HOW TO GO
WHAT: Union Centre Food Truck Rally
WHEN: 11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Friday, Aug. 12
WHERE: West Chester Clock Tower and Square/The Square @ Union Centre, 9285 Centre Pointe Drive, West Chester
COST: Free. Items are available for purchase.
MORE INFO: www.ucbma.com
ENTERTAINMENT SCHEDULE
11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.: Chuck Evans
5 to 7 p.m.: 3 Day Rule
7:30 to 10:30 p.m.: DV8
10:30 p.m.: Fireworks
Offering a wide range of tasty options, food trucks from across the region will come together Friday, Aug. 12, for the Union Centre Food Truck Rally.
PHOTOS: 2015 Union Centre Food Truck Rally
Rebecca Wilber, president of the Union Centre Boulevard Merchant Association, said this will be the fourth annual food and music festival, which aims to give back to the community.
“The popularity of the event has grown exponentially,” she said. “This year, we expect to have over 15,000 guests. Last year, we added fireworks to the event, and we plan to have the fireworks again this year, with an even bigger fireworks show.”
Organized by the UCBMA, the rally will run from 11:30 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. and include about 43 gourmet food trucks as well as beer and wine.
The all-day celebration of food will feature an array of items, ranging from barbecue and chili to stone-fired pizzas, crab cakes and more. Freshly squeezed lemonade, shaved ice and ice cream will also be among the featured menu items.
“There are flavors of foods from all over the world. There’s pretty much anything you could imagine, or dream of food-wise” Wilber said.
RELATED: Food trucks offer diverse tastes, flexible business model
“The Union Centre Food Truck Rally is unique from other events we do in the summer. One of the reasons is that it is an all-day event, on one day,” said Barb Wilson, spokeswoman for West Chester Twp.
She said, food trucks have become very trendy. They are the cool-kid thing to do. More people are becoming foodies, which started with the popularity of television shows such as those on The Food Network.
“The event lends itself to people who work in West Chester, especially in the Union Centre area, to come down at lunch. Guests can be with their co-workers, have an opportunity to be on The Square, enjoy great food trucks and music,” Wilson said.
The children’s area has also been expanded this year.
Wilber said the festival raised around $30,000 dollars last year, and a portion of the proceeds was given to Reach Out Lakota. Monies have also been granted to over a dozen nonprofits that have applied for funding. This year’s recipient will be Sojourner Recovery Services.
“The reason we chose Sojourner was due to the heroin problem we have today in our area. It touches a lot more people and families than we realize,” she said. “As a business community, we are alarmed. We want to do our part to try to help with what they are doing at Sojourner. We think it’s a great mission.”
Currently UCBMA has about 70 active members that meet once a month. Guests come from all over the Midwest and beyond to be a part of the Union Centre Food Truck Rally.
More than 10,000 guests attended the event last year.
Contact this contributing writer at gmwriteon@aol.com.
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