PORTSMOUTH— Portsmouth has witnessed a major boom in the food truck industry recently, with new options popping up in parking lots, on streets, at parks, and during events all of the time.

To recognize this, one local vendor has been organizing the first Portsmouth Food Truck Fest, which will take place in April and welcome dozens of trucks and vendors.

The event is being organized by Keirsten Robinson, owner of Squeeze the Day Lemonade.

“I’m a mom to two of the sweetest kiddos around and the owner of Squeeze The Day Lemonade,” Robinson said. “We offer over 19 different flavors of fresh, hand-squeezed shaken lemonades that accommodate just about everyone. From Extreme Lemonades with huge, yummy candy toppers for the kids all the way to offering yummy sugar free options and even Splenda and Stevia Sweetener for diabetics.”

The business took Robinson from stay-at-home mom to popular business owner in less than a year.

Robinson dedicates her success to the fans of her product.

“This is all because of our amazing lemonade,” Robinson said. “We have so many great local customers who support us and our big dreams and our sweet regulars who order just about one to two times a week. We love setting up at local events to help spread our name and of course spread our sweet, delicious lemonade throughout town.”

Having a love for events and business, Robinson began planning the Food Truck Fest to bring all these new business owners together.

Robinson says that she expects to welcome around 15 food trucks to the fest’s first year.

“We are so excited to say because it’s such a big number of small local food trucks in our amazing, growing community,” Robinson said. “When I started June of last year, I set up at a good bit of local events in town, like Final Friday and Old Fashion Days in Greenup and at The Den in New Boston. At all of these places, I was so nervous to set up, due to me starting off and having a small, little, 10 by 10 canopy and two eight foot tables. I didn’t want to seem like the underdog compared to these amazing-looking food trucks sitting next to me, but I put my big girl pants on and decided I could only go up, since I’m starting from the ground up, building my lemonade business,” Robinson recalled. “Being such a people person and social butterfly, I decided I was going to venture out at these festivals and local events and meet our amazing local food truck businesses that are in our local community. When I say these people are some of the brightest and sweetest people I have ever met is an understatement. They all welcomed me with such big welcome hands and answered all the questions I had.”

It was at these events, with these talks, that Robinson came up with the idea to create the food truck fest.

“I got to talking with a few of them, since we had set up at a few of the same local events and they all kept talking about how all the big cities have these huge food truck festivals for their local food truck communities to be able to set up in the community and share what they have to offer,” Robinson said. “Well, I’m the type of person that, once I get something on my mind, I’m pretty adamant about making it happen. So, I did just the thing, thinking I would put together this small, little event and made an event page on Facebook on a night right before I went to bed.”

After making the event page, Robinson said she went to sleep and woke to a surprise.

“I was thinking I would have 100-200 people maybe wanting to attend. Waking up to more than 2,000 people interested literally blew me away,” Robinson said. “To offer a great, big event for our local supporting community and to be able to help the local small business and food truck community get their name out to our public is a huge great opportunity.”

Robinson sees importance in the growing food truck industry.

“I feel like food trucks help create a vibrant space in a public space in a variety of ways,” Robinson said. “Because they’re pedestrian oriented, they bring more feet onto the street, which can lead to more foot traffic and help a fantastic small community and town from anywhere grow and build! They offer gourmet or specialty foods at affordable prices, making it possible for people to enjoy restaurant-quality meals without having to break the bank.”

For now, Robinson is busy planning vendor spots, accepting food trucks, and marketing the event to the public.

“My main goal for this event is to just give the community a great, vibrant atmosphere and fantastic day of fun, laughter and great food, while helping our growing community grow even more than it already has,” Robinson said.

One vendor slated to appear is Jlew’s Hungry Hawg, which serves smoked barbecue, collard greens, five cheese macaroni, baked beans, coleslaw, and desserts.

Jlew has been operating his truck for a year but has 13 years in the food industry.

“I think the current food truck market is gaining popularity very rapidly at the current time,” JLew said. “Day by day, more food trucks/trailers are opening locally. I think it’s a very good thing for the community as it provides something outside the norm and gives us more opportunities to keep money and business local. I feel honored to be a part of the first food truck festival in Portsmouth. As soon as I was asked to be involved, I didn’t bat an eye at the opportunity. I feel like it has the potential to be an annual event and bring another positive family friendly experience to the community.”

The Portsmouth Food Truck Fest is scheduled for April 20 at 11 a.m. in Tracy Park. There is an event page on Facebook with more details.

Reach Joseph Pratt at (740) 353-3101, by email at [email protected], © 2024 Portsmouth Daily Times, all rights reserved.