Glory Days Presents!, High Dive and Pelican Brothers will be hosting The Original Gainesville Food Truck Rally on Saturday. The event, the city's third rally, will be held at High Dive, 210 SW 2nd Ave, from 5 p.m. to 2:30 a.m.
The event is free and does not require visitors to get tickets.
"This is a really new and exciting thing in Gainesville right now," Pat Lavery, Glory Days Presents! owner and operator said. "They've been happening all over the country for a while now. We came up with the idea to try it out in Gainesville sometime toward the end of last year. "
Previous food truck rallies were held in January and March.
"Currently, the city only allows us to do this event once every two months due to their zoning laws," Lavery said. "But we hope that will change in the future."
Lavery said the featured foods at the rally run the gamut of grilled cheese sandwiches, lobster rolls, burritos, wood-fired pizza and Hawaiian shaved ice.
Vegan and vegetarian options are also available.
Food Truck Rally vendors include Pelican Brothers, Charlie's Snow Shack, Go Go Stuff Yourself, Grilled Cheese Wagon, Humble Pie, Kona Dog, Monsta Lobsta, Off the Griddle and Sizzle Wagon. Pelican Brothers will be hosting the event.
Vendors served about 2,000 people at the last rally, and half of the trucks sold out of food, the organizers said.
The Original Gainesville Food Truck Rally will also incorporate a free concert starting at 9 p.m. featuring local bands like Pilly Wete, Leela & the Rams and The Partials.
"We're kind of creating a starting point for people's Saturday night," Lavery said. "It's creating a really positive economic impact for downtown and all of our surrounding businesses."
He said the food truck rally has helped to support business at neighboring restaurants such as Five Star Pizza, The Jones B-side and Loosey's.
"There's really not a lot of places for food trucks and mobile vendors to set up around town because of different restrictions," Lavery said. "This is giving a lot of these mobile vendors a place to go other than, say, festivals outside of town. They're able to set up right here in Gainesville."
Lavery also said the next food truck rally event will be held in July, which will coincide with the second anniversary of the opening of High Dive.
Parking for the event is available at the SW City Garage, 105 SW 3rd St., for $5. Free street parking is also available.