Gunstock celebrates end of summer with 2nd annual food truck festival

GILFORD — Gunstock Mountain Resort will host 16 mobile eateries during the Summer Send-Off Food Truck Festival from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, August 25.

After a rousing success last year with 10 trucks, Gunstock’s Director of Marketing Bonnie MacPherson is excited for more options for eventgoers and an opportunity to spread out the crowd.

“Last year was our first year doing this event, and it was hugely successful to the point that there were some long lines at the food trucks, and some of the food trucks actually ran out of food,” she said. “This year, we've alleviated that. We have more food trucks.”

One truck that will be in attendance is The Pink House from Milton, which will be selling scooped ice cream, snow cones, novelties and fresh squeezed lemonade. Pink House attended the event last year, and this year, the owners will add a pizza oven in the form of a new business, Wicked Good Wood Fired Pizza. Owner Mark Main, who runs the truck with his fiancé Christa Capello, said they are excited to serve cheese and pepperoni pies at this year’s event, after such a great turnout last year.

“We were very, very happy with with the turnout. It was pretty much three hours or four hours of straight busyness, and people were having a great time.”

The event also includes games and activities to raise money for Gunstock's Community Challenge team, supporting the Greater Lakes Region Children’s Auction. One activity is cow patty Bingo, where Coleman the cow makes a “deposit” on a large fenced grid, choosing the winning number with his contribution to fertilize the soil. There will also be a foam pit for kids, as well as a 50/50 raffle. One highlight will be a dunk tank, which people can purchase balls to throw at a target to dunk, as MacPherson called them, “dignitaries and celebrities from the region.” This may include people from the Gunstock Area Commission, the sheriff's department and local police and fire. One local celebrity going into the hot seat is the new general manager Robert Drake, who just recently took over when Tom Day retired. Drake is looking forward to the festival as a chance to continue to get a feel for his new workplace.

“I will be walking around and meeting people as the new GM first and foremost, but also to see our team in action,” Drake said. “I will look at it from both the perspective of my role with Gunstock, and I will also look at it from the perspective as a guest coming to Gunstock.”

As the event is held as children finish up vacation and return to school, the name is fitting.

“It's like the end of the summer for families with kids going back to school,” MacPherson said. “Our adventure park will remain with the current hours right through Labor Day. And then we go to just weekends only, so it's Saturdays and Sundays, and that's through the Columbus Day Weekend. And our campground is open through Oct. 20. So it's not the end of operations at Gunstock as we know it, but it is sort of celebrating that last hurrah back to school.”

The event was also planned not to conflict with Gilford Old Home Day on Saturday, so people can enjoy both activities.

MacPherson expects due to last year’s success, this year will be even more successful. If so, the food truck festival could become an annual thing.

“This is something that I think will become one of our summer signature events. It's nice because it draws people to Gunstock who might not otherwise come visit,” MacPherson said. “They know us as a ski area, and don't necessarily recognize that we have [other] things going on. And hopefully, they'll come back or take part in some of those activities.”

Due to the popularity of the event, in-person ticket sales may be limited. Tickets are also offered at a discounted price in advance, and tickets children 10 and under are free with advance ticket purchase. Tickets are available in advance online at gunstock.com.