Durham Food Truck Rodeo Connects the Triangle Through Cuisine

Durham Food Truck Rodeo patron Andrew Snyder would go so far as to say that food truck cuisine is "five percent better than it would be in a restaurant."

"There’s something about it," he said. "There’s a lot of heart and soul."

Across the dozens of trucks present at Durham Central Park on Oct. 29 for the event, this heart and soul could be found in arepas, lobster rolls, cookie dough and much more.

The rodeo is hosted between four and five times a year by the nonprofit organization Durham Central Park, Inc. and has been bringing the community together to celebrate local food truck fare since 2010. 

On Sunday, their final rodeo of 2023 featured over 35 trucks, DJs, face painting, inflatables and a drag queen story hour in the park.

Sunday's event was Halloween-themed, but there was a lack of costumes — something Snyder said was a disappointing feature of the day. 

However, while holiday festivity was sparse, community mingling was the clear central feature.

“We try really hard to make all the events that our organization, Durham Central Park Inc., provides free to attend,” Erin Kauffman, executive director of Durham Central Park, Inc., said. “We want to have a lively community gathering space and community events all through the year.”

There was a wide variety of cultures represented across the cuisines. Patron Holland Sink said the rodeo showcases Durham's diversity.

Sunday’s event featured fare from across Central and South America, the Caribbean, Africa, Asia, Europe and the U.S. The event also included a vegan food truck, with many other trucks offering vegan and vegetarian options. 

“It brings a lot of the community together, a lot of cultures and ethnicities, and just a great way to be able to bring the community together over different types of cuisines,” Marcel Jara of Arepa Culture N.C. said.

The rodeo also connects local food truck vendors. Jara said both well-established businesses and new trucks support and celebrate one another. 

The layout of the event allows patrons to drift around the park sampling the many different cuisines.

Spanglish, a food truck operated by Puerto Rican restaurant Kokí, was launched in 2016. They have been going to events for years, but Sunday's rodeo was their first event in a while, according to Doel Gonzalez who worked at the truck. 

He said that the food trucks are always willing to help each other out at large events like these rodeos.

“It’s actually pretty common when these events get really busy to run out of petty cash or run out of forks, or napkins or something and you know, just running up to a neighbor and be like, ‘Hey, can you hook us up?’” Gonzalez said.

Jara further emphasized the community benefits of these events. He compared the cultural diversity of the rodeo to that of America itself.

“The idea that it helps remind us of the old school saying of America being a melting pot is true,” he said. “If you go around all the different food trucks, you'll find food trucks from different countries, bringing different cultures into the area and just being able to enjoy and to celebrate not only our own culture but other people's cultures.”

Kauffman said the next rodeo will be held on Feb. 18, 2024. 

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