Kentwood gives summer a final hurrah with a food truck rally

A Moveable Feast will be returning to this year’s End of Summer Food Truck Festival. (WKTV)

By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma

The City of Kentwood will host one last hurrah to summer as it brings in more than 30 food trucks for its second annual End of Summer Food Truck Festival.

Set for Saturday, Sept. 16, the event is scheduled to run from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the parking lots of the KDL Kentwood (Richard l. Root) Branch, 4650 Breton Rd. SE, and the Kentwood City Hall, 4900 Breton Rd. SE.

The event is definitely bigger than last year, said Kentwood Parks and Recreation Marketing and Events Coordinator Laura Barbrick. This is partly due to a partnership with GR Loves Food Trucks which helped to bring trucks from all over West Michigan and even a few that are based further away. Barbrick noted there is even a truck coming that will be selling Lularoe clothing.

“The popularity of food trucks continues to grow in West Michigan,” said GR Loves Food Trucks President Alan Stone. “Our partnership with Kentwood is about bringing the community together for something everyone enjoys ‘eating delicious food.’”

Blue Spoon also will be at his year’s End of Summer Food Truck Festival.

Barbrick agreed with Stone about the growing popularity of food trucks which is part of the reason the Kentwood Parks and Recreation Department decided last year to host the End of Summer Food Truck Festival. Because both the food trucks and Parks and Recreation Department have such busy summer schedule, it was decided to have the event in the fall, she said.

“With food trucks ranging from barbecue to seafood to desserts, we’re confident everyone will find something they like,” Barbrick said.

Also new this year, according to Barbrick, is a beer tent which will serve a variety of beer and cider along with selections from Railtown Brewing Company. The beer tent will open at 11 a.m.

Local live music will be featured onstage throughout the day with bands Jesse Ray and the Carolina Catfish, Elroy Meltzer, Blue Nan & the Household featuring Stan Greene, and Kari Lynch. Guests are encouraged to bring blankets and chairs. There also will be cornhole tournament open to teams of two from noon to 4 p.m. To register, call the Parks and Recreation Department at 616-656-5270.

Food trucks attending this years End of Summer Food Truck Festival include the following: