The Maumelle Food Truck Festival is expanding to two days this year near Lake Willastein. Food trucks open Friday at 5 p.m., with live music that evening; Saturday brings the 5K/10K fun run, family activities, contests and performances.
Lake Willastein Park Amenities
For visitors planning their time at the site, the City of Maumelle’s facility listing says Lake Willastein Park is open to the public and has parking, picnic areas, a playground, restrooms and trails.
The Maumelle Area Chamber of Commerce organizes the event and posts the schedule on its website. The page lists Heath Sanders at 5:45 p.m. Midnight South is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. either way.
Saturday’s schedule includes the Maumelle Foodie Run, local vendors, children’s activities, inflatables, Arkansas Circus Arts performances, kids’ entertainment, a hot dog eating contest and a pie baking contest, according to the chamber. Bree Ogden and Tyler Kinch are scheduled to provide live music.
Planning a Saturday Visit
Saturday morning starts with the Maumelle Foodie 5K/10K, now in its second year, on paved trails around Lake Willastein. The 5K covers one loop around the lake and the 10K covers two; the course has a 1.5-hour time limit, according to the race listing on RunSignup. The listing gives Oct. 26 as the deadline for guaranteed shirts and medals. Packet pickup is Friday from 3 to 6:30 p.m. or on race morning starting at 8:30 a.m. Dogs are not permitted on the race course for participant safety, the listing says.
The adjoining festival advertises more than 40 food trucks and vendors on the run's registration page. KATV, which spoke with chamber leadership ahead of the event, reports that Maumelle Area Chamber of Commerce CEO Kellie Wall said the fun run is designed to get people moving before they settle in to eat.
Food and Activities Around the Festival
Beyond the music and running, organizers have built in a handful of community touches. KATV reports the festival will feature a Maumelle Foodie Award, where attendees sample food from participating trucks, with the winning truck earning free admission to next year's event. The station's report also describes a kids zone stocked with a sand pit, crafts and bouncy houses, and notes dogs are allowed at the festival itself as long as they're kept on a leash.
KATV's report adds that food trucks will include Tacos Godoy, Phillips Lips and Tips at Millwood Station, and Saucy Tomato among the offerings. The hot dog eating contest starts at 1 o'clock and offers a $500 prize, while a pie baking contest follows at 2 o'clock with a cash prize, per the station's coverage.
A Two-Day Festival After a One-Day Run
The festival has been building momentum for a couple of years now. A 2025 report from arkansasnewsroom.com said organizers were expecting upward of 8,000 attendees that year after roughly 6,000 showed up the year before — an expectation, not a confirmed headcount, and from a year before this one. That same report described the 2025 edition as a single-day, free event at Lake Willastein Park running from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., with more than 40 food trucks, a DJ, pet adoption, a dog show and a Kiddie Korner with games and bounce houses.
According to KATV, organizers are hoping this expanded, two-day version draws between 10,000 and 12,000 people if the weather cooperates and the added entertainment pays off. The festival remains a joint venture between the City of Maumelle and the Maumelle Area Chamber of Commerce, arkansasnewsroom.com reported last year.
Wall also told KATV that the festival's approach to food is intentional — smaller samples are meant to let visitors try more trucks without filling up too fast. As of the station's reporting, about 140 people had signed up for the 5K, with room for roughly 175 total registrants.
