Community: Grand Blanc City
Population: 2,500-9,999
The 2017 Grand Blanc City DDA First Friday Food Truck Festival happens the first Friday from May thru September at the Grand Blanc High School parking lot. There are activities for children of all ages with crafts, coloring pages, hula hoops, lawn games, and a bounce house. A small expo shopping area is dedicated to the local businesses of Grand Blanc’s Downtown District. We have an area for entertainment with music, dancing, and seating.
This Food Truck Festival is designed to encourage our community members and others to visit our city at a fun, family-friendly event. We are striving to make a place in our City for new ideas and events. Each Festival has a theme, which is carried on throughout. Our city has partnered with area sponsors and advertisers in addition to Grand Blanc’s DDA to bring this Festival to life. The city has utilized many avenues, including social media and newspapers, to reach out to the community.
Replicability:
This Festival is very simple to replicate by any size municipality. We took up space in the Grand Blanc High School Parking Lot. This specific area is largely unused after the school day is over. Before the first event, we reached out to Flint and Detroit Area food trucks. The second event had food trucks that were referred by other food trucks talking about the success of the first event on May 5, 2017. Before the third event we had food trucks calling us, with others cancelling other events to be at our Food Truck Festival. They were inquiring about bringing their truck to our festival, having heard it was so successful. We heavily marketed this event with great results. Our main source of advertisement was social media, but we did have a few features in the local newspapers and on television.
Creativity and Originality:
The First Friday Food Truck Festival was a unique idea brought up from a City Council member at a DDA meeting. The DDA Events Committee took the idea, making it into a full festival with many attractions. Each event we incorporate a theme, which is carried on throughout the event. The Crafts for the children and entertainment performers are representative of the theme. We also incorporate other attractions, such as a car show at the June 2nd event where the theme was classic cars. Sloan Museum Auto Fair Committee brought out their own cars. Plus, we encouraged the local community to bring out theirs, as well. Also, The Sloan Museum allowed a 1929 Chevy Woody Wagon to be the Feature Car at our event. The craft was a wooden toy car that was to be painted with wood makers. The entertainment was a duo that specialized in the 1950's era of music. The July event will have a Patriotic theme. The August event theme is Rock 'N' Roll. We are having an additional date in August during the Back to the Bricks Cruise week. This Festival theme will be a Food Cruise. The September theme is International Culture Day. The DDA Events Committee really works hard to make each Food Truck Festival unique in every way.
Community Impact:
The Food Truck Festival has encouraged our Community to come out and mingle with their neighbors. It has also allowed local businesses to gain new customers that may not have known about them. These events bring so many people out from our Community and even more from neighboring communities, encouraging the fun atmosphere. Our Community has responded to this event with a tremendous amount of support. It is creating a sense of place and a spark in our Downtown. The DDA Events Committee has heard so many glowing reviews of the new Food Truck Festival.
