Fall Food Truck Festival
Image credit: Taylor Dove for The Campus Trainer
The Robert H. Smith School of Business hosted its first Fall Food Truck Festival filled with food, music and yard games on Wednesday.
Formerly known as “Food Truck Thursdays,” the Fall Food Truck Festival is a rebrand of the business school’s former weekly food truck event. Marlo Smith, event manager for RHS, saw the unorganized nature of Food Truck Thursdays and decided to improve the event.
“In the past, trucks would come every now and then on a Thursday, but it wasn’t structured,” Smith said. “We went to the drawing board, thought about how to make it bigger and better and here we are.”
Image credit: Taylor Dove for The Campus Trainer
The event featured three food trucks: Roro’s Lebanese Cuisine, KBBQ Box and Funnel Fare. There were also tables where students could sit, as well as lawn blankets, giveaways and games like Cornhole and large Connect Four.
For Smith, the goal of the event was larger than just reaching those in the business school; it was about reaching UMD as a whole.
“Establishing a sense of community amongst the Smith school's faculty, staff, students and even the greater UMD campus is the main idea behind the festival,” Smith said. “It also serves as a morale booster and an opportunity for people to get outside.”
For students, an opportunity to eat somewhere other than the diner seems to be what brought them to the event.
Freshman Jared Currie was glad to have the opportunity to change up his meal plan for a day.
“It’s cool that we can have something we don’t normally get to have,” Currie said. “Eating the same thing every day gets boring.”
Many students who came to the event just happened to be walking by at the time and didn’t see advertising prior to the event.
Senior Jillian Macchia stopped by the festival in between classes because she saw other students with food.
“The best way to get students’ attention is with food,” Macchia said. “Even if we don’t know what’s happening, we’ll stop and look.”
Image credit: Taylor Dove for The Campus Trainer
On an unusually warm fall day, stopping by the business school to grab a bite and socialize was a great way for students to unwind. So next year, be on the lookout for fall food truck fun!
