Food and fun in the sun with LaFayette Main Street
By KADIE TAYLOR
THE LAFAYETTE SUN
LAFAYETTE — Be there on the Square, LaFayette Main Street is hosting a Start of the Summer Food Truck Festival on May 8 from 5 to 9 p.m. Invite friends and family for a day of community, food trucks and shopping local.
“It’s the start of summer, with everybody getting out of school, graduation is approaching and this will be before people start going on vacations,” said LaFayette Main Street Executive Director DeAnna Hand. “This is just a celebration of another successful school year that has been completed, and it provides a space and time for people to get out, enjoy the beautiful weather and eat some great food.”
Hand said locals have shared their excitement for another food truck festival and business owners enjoy the economic opportunity and support from shoppers exploring the downtown.
“Everybody can get together and see people that maybe they’ve not seen in a long time,” she said. “It brings people from out of town into town to visit, catch up and to see the progress that we’ve made here in LaFayette. The business owners love it, because it brings foot traffic into their stores, even if it’s not same-day foot traffic, it may provide future orders down the road. It introduces people to our new businesses, what their services are and what kind of products they have. So, I think it’s definitely something that impacts the economy here with it and absolutely keeps us thriving and progressing.”
Through the foot traffic brought by events like the Food Truck Festival, local businesses have shared the increase in sales the exposure brings.
“One of the things that we’ve noticed when people come into town is we get to see people that we typically don’t see throughout the week, during our normal business hours,” said The Blue Button owner Adee Nelms. “I’ve had people who will come in, learn a little bit and they come back later to support us. So it’s that ripple effect of coming in, meeting and then coming back. Even one sale [during these events] makes it worthwhile for us to be open, and it’s another extension of being able to enjoy the community.”
Along with shoppers supporting local businesses and the food trucks themselves, Hand said the money spent at the festival also contributes to the tax revenue collected by the city, boosting the funds available to the city to grow and improve local facilities and programs.
“The visitors that come into these festivals in our community are spending money locally in our economy,” she said. “It’s not just the food truck vendors, it’s not just our local storefronts, it’s also nearby shops, gas stations and they visit Renfroe’s. The food trucks will be getting gas locally, they’re filling up their trucks and their generators and they are stopping in to get more ice or more products at our grocery stores. So it is not just an attraction, it is to boost our local economy. Also, it’s driving in the tourism dollars that are all contributing to the economic impact. People are coming to visit here, maybe just for a Food Truck Festival, but then they see what we have to offer, and they return.”
Food for every palette, Hand said the food truck options range from Hawaiian, Cajun, Mexican, Barbecue, sweet treats and more.
“We hope all come out and join us,” she said. “It may be a little hot, but that is part of summer, and we’ll have delicious food and drinks to cool down.”
