Foodies can now map out their meal plan for Taco Fest 2016 as a complete list of on-site vendors has just been announced.
The lineup of food vendors features 13 local businesses: El Cartel Food Truck; The Fish Shack by Glowbal Group; Holi Masala food truck; Vera’s Burger Shack food truck; Lux Lounge Juana’s Original Mexican; The Cannibal Café; Falconetti’s East Side Grill; Lemmy Lemonade; AQUA juice cart; Say Hello Sweets ice cream truck; Hugs by Mollie’s Minis donut truck; Johnny’s Pops bike cart and International Flavours popsicle cart.
In addition to exposing attendees to a vast selection of taco options, festival organizer Johnny Matter hopes the festival will help give back to one of its sponsors, The Greater Vancouver Food Bank. He encourages everyone who attends to donate a canned food item to the organization.
“Summer is a dry time for them, people aren’t really donating that much,” said Matter. “One of the things they’re looking for are cans of beans and I thought, you can make tacos with beans. It’s not a big investment, and if everyone brings a can of beans, then everyone could have tacos.”
The festival will also feature a selection of merchants, including Jung & Walker Hot Sauce, Oona Clothing Company, Bazar "Montalvo" clothing, Simply Neglectable, and Forest Spirit Creations.
Ten hours of live music will accompany diners, with 20 bands taking the stage from noon to 10 p.m.
“There’s no real headliner. All the artists are local and I created this event to showcase unsigned bands to a mass, taco-loving audience, to kind of marry the two ideas,” said Matter.
Taco Fest 2016 happens Saturday, July 16 at Swangard Stadium, 3883 Imperial St. Advance tickets can be purchased at www.picatic.com/tacofest for $15.76, with the option to make an additional $1 donation to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank. Tickets can be purchased at the event for $20. Children 10 and under and seniors over 65 get in free.
