More than 40 food trucks and artisan vendors are at Opry Mills Mall this weekend as Foodees Fest kicks off its three-day run in Nashville. The festival started Friday and continues through Sunday at 433 Opry Mills Drive, mixing street food, crafts and small-business shopping into one free, family-friendly event.
Admission costs nothing, a point organizers emphasize because the festival is vendor-supported rather than ticket-funded. As foodeesfest.com puts it, “Admission is completely free because we are a vendor-supported festival.” The Nashville stop runs Friday from 1 to 9 p.m., Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., according to the seed report from Nashville Lifestyles.
Organizers describe the event as a large-scale, outdoor, multi-day festival built around food, culture and small businesses, according to eventeny.com, which also confirms the more-than-40 count of food trucks and vendors on site. visitmusiccity.com frames the weekend as one built for eating, shopping and exploring, with a rotating lineup of trucks, artisan vendors and local creators setting up shop for sampling everything from comfort food to global flavors.
Walk-Ins Welcome, but Registering Unlocks a Daily Raffle
You don't need to sign up ahead of time to attend. The festival's own site notes that visitors “can still attend without registering, but signing up helps us (and our vendors) be ready for you,” per foodeesfest.com. Those who do register are automatically entered into a drawing for a free meal, swag bag and more, with a new raffle winner selected each day of the event.
The festival also leans on a mix of hometown names alongside bigger regional and national vendors. The same foodeesfest.com page notes that “every FoodeesFest stop has hometown business right alongside regional and national ones,” a formula the brand has repeated at other stops around the Southeast this fall. Attendees should expect free on-site parking, with the event planned to go on rain or shine.
Part of a Bigger Regional Food Truck Circuit
Nashville is just the latest city on the Foodees Fest tour this season. Last month, the festival brought at least 40 food trucks to Tanger Outlets in Asheville for a free, family-friendly run from Sept. 25-27, as reported by biltmorebeacon.com, which also noted that Asheville visitors could enter a daily raffle for a meal voucher. Earlier this month, the circuit also returned to the Outlets of Mississippi in Pearl for a three-day festival featuring barbecue, tacos, desserts, jewelry and original artwork, according to wlbt.com.
