The Maple Ridge Food Truck Festival is a community event with food trucks in Maple Ridge. Most years it also features live music and artisan vendors.
The festival usually happens on Father’s Day in June, as part of Maple Ridge Car Free Day. The car free day did not happen in 2021. There were, however, a couple food truck events in 2021. The first one was a drive-thru event on a weekend in April. The second was part of Maple Ridge’s Canada Day Celebrations on July 1st.
Food Trucks at Car Free Day
The Maple Ridge Food Truck Festival is one of a series of food truck events put on by the Greater Vancouver Food Truck Festival in the Lower Mainland.
In past years the Maple Ridge event took place in September in the parking lot at Haney Plaza at 22255 Dewdney Trunk Road. Haney Plaza doesn’t exist anymore though. Consequently, instead of that month and venue, since 2019 the food truck festival has been part of the Maple Ridge Car Free Day event in June instead.
In 2020 the event was originally going to take place on Sunday June 21st (which was the Father’s Day Sunday). The event was postponed, however, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The hope was that it would be able to happen in September instead. That wasn’t possible, however. The event in the end was completely cancelled.
Had it not been cancelled, the 2020 event would have taken place along 224th Street between Dewdney Trunk Road and the Lougheed Highway. It would have run from 10:00 am until 6:00 pm. Similar to previous years, the event would have featured over 20 food trucks serving everything from macaroni to Thai food to Italian.
In 2021, a smaller version of the event took place on the Saturday and Sunday of April 10th and 11th. It was a special COVID-appropriate drive-thru-style event at the Albion Fairgrounds at 23588 105th Avenue. At the event people could drive up to seven different food trucks and order all kinds of tasty treats from the comfort and safety of their cars.
July 1st in 2021 saw a similar event at the nearby Albion Sports Complex at 23778 104th Avenue. The ending point of the Maple Ridge “Cross Country Road Trip” drive-thru event, the Food Truck Festival was open from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm. You didn’t even need to be part of the drive-thru section in order to enjoy the food trucks.
Entertainment at the Maple Ridge event in 2019 featured music with the Coalmont Band and performances by stunt magician Wes Barker. Paw Patrol characters were also on site and available for photo opportunities with children.
2022 event dates and details are to be confirmed.
About the Food Truck Festival
In years when there isn’t a pandemic, at the Food Truck Festival in Maple Ridge, in addition to the food trucks, there is a small artisan market and live music. There are also kid-friendly activities including face painting.
In previous years about a dozen or so artisan and other product vendors have participated in the event. Since becoming part of Maple Ridge Car Free Day, however, the festival is now larger and more of a street party. It takes over a couple of blocks and a park in the heart of downtown.
Admission to the event has always been free and food truck meals cost about $10 plus or minus.
What to do in the Area
Maple Ridge is a nice community with a number of great parks in the region.
Less than a 10-minute drive east of downtown Maple Ridge is Kanaka Creek Regional Park which is located in the 23200 block of River Road just off the Lougheed Highway. It’s a great park to walk around and it offers 10 km of hiking trails, 7 km of biking trails and 5 km of horseback-riding trails. Dogs on leash are also welcome.
Another fabulous park to check out in the Maple Ridge area is Golden Ears Provincial Park which is about a 20-minute or 16-km drive from downtown and the Maple Ridge Food Truck Festival venue. The park is home to Alouette Lake which has a beautiful beach as well as hiking, boating, camping and fishing opportunities.
Other great places to explore are Maple Ridge Park and the North Alouette Greenway. Dogs on leash are welcome at both places, as well as at Kanaka Creek and parts of Golden Ears.
For a list of parks and other places to take dogs in the area, see our article about Maple Ridge Dogs, Parks and Patio Restaurants.
Other Information
For further details about the Maple Ridge Food Truck Festival, check out the Greater Vancouver Food Truck Festival website.
To learn more about the region and other things to do in the area, click Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows.
For a list of other events at different times of the year, see Vancouver’s Monthly Events Calendar or click Festivals & Events.
