Perhaps it’s the fact that we are at a nexus of sorts in the Lower Mainland. Snuggled up against a wild river, forced to manoeuvre railway tracks, narrow hilly streets, and, of course, we share what is a very tiny footprint for a city. It can, at times, feel like a crowded little city. But because of that ‘closeness’ we’re more apt to rub shoulders with more diverse folks as we wend our way through the Royal City. Perhaps, it’s just serendipity. But for whatever reasons, the stars and the food trucks aligned on Saturday to provide foodies and just plain eaters with a glorious day of grazing on Columbia Street.
Seventy-three – yes, 73, food trucks lined Columbia for as long as the eye could see and the stomach could rumble. The diversity reflected almost everyone’s tastes: spicy, comfort, you name it – you could chow down on it.
We find it amazing that the number of people attending the event during the day was more than the population of New Westminster. That, alone, is pretty astounding.
Granted, for some people the idea of lining up cheek to jowl with other folks for food served out of trucks is not their idea of eating out. But the payoff is worth it. Tales of scrumptious Beaver Tails were still being told on Monday by those who feasted at the Beaver Tail truck. We won’t detail all of the food ‘memories’ but suffice it to say they were numerous.
Following in the wake of a pretty spectacular Pride festival, New Westminster should be taking a few bows now.
The Downtown BIA, and New Westminster Tourism deserve full credit for making sure that the food festival was a success. The City of New Westminster, including the police department and loads of BIA volunteers, made sure everything ran smoothly.
If there was one thing that might make it even better, it would be an ability to have more small portions – perhaps even a tasters’ truck? Lots of folks wanted to try more types of food.
But if that’s the biggest complaint of the day, well, such is life.
New Westminster has always been a city known for throwing a good festival or two, but now the bar has been raised even higher.
Vancouver, once nicknamed, Funcouver, has some real competition now.
