Food trucks say at PVDFest, the weather has led to tanker sales
Businesses are frustrated by food waste, high fees and a festival design that separates food from entertainment.
Flooding during the PVD Festival on South Water Street, September 10, 2023
Art markets flooded PVD Fest on September 10, 2023 on South Water Street. The event was canceled by 3:30 p.m
Wheeler Cowperthwaite, Providence Journal
Food trucks that spent hundreds of dollars for a space at this year’s PVDFest are frustrated by a holiday weekend that they say has depressed sales and turnout.
Alison Rosario and Conroy Otar, owners of Ga Patti, a vendor serving traditional Jamaican patty dishes, said sales were down more than 50% compared to last year’s festival, and they lost thousands of dollars’ worth of prepared food. They blamed the festival’s design, which required walking long distances to get food, leaving revelers little place to seek shelter during rain, forcing them to congregate somewhere. City of plants.
“Guests have complained to us about the food trucks being placed too far from the music, drinks and activities,” Rosario and Otar said. “Despite the forecast rain, guests were unable to find any cover, so many left when it rained.”
In the end, Ga Patti’s owners said they were so disappointed that they chose not to participate in the third day of the festival, even after paying $750 in fees for the three days. That’s a $300 increase over previous costs that the owners said forced them to raise menu prices.
“The festival is a shell of what it used to be,” says the taqueria owner.
Jonathan Kirk, owner of Masa Taqueria, described PVDFest as a “clone of what it used to be”, and it was downgraded to a “non-fun family festival”.
“No one seems excited,” Kirk said. “The energy just wasn’t there. The rules (and) regulations made it very difficult for people to have any kind of fun here.”
Among the changes Mayor Brett Smiley made to the festival launched by his predecessor include moving it from downtown to an area next to the Providence River, banning open containers and banning parties except for the first night of the festival. This rule in particular was “a slap in the face to the businesses that pump a lot of tax revenue into the city,” Kirk said.
more: Smiley reflects on his stance on block parties at PVDFest. this is the reason
Lara Sebastian and Deb Thibault, owners of Atomic Blonde Ice Cream, echoed the concerns of other businesses who were dismayed by the gap between food and entertainment created by the pedestrian bridge. Sebastien and Thibault said attendees complained about having to cross the bridge if they wanted to grab a bite to eat. Furthermore, this year’s festival clashed with several other festivals taking place on the same weekend, including the Cranston Greek Festival and the Johnston Apple Festival.
After paying a hefty price to reserve a place at the festival, Sébastien and Thibault said they should get a refund for Sunday when it was suddenly canceled due to bad weather.
Joyce Bouchard, owner of the Kona Ice snow truck, expressed similar concerns about the high fees.
more: Frustration mounts as PVDFest’s sudden changes limit drinking and ban parties
The Oyster Bar owner is still willing to give the new festival design a chance
Perry Raso, owner of Matunuck Oyster Bar, said his sales are down “less than 50%” this year compared to last, though he feels Smiley’s changes haven’t gotten a fair treatment due to heavy rains.
“(If) all three (days) are good weather and we have a record turnout and then we go back to the other setup… everyone will think the planning we have now is better,” Raso said. “These things are very weather dependent.”
Citi says turnout has been steady and good, but there is no “reliable data” yet
Josh Estrella, Smiley’s spokesman, said previous years have seen festival attendance exceed 100,000 people. However, at present, there is no data available for this year.
“Although we have consistently seen good turnout this year, we do not have reliable data regarding attendance due to the severe weather conditions on the weekend, at this time,” Estrella said. “Dangerous thunderstorms and flash flood emergencies have required evacuations, delays and cancellations of programming. Additionally, attendance calculations have been performed in the weeks following the festival in past years.”
