By Mareska Chettiar, Photography Editor
Around 25,000 people flooded the streets of Downtown West Chester on Sept. 17 as West Chester Parks and Recreation hosted its 42nd Annual Restaurant and Food Truck Festival. It featured about 150 restaurants, food trucks, nonprofits, and arts and craft businesses across three streets.
“It’s just a fun event encouraging people to go out and use the streets since West Chester is super walkable,” said Isabella Ryan, Program Coordinator for West Chester Parks and Recreations. “It’s also a really cool way to connect with people.”
After parking in various spots on the streets and in local garages, people walked through stall-lined roads while trying various kinds of food and listening to live music. Bands populated each street and set up in the Beer and Wine Garden, which was only open to individuals over 21 years old.
Bands played different kinds of music from various genres, including country, rock and pop. The 62 food vendors at the festival were both local and non-local, selling a mix of classic and original dishes from cuisines worldwide. Some busier spots included stalls with fried chicken, tacos, rice, lemonade and kettle corn.
The festival offered businesses an opportunity to make connections and promote themselves and their products. While some businesses have been frequenting the festival for as long as 20 years, there are always new ones every year, ensuring that there is always something new to try.
“I live five minutes away, so I’m really hoping I can get my name out there as an artist and hopefully my neighbors can see me out there,” said Rachel Coleman, owner of Shy Fox Studios, which produces handmade, acrylic art. It was Coleman’s first time at the festival.
Crafts businesses and nonprofits were able to sign up starting April of this year. Food trucks and restaurants signed up starting in May, going through insurance procedures.
“This is (the restaurants’) chance to demo their products to the public and be like, ‘Oh, this is what we sell,’” Ryan said. “We always try to get the new businesses in so people are aware of them.”
There were a total of seven nonprofits and 76 arts and crafts businesses. Some nonprofits included the Rotary Club of West Chester and the Brandywine SPCA, while some crafts businesses present included Mart & May Studio, Lucky Spoon 13, Woodworks and ShyFox Studios.
Mareska Chettiar can be reached at [email protected].
