Food Truck Festival
Just got back from Austin’s first Gypsy Picnic and I have to say I was pretty impressed with the turn out. On Twitter, someone said it reminded them of the first year at ACL – but in a good way. Though I wasn’t at Austin’s first ACL, I can say the turnout today at Gypsy Picnic proved Austin loves its food trucks.
A Festival of Lines
Driving over to the festival, we were watching Twitter to see what others had to say. We were hearing a lot of “it’s crowded” “long lines” and “great turnout.” One even called it a “Festival of Lines” so of course we thought it would be busy. On the walk in, we passed some people we knew and they also mentioned the lines, but said it was worth it because the food was great. Determined to eat, we pressed on.
Even after hearing nothing but “there are a lot of people here,” we still could never have imagined the number of people that were there. I mean, I expected it to be crowded, – but did not expect the number of people that were actually there. We’re not just talking long lines at one or two of the more popular trucks, but every single line was at least 100 groups long. And, if there wasn’t enough room, the crowd just wrapped around in circles and stood patiently.
Gypsy Picnic Food
The great thing about Gypsy Picnic was you got to try all of the different trucks and they had small portions of their popular dishes, so you could try several different trailers without having an entire meal at one. It worked best if you had a group of people who could stand in all the lines and then meet up in the middle to try all the food. This way, you only had to wait in one line essentially and got to try all sorts of food. It was especially cool to try the trucks in the areas where I don’t go often and I tried to stay away from trucks in 78704 since I can enjoy those any time.
With the lines, there were a lot of trucks that I didn’t get to try, but I will definitely be checking them out at their regular spots in the coming weeks.
Crowds at Austin’s First Food Truck Festival
Austin’s First Gypsy Picnic Was a Huge Success
Were there long lines? Yes. Did trucks run out of food way before the end of the festival? Absolutely. Were there enough tables or space? Not even close. However, I don’t think the organizers or food truck participants could have ever predicted this tremendous turnout. I think this year’s bumps will make next year’s event even better. So if you’re thinking about skipping it, I wouldn’t write it off.
Did You Attend the Festival? What Were Your Favorite Foods?
Let us know what you liked in the comments below. And, watch for our upcoming posts about the food.
This looked like such fun!! I wanted to go but was out of town. I hope they do it agaiin!
It was fun. I hope they do it again next year too. I think it will be much better.