Food Trucks and Carnival Rides Combine at This May 19-21 Event in Northglenn

The sixth annual Northglenn Food Truck Carnival is rolling back into town May 19-21 with a whooping 62 mobile food businesses serving everything from barbecue to Tibetan cuisine.

It started in 2016 as part of an initiative by the Northglenn City Council to host regional-sized events with the goal of improving the quality of life for its residents and attracting visitors to Northglenn. (The other two events are Pirate Fest and Magic Fest, which is no longer in operation.)

The free event is one of the largest (if not the largest) food truck festivals in the state, hosting between 45,000 and 60,000 attendees over one weekend at E.B. Rains Jr. Memorial Park, Northglenn’s flagship park and city hub.

However, it’s not just a food truck festival. As Ashley Garst, special events coordinator for the City of Northglenn explains, “When we concepted the event, my then-co-worker had a good relationship with the carnival, and I was really into the food truck community, and we said, ‘Let’s slam these two things together.’ So the Food Truck Carnival is literally a full, traditional hard-metal carnival and then a large food truck show.”

For the carnival, Northglenn brought in Wright’s Amusements, which travels throughout Colorado, New Mexico, Arkansas and Texas, and claims to be the longest-running carnival in North America. The 55-year-old, independently owned carnival will bring fifteen to twenty amusement rides to Northglenn along with classic carnival snacks, midway games and other entertainment.

On the other side of the park, it's all about eating. Each of the 62 trucks is scheduled for a single day of the event, providing multi-day attendees variety and choice. Garst says that popular staples like barbecue, pizza, tacos, mac and cheese, and desserts will be available each day. “Mac’ N Noodles is definitely a traditional favorite,” Garst says of one truck that dishes out comfort-food mashups like Bacon Cheeseburger Mac and Carnitas Mac, with slow-roasted pork, roasted green chiles and tomatoes.
Another popular standby is the Radical Sasquatch Dumpling Company, which was started by Matt Faurot and Lucas Doverspike in 2017. It aims “to show people how versatile and wide ranging the dumpling can be," according to its website. "With so many different cultural styles and flavors to play around with, it is fun and easy to get creative with new combinations of fillings, dough and cooking methods,” it continues. Its dumplings range from traditional options like pork gyoza and cheddar pierogi to more creative takes like jerk chicken dumplings and Philly Mac Buns.

For sweets, Garst calls out Em’s Ice Cream, a Denver staple that serves made-from-scratch, small-batch flavors such as honey lavender made with cold-steeped organic lavender flowers, and coffee toffee made with Boulder Organic Coffee that’s brewed for 24 hours and mixed with English toffee chunks.

In addition to traditional favorites, several trucks will be making their Food Truck Carnival debut. “One of the trucks that I’m most excited about is Tibet’s Food Truck, since we’ve never had a Tibetan food truck at the event,” Garst says. “We have a breakfast truck coming on Sunday named Freshly Laid, and a classic New Yorker truck coming on Sunday as well called Big Apple Bodega. And on Friday, we have an Asian trailer called Umai Express.”
Other enticing options are the Mississippi catfish platter from Deja Roux Cajun & Soul, whose owners were born and raised in Hattiesburg, Mississippi; Korean cheese dogs from Mukja; Indian fried tacos from the Roadrunner, which is driving from New Mexico for the event; and frozen fruit soft-serve from Ba Nom a Nom.

Garst and her team have been planning the Food Truck Carnival since February. There will be 25 staff members and fifty volunteers working during the three-day event.

The city has partnered with Maui Wowi, Santa Barbara Lemonade Company, Avant-Garde Events, Bruz Beers and Satire Brewing Company to offer cocktails, spirits and beer at the festival, and all alcohol sales will benefit the Northglenn Community Foundation, which supports Northglenn citizens through utility assistance, a backpack program to distribute school supplies to kids, holiday gift programs, free bike helmet giveaways and more.

In addition to the main attractions, there will also be mobile retailers, live music and entertainment like balloon artists all weekend long. “Plan to have a whole day, ride some rides, listen to some music, eat multiple meals. It’s a full day of fun,” advises Garst.

Northglenn Food Truck Carnival will be held at the E.B. Rains Jr. Memorial Park from 4 to 9 p.m. on May 19, noon to 9 p.m. on May 20 and noon to 5 p.m. on May 21. Admission is free, and carnival day passes are available for $35 (there's also a $5 off coupon available online). Parking at the Wagon Road RTD Parking Lot at 120th & Huron is highly recommended to avoid construction closure and traffic.