TacoTopia to take over downtown Topeka

The smell of tacos and tequila will waft through downtown Topeka next weekend when TacoTopia takes over.

TacoTopia will take place 5-9 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 5, and will feature nearly a dozen vendors, including Lago Vista Grill, Drasko's Food Truck, The Pennant and Emma's Pupsas and Mexican Food.

This is TacoTopia's second year and it is organized by Zach Haney. Tickets for the event range from $5-$49.

Attendees will be able to enjoy live music, tacos, yard games and a Chihuahua beauty pageant.

Last year, the event was held at The Vinewood, 2842 S.W. 29th St., but because there were more people than expected, the event had to be moved.

The event also took over Tacos y Tequila, which was held in front of the Topeka Performing Arts Center last September.

Haney said his biggest challenge with TacoTopia last year was determining how many people would attend, which ended up being about 2,000 people.

"Food trucks are kind of a breed of their own," Haney said. "They want to have set how many people are going to be there, how much money can we make at this event, so with it being the first year, I really had no clue how many people were really going to show up, how much money could a food truck expect to make and so I had to do a lot of just estimation on crowd. That was the biggest challenge getting these food trucks to even give me a shot at this event, and I'm thankful that we will have quite a few of them returning this year."

Haney said most of the food trucks that will be in attendance are local, coming from Kansas City, Lawrence and Topeka, but his goal is to have the event grow and look at expansion opportunities to include other food trucks in the Midwest.

"I think a lot of that would come down to the crowd," Haney said. "They need to see probably 5,000 to 10,000 people before they make that commitment. So if we are sitting at about 2,000 people right now, it really just makes sense for local vendors at this point, but the goal would be in the future to bring in vendors from outside our area as well."

Haney said he hopes this year the event will draw about 3,000 people.

"And who doesn't love tacos?" Haney said. "I love getting to be part of planning the event but also watch people take part in the taco eating contest or bring their Chihuahua for the beauty pageant. Those are just activities that I like to see and experience myself."