Exhibition Grounds in Surrey.
- Mission Community Block Party – on the Saturday and Sunday of June 24th and 25th at Fraser River Heritage Park in Mission.
In addition to the above, other food truck-themed events will be happening this year in various communities. Exact details, however, are to be confirmed.
2022 Food Truck Festival Events
The following events took place as part of the Greater Vancouver Food Truck Festival in 2022:
- Cloverdale – on April 8th to 10th at the Cloverdale Fairgrounds in Surrey.
- Richmond – on April 29th to May 1st at Lansdowne Centre at 5300 No. 3 Road.
- Coquitlam – on May 7th and 8th at Town Centre Park at 1299 Pinetree Way.
- Chilliwack – on June 4th and 5th at the Chilliwack Coliseum at 45323 Hodgins Avenue.
- Langley – on June 18th at Douglas Park at 20550 Douglas Crescent.
Previous Food Truck Festival Events
The Greater Vancouver Food Truck Festival events listed below are from past years. Hopefully they take place again in the future.
- Port Moody – at Inlet Park at 3000 Murray Street.
- Guildford – at Guildford Town Centre at 10355 152 Street in Surrey.
- Willowbrook – at Willowbrook Shopping Centre in Langley.
- Abbotsford – at Thunderbird Square in the Civic Plaza at 32388 Veterans Way.
- Maple Ridge – at the Albion Sports Complex at 23778 104th Avenue.
- Abbotsford – at the Tradex Centre at 1190 Cornell Street.
- Burnaby – at Brentwood Market at 2150 Alpha Avenue.
- Langley – on September 3rd and 4th at CLA Church at 21277 56th Avenue.
- SFU – on November 17th and 24th, and December 1st and 8th at the Town & Gown Square.
Food Truck Events and COVID-19
COVID-19 had a terrible effect on food trucks and the restaurant industry as a whole. In 2020 most food truck events were either cancelled or postponed. Some though still went ahead, but with extra safety precautions in place. In 2021 a number of food truck events happened in both regular and drive-thru formats.
In 2022 Greater Vancouver Food Truck Festival events returned to their usual in-person formats. This meant that people could walk around and enjoy the regular experience with live entertainment and more.
Drive-Thru Food Truck Video
The following video is of a drive-thru food truck event that took place in the spring of 2021. It shows a weekend event in Maple Ridge at the Albion Fairgrounds. Because of COVID-19, live in-person events weren’t permitted. Drive-thru-style events though were allowed. If you watch the video you’ll get an idea of what to expect.
As you’ll see in the video, the event happened in the parking lot of the Albion Fairgrounds. As cars arrived they joined one of several lines to get food from their favourite vendor. If you wanted food from more than one place, you went through once and then drove around again to join another line. We got our main dish – barbecued ribs – from Guerilla Q. After eating the ribs we got dessert from the Rocky Point Ice Cream food truck. It was all delicious!
Up until a few years ago, the Greater Vancouver Food Truck Festival also ran the Fort Langley Food Truck Festival as well as the Vancouver Street Food Fest in Concord Pacific Place near False Creek. Neither of those events has happened, however, for a number of years.
What to Expect
In a typical year each of the food truck festivals features twenty or more food trucks serving everything from ice cream to pizza, mini donuts, and Greek, Chinese, Thai, Japanese and other ethnic cuisine. The festivals also feature live music and a small vendor market.
At most of the above Greater Vancouver Food Truck Festival events in recent years, characters from the TV show Paw Patrol have made appearances and been available for photo opportunities. There are also usually craft activities and/or a face painting station for children.
Holidays on the Block
Holidays on the Block was a Christmas-themed event in December of 2021. It took place at 2150 Alpha Avenue in Burnaby (near Brentwood Mall). The event featured food trucks, market vendors, live entertainment, photos with Santa Claus and kid-friendly activities. Hopefully it’ll be back in future years too!
Tickets cost $5 in 2021 and partial proceeds benefited the BC Children’s Hospital which is a great charity. Children ages 5 and under were free. (TIP: If you brought a warm item like a blanket, mittens, toque or jacket for the event’s “Giving Tree” you could get in for free and the donations were given to folks in need.)
The family-friendly event happened on December 9th to 12th, 16th to 19th, and 21st. It was going to run until December 24th, but finished early because of rising cases of COVID-19 in the Lower Mainland. Between about six and nine food trucks were on site each day, and between twenty and forty market vendors.
To learn more about the event see our article about the Christmas Food Truck Festival.
Other Information
Check out the Greater Vancouver Food Truck Festival website for more information about the organization behind this series of food truck-related events.
To learn more about these and other similar events, click Lower Mainland Food Truck Festivals.
Other articles that might be of interest include the following:
To learn more about the communities where Greater Vancouver Food Truck Festival events take place most years see our articles about the following:
