City holds first Food Truck Festival

By PAMELA GRANT
Cove Leader-Press

Great food and family fun was on the menu at Saturday’s Food Truck Festival at Ogletree Gap Park.
Event coordinators estimated that at least 3,000 people had attended the food festival by the end of the day. The festival ran from 4 p.m. until 8 p.m. and was the city’s first event of its kind. Entry for the event was $5 per carload, but all games and entertainment were available for free. Entertainment consisted of live music, six inflatables, life-size Jenga, horseshoes, and more. Twelve different food trucks attended the event.
One thing that made Saturday’s event unique was the sale of beer available to adults ages 21 and older.
Joe Brown, Cove’s Director of Parks & Recreation, said that he has a great team that made the event possible. The team began planning for the event over a year ago.
“It’s been great. We really wanted a family friendly, family focused event, so we have something for everybody,” said Brown. “We’ve really been making an effort to make events that Copperas Cove can be proud of and be excited to go to.”
“It’s gone very smoothly. The trucks have all done remarkably well. We’ve had a great turnout. The bounce houses have been a big hit. I’ve talked to lots of little kids and families that thought they were fantastic,” said Heather Bryan, Cove’s Tourism Coordinator. “I see a lot of happy faces.”
Some headed straight for the food trucks while others flocked to the games. Still others took a time out and sat at the bleachers to listen to the live music.
The inflatable bounce houses were a huge hit, especially with the youngest event goers.
“They had a good thing for the kids,” said Victoria Rose who brought her daughter, Jailyn Lewis (5). “[Jailyn] liked it. If she’s happy, I’m happy.”
However, Rose added that she was disappointed that they didn’t have more food trucks at the event, as well as the fact that some of the food trucks ran out of food.
“If you’re going to have a food truck event, you need to have more food trucks,” said Rose. “People from Killeen, we love to eat, so we’re going to come. We like food trucks.”
Carrolyn Abbot and her family were all about the food. “Big Dog BBQ is my favorite,” said Abbot. “It’s awesome.”
Others were impressed by the generous serving sizes provided by the food trucks.
“It was good. It was delicious,” said Lenore Coleman, who ate German food at the event. “There was more than enough meat on that plate!”
Michele Merryman who brought her son, Braxton Merryman (20 months), said she really enjoyed the event and thought it had a very nice turnout, especially for a new event. She said her son loved the festival and especially loved running around the area in between the bounce houses. She liked that they had plenty of food options available. Merryman said it tasted good and the serving sizes were good as well. She added that she’d like to see more options for younger children in future events but that the two of them still enjoyed the event.
“I think having stuff for the kids as well as the adults was huge,” said Merryman. “This is perfect for us.”