By Katie MacBride, Staff Writer
Food and drink of all kinds will be served up with a great time and some great tunes when the Soundside Event Site in Nags Head fills up once again with restaurants on wheels. On Sunday (Sept. 9) from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., the OBX Food Truck Showdown is coming back for seconds.
The Showdown came about after members of the Outer Banks Visitors Bureau brainstormed ideas for new events. They wanted it to be an event that highlighted local businesses. So what better way to bring people together than food? And not just any food, food from trucks. Lee Nettles, a main point of contact with the Visitors Bureau, helped organize and come up with the food truck idea.
“We wanted to try and have an event that highlighted some of our local dinning or local foods,” Nettles said. “We just thought food trucks are real popular throughout the country and an event that was started around them would be real popular.”
The Food Truck Showdown wasn’t started to just be a tourist attraction; the organizers wanted to reach out and welcome everyone.
“We also wanted to try and do something that not only had appeal to visitors during those shoulder seasons, but hopefully gave locals an opportunity to come out and come together before we got right in the thick of things with the on season,” Nettles said.
Organizers decided to take another bite at the Showdown after the success of the first. News of round two excited food truck owners, including OBX Frozen Yogurt’s Jeff Schwartzenburg, a former participant.
“Events like these are great for the community and bring people together,” Schwartzenburg said. “To be a part of it is exciting for us.”
The Showdown not only makes for a good time, but it also helps businesses get attention. OBX Frozen Yogurt is just one of the many businesses that this event has helped give exposure to.
“Anytime we participate in an event like this where there’s a great attendance and a lot of visibility, it certainly raises the awareness of our business,” Schwartzenburg said. “We are relatively new, so anytime we can get in front of people and have those conversations about where we are located, what we have to offer, what differentiates us from other similar businesses (helps).”
Organizers are doing more to increase the attendance at the event, making improvements to create a more enjoyable and relaxing day. This includes free entertainment.
“The music will be happening from 11 o’clock through 5 o’clock,” Nettles said. “We’ve got more food trucks than we had last time, we’ve added free parking, we’ve done a few things to try and spread the crowds out, make it more manageable, and get people a better time.”
The improved Food Truck Showdown has really focused on advertising food and beverages while bringing the community and families together for a good time.
“Part of the idea with it was to just keep the event simple, keep it locally focused with the trucks, and the music, so it’s not a big production,” Nettles said. “It’s just a fun time and a good reason for folks to get out and hang out together.”
Sophomore Katie MacBride can be reached at 21macbrideka62@daretolearn.org.
