Still mourning the Riverfest food court? You can find fried consolation this weekend
No 2020 Wichita Riverfest meant no 2020 Wichita Riverfest food court.
And that’s just not right, decided a group of local food truck owners.
So on Sunday, eight of them will get together for a mini-rally in Delano, where they will abandon their regular menus and serve up only fair-style favorites, including corn on a stick, corn dogs, funnel cakes, blooming onions and fried pickles.
“I was discussing it with one of my friends, about how there was no food court this year and we were kind of sad about that,” said Lisa Palacios, owner of Funky Monkey Munchies food truck. “We decided we’d just make our own food court for the people of Wichita.”
The rally, titled Food Truck Fair Fest, will be from 11 a.. to 3 p.m. Sunday in the parking lot of The District Church Delano, 128 S. Martinson. Among the trucks that will be serving alongside Funky Monkey Munchies are Smokin Diner, Bread Sled Cafe and The Brown Box Bakery.
Palacios said she’s rented a cotton candy machine for the occasion and will also be serving burgers with Krispy Kreme doughnuts substituting for buns.
The Wichita Riverfest, which was set for May 29-June 6 this year, was canceled for the first time in its 49-year history amid coronavirus concerns.
Food truck fans have no doubt noticed that the big rallies that usually happen around town once the weather warms up have also been absent this year.
That could change next month, though. Palacios organizes the Night at the Fountains food truck rally, which in the summer usually takes place the third Friday evening of each month at the Wichita WaterWalk. It hasn’t happened yet this year, though, because the City of Wichita hasn’t been issuing event licenses during coronavirus and won’t again until early July.
Once the licenses are available again, she said, the Night at the Fountains rally will resume with increased spacing between tables and more frequent cleaning breaks.
Jeff Schauf, the co-owner of The Flying Stove and the founder/organizer of the massive Food Trucks at the Fountain Rally, said he also might resume his last-Sunday-of-the-month rallies in July. If so, his first one would be on July 26.
“That being said, I’m still keeping an eye on things,” he said. “We may wait a little longer to see how things with COVID play out.”
Adam Bussey, who owns Hot-2-Trot Gourmet Hotdogs and is the organizer of the monthly West Side Food Truck Rallies that happen at the Sedgwick County Zoo, also is taking a wait-and-see approach.
He’s hoping for a July return, too, he said, but wants to make sure things are safe first.
“We really want to get back out there and do what we do, but we have a bigger responsibility to our customers and staff,” he said.
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