Food Truck Festivals in Vancouver & Fraser Valley
Summer in the Lower Mainland means the return of food truck festivals packed with delicious eats and community fun. Here is a guide to the top food truck festivals.
Jenny Holly Hansen
By Jenny Holly Hansen | WBN News | April 25, 2025
Summer in the Lower Mainland means the return of food truck festivals packed with delicious eats and community fun. From Vancouver’s bustling urban campus to small-town community parks, there are events nearly every week from spring through early fall. Below is a detailed guide to the top food truck festivals happening between April and September across Chilliwack, Maple Ridge, Langley, Burnaby, and Richmond. For each festival, you’ll find dates, locations, a taste of the vibe, and highlights of returning favorite trucks and new must-try vendors. Bring your appetite!
Chilliwack “Party in the Park” Food Truck Festival (Chilliwack)
Location & Dates: In the Fraser Valley, Chilliwack’s beloved Party in the Park returns this spring at Central Community Park (Victoria Ave, downtown Chilliwack) on April 26 & 27, 2025. Saturday runs 11:00am–8:00pm, and Sunday 11:00am–7:00pm. Admission is free for all ages.
What to Expect: This event is a true community celebration rebooted after a hiatus. The downtown park transforms into a vibrant festival grounds with 20+ food trucks (new and returning) serving up an array of eats. It’s more than just food: there will be an artisan market showcasing Chilliwack small businesses, a beer garden pouring local craft brews, live entertainment on stage throughout both days, and an interactive kids’ zone for families. Local community groups also set up booths, adding to the neighborhood block-party feel. Expect a friendly, laid-back atmosphere with lawn games, music, and of course plenty of great food. It’s the kind of festival where you bump into neighbours and old friends while waiting in line for mini donuts or butter chicken poutine. Parking can fill up, so consider walking or transit if you’re local.
Food Truck Highlights: The truck lineup combines Fraser Valley favorites with well-known Metro Vancouver vendors. You’ll find “new and returning food trucks” – about 20 in total. In past years, popular options have included classic Canadian fare like poutine and burgers, smoky BBQ trucks, and ethnic eats ranging from Filipino lechon to Thai mango salad rolls. A few Chilliwack-based trucks are usually featured alongside the visiting vendors, giving you a taste of local flavor. While specific 2025 vendors are to be announced, you can count on festival staples like fresh squeezed lemonade, gourmet mini donuts, and maybe a scoop of ice cream to cap it off. The mix of cuisines means there’s something for everyone, whether you’re craving tacos, vegan Buddha bowls, or a big stack of bacon-loaded fries.
Ridge Meadows Home Show Food Truck Festival (Maple Ridge)
Location & Dates: Maple Ridge’s biggest annual festival is actually part of the Ridge Meadows Home Show – and yes, it includes a massive food truck showcase. The Home Show Food Truck Festival runs May 2–4, 2025 (Fri–Sun) in the parking lot of Planet Ice at the Maple Ridge Fairgrounds. Hours are 4pm–9pm Friday, 10am–8pm Saturday, and 10am–4pm Sunday. One admission price gets you into everything: Home Show entry is $5 per person or $8 per family, which covers all exhibits, attractions, and the food truck area.
What to Expect: This event is a fun mix of a trade show and food fest. On the Home Show side, you’ve got hundreds of vendors and displays (home improvement, decor, local products) sprawling across the fairgrounds. Scattered among these – usually near the Family Fest zone – you’ll find the Food Truck Festival section, typically featuring a dozen or more trucks. It feels like a county fair: there’s also a carnival rides area, a monster foam party for kids, live stage entertainment, and even a rib fest competition (so yes, the aroma of BBQ will be in the air). Families love this event because you can spend all day – grab lunch from a food truck, wander the home exhibits, let the kids go on a few rides, then come back for dinner from a different truck. There’s seating by the food trucks and a beer garden nearby, so it’s easy to relax and enjoy the eats. Expect big crowds on Saturday especially, as this is one of Maple Ridge’s signature events of the year.
Food Truck Highlights: The 2025 lineup features at least 14 trucks spanning sweet and savory cuisines. Many are well-known names on the Lower Mainland food truck circuit. Comfort food is a highlight: Reel Mac and Cheese will be dishing out their movie-themed mac & cheese bowls, and Melt Town Grilled Cheese offers gooey grilled cheese and poutine combos. For carnivores, Guerilla Q and Gator’s BBQ bring championship-level Southern-style barbecue to town. You can spice things up with Dos Amigos (authentic Mexican tacos and churros) or grab a Halifax-style donair from G’s Donairs. Seafood lovers enjoy Tin Lizzy Fish & Chips, while adventurous eaters line up for Rolled West Coast, known for their sushi burritos. Don’t miss dessert: The Mini Donut Factory serves hot cinnamon-sugar donuts that are an annual favorite (follow the scent of frying dough!). New to the roster is Insomniac’s Coffee Co. – a specialty coffee truck ensuring you can get your caffeine fix to fuel the rest of your Home Show day. With Twisted Potato tornado fries, Street Dogs hot dogs, and more, this festival guarantees you won’t leave hungry. Just remember: your food truck wristband is your Home Show ticket too, so you can re-enter as needed throughout the weekend.
Langley Community Day Food Truck Festival (Langley)
Location & Date: On June 14, 2025 (Saturday), the City of Langley throws its annual Community Day celebration at Douglas Park – and a big part of the fun is a food truck festival on site. Festivities run from 11:00am to 7:00pm. The event takes place outdoors at Douglas Park (5403 206 St, Langley City) and entry is free for everyone.
What to Expect: Langley’s Community Day is a family-friendly carnival-like event that brings the whole community together. The beautiful Douglas Park will be filled with 20+ food trucks, tents for local vendors and artisans, and a main stage with live entertainment all day. You can browse the artisan market for homemade crafts and then grab lunch from a truck serving, say, gourmet perogies or wood-fired pizza. There’s also participation from local community groups – think booths from the library, fire department, or sports teams – so it’s a great chance to learn about local initiatives while you snack. Kids will enjoy the playground and likely some extra activities (in past years, things like face painting or inflatable bounce castles have appeared). The atmosphere is that of a friendly neighborhood block party mixed with a mini food festival. Because it’s a one-day event, many residents show up right at midday, so expect a lunch rush. The park has lots of open grass and picnic tables, so bring a blanket to picnic on the lawn if seating fills up.
Food Truck Highlights: The truck roster is curated by the Greater Vancouver Food Truck Festival, so you can anticipate a top-notch selection. While the exact 20 trucks are announced closer to the date, typically you’ll find a bit of everything: juicy burgers, ethnic specialties, and indulgent treats. Langley loves its comfort food, so don’t be surprised to see Big Red’s Poutine or a gourmet hot dog cart alongside trendy options like Taco’N Todo (fusion tacos) or Gypsy Trunk (plant-based comfort food). Dessert might include a waffle truck or Little Ooties Mini Donuts – mini donuts are practically a required feature at this point! Since the event is all about community, many trucks are local favorites that do the rounds at Langley festivals each year. If you’ve been to Food Truck Wars or other GVFTF events, you’ll recognize some vendors. The nice part is you can chat with the truck owners and chefs – they’re super friendly and often local to the area. Tip: Come with cash on hand just in case (though most trucks have card readers). With free admission, all you need to worry about is which tempting dish to try first.
Burnaby Hospital Summer Food Truck Festival (Burnaby)
Location & Schedule: Burnaby might not have a single big weekend food truck fest, but it offers a unique summer-long food truck series at Burnaby Hospital. The Burnaby Hospital Foundation hosts its Summer Food Truck Festival on a recurring basis throughout June to August 2025. Typically, one or two food trucks set up at the hospital’s Cascade parking lot around lunchtime on select weekdays (often weekly). Exact dates and trucks rotate, but it generally runs over the summer months to serve staff, patients, and the public.
What to Expect: This festival is a bit different – it’s essentially a pop-up food truck rally at the hospital that repeats regularly. On festival days, from about 11:00am to 2:30pm, you’ll find a couple of Vancouver’s popular food trucks parked at Burnaby Hospital (either in the main lot or near the entrance). The event is open to everyone; you don’t have to be a hospital visitor to drop by. In fact, the hospital foundation encourages locals to come enjoy a bite – proceeds support the Burnaby Hospital Foundation’s initiatives. The vibe is casual and cheerful. Hospital staff on their lunch break mingle with residents who live nearby and savvy foodies who follow the truck schedule on social media. There might be music playing from a small speaker and some tents for shade, but it’s mostly a grab-and-go affair (with a few picnic tables if you want to sit). It’s a great way to add some fun and great food to the workday, all while supporting a good cause.
Food Truck Highlights: The lineup changes each week, but expect a who’s who of Vancouver’s food truck scene over the summer. In past years, the Foundation has hosted big-name trucks like Japadog – yes, the famed Japanese-style hot dog truck made an appearance to sling teriyaki-sauce-drizzled dogs for charity. Another hit was Tacosaurus, a fusion taco truck that had hospital staff lining up for its braised beef tacos. Other visitors have included Rocky Point Ice Cream (serving scoops and sundaes) and Indish (Indian street food). Because it’s an ongoing series, you might see a different cuisine every week: one week could be Korean fried chicken, the next could be wood-fired pizza. Many of the trucks are fan favorites returning from previous summers, so if you loved that poké bowl or gourmet grilled cheese you got last time, watch for that truck’s return date on the Foundation’s Instagram. Since this is a fundraising event, you can feel good about splurging on that extra cookie or specialty lemonade – a portion of the proceeds goes towards improving healthcare services at the hospital. It’s food with a feel-good bonus!
Richmond Night Market (Richmond)
Crowds browsing dozens of food stalls at Richmond Night Market – the largest night market in North America.
Location & Season: The Richmond Night Market isn’t a one-time festival – it’s an entire summer-long extravaganza of food. Opening night is April 25, 2025, and it runs every weekend through October 13, 2025 (Thanksgiving). For the purposes of this guide, note that it’s in full swing all the way from spring to the end of September. The market is located at 8351 River Road in Richmond, just a 5-minute walk west of Bridgeport SkyTrain Station. It’s open Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays (plus holiday Mondays) each week. Regular hours are 7:00pm to midnight on Fri/Sat and 7:00pm to 11:00pm on Sundays. Admission is $7 at the gate (free for kids under 7 and seniors 60+), or you can purchase a transferable $35 Zoom Pass that lets you skip the line multiple times. Be prepared for lineups, as this is the most popular food event in the Lower Mainland – arriving early or investing in a Zoom Pass is wise on peak summer nights.
Why It’s Special: Richmond Night Market is North America’s largest night market – an Asian-inspired open-air market featuring 110+ food booths and about the same number of retail stalls. Visiting is like stepping into a bustling street market in Hong Kong or Taipei. The sights, sounds, and smells are an experience unto themselves. As you enter, you’ll smell BBQ squid grilling over charcoal and sweet waffle cones baking. Neon signs and lanterns light up rows of stalls hawking all kinds of snacks: crab meat noodles, Japanese takoyaki, Korean shaved ice, Filipino skewers, Taiwanese bubble tea – you name it, it’s here. It’s loud, crowded, and absolutely alive with energy. Beyond food, there’s nightly live entertainment on stage (cultural dance, live bands, even martial arts demos). New for 2025 – in honor of the market’s 25th anniversary – they’re installing a 600-foot zipline that will swoosh brave visitors over the market crowds for a bird’s-eye view! (Talk about dinner with a side of adrenaline.) You’ll also find carnival games, a few amusement rides, and endless booths selling cute phone cases, socks, jewelry, and anime plushies. Make a night of it with friends or family – it truly offers something for everyone, but especially for adventurous eaters.
Food Highlights: It’s impossible to list everything, but here are some must-try bites at the Night Market. The king of snacks is the Rotato – a seasoned spiral-cut potato on a stick (also called hurricane potato). You’ll see people munching these everywhere. Seafood lovers line up for BBQ squid on a stick, grilled to smoky perfection. If you have a sweet tooth, try the raindrop cake (a trendy jelly dessert) or a Hong Kong bubble waffle filled with ice cream. There are always a few creative fusion items each year that create buzz – last year it was the ramen donut burger and sushi tacos. Check out the stalls with the longest lines; often they’re serving the viral foods of the moment. Also, don’t miss Mango Yummy for their fresh mango desserts or the Rainbow Tornado Potato. With 100+ food stalls, from Afghan bolani to Brazilian pastries, the selection can be happily overwhelming. One strategy: go with a group and split items so you can taste more. And remember, vendors are cash-only more often than not (ATMs are on-site if needed). Richmond Night Market is a bucket-list food experience – the perfect finale to our summer festival tour, running well into those warm September nights when you’re craving one last street food feast.
Please let us know which Food Truck Event was your favorite and which food trucks you liked the most!
Let’s Keep Talking:
Jenny is a business insurance broker with Waypoint Insurance.
She is also a business development consultant with Impresario Partners, helping Canadian Business expand overseas.
She can be reached at 604-317-6755 or jholly-hansen@wbnn.news. Connect with Jenny on LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/jenny-holly-hansen-365b691b/. Connect with Jenny at BlueSky: https://bsky.app/profile/jennyhollyhansen.bsky.social
Let’s Meet Up:
Jenny Holly Hansen is a cohost with Chris Sturges of the Langley Impact Networking Group. You are welcome to join us on Thursday’s from 4pm to 6pm at: Sidebar Bar and Grill: 100b - 20018 83A Avenue, Langley, BC V2Y 3R4
TAGS: #Jenny Holly Hansen #Party in the Park #Ridge Meadows Home Show #Langley Community Day Food Truck Festival #Burnaby Hospital Summer Food Truck Festival #Richmond Night Market
Members Discussion