For the past three years, Ball State has hosted the Food Truck Festival on Ashland and Martin streets in the Village as part of the Homecoming festivities.
This year, the event was held on Ashland and Martin streets from 6-8 p.m. Monday, kicking off Homecoming week with food trucks, music, entertainment and games for attendees to enjoy.
“We started in March last year, and then we just planned it. We contacted the food trucks, booked the areas, used A1-for-fun for the inflatables and the DJ,” said Josie Marcum, special events co-chair in the Steering Committee. “It was reaching out to the Muncie community and getting the people here.”
Food offered by the food trucks gathered in the Village ranged from desserts, burgers, hot dogs and Mexican food to Cajun-cooked alligator.
The participating businesses included some local food stalls like Sea Salt & Cinnamon, which Amanda Reninger, proprietor of the stall, said has a connection to Ball State.
For more Homecoming content, pick up the special edition for The Ball State Daily News Oct. 15.
“We actually do a lot of wholesale distribution all over the state, but we also do local events,” Redinger said. “Our products are also found on campus at Woodworth Dining Hall.”
The event also included student-led organizations at the event, like the Philanthropy Education Council. The organization is a part of the Ball State University Foundation that, according to their website, is to “support the university, its mission, and its students by carefully stewarding, prudently investing, and strategically allocating private gifts for scholarships, faculty, and programs."
Another student organization at the Food Truck Festival was Dance Marathon: a student-led organization that works to raise money for Riley Hospital for Children. At the festival, Dance Marathon members hosted a flash-mob to a music medley.
“It’s been a tradition for the past couple of years where we’ve had a Ball State University Dance Marathon Exec member involved in Homecoming events, and so they made us aware of the festival and told us it’d be a great way to promote Dance Marathon in a fun way, ” said Emily Knouse, an executive member for Dance Marathon at Ball State.
Contact Jaden Hasse with comments at jdhasse@bsu.edu or on Twitter @HasseJaden.