Rock and Food Truck Festival packs downtown

Dinner and a show — that is what people got as they strolled through downtown Topeka on Saturday evening during the city's second annual Rock and Food Truck Festival.

"It's something different to do," said Phil Hoffman, who attended the festival with his wife.

Swift Kick, Way Too Famous, Mixtapes and House of Lords took turns playing Saturday in front of a crowd that grew as the afternoon wore on. The stage, situated at the intersection of 9th Street and S. Kansas Avenue, placed performers directly in front of the Kansas Statehouse.

"We really enjoy our capitol backdrop and getting to highlight all the work that's been done on Kansas Avenue," said Stephanie Wilhelm, festival and events manager for the Greater Topeka Partnership.

The Rock and Food Truck Festival is one in a three-part series of downtown concerts organized by the partnership.

"Jazz and Food Truck had been going on for several years, and we decided we wanted to extend that into a couple different genres," Wilhelm said.

So last year, they ventured into country and rock music.

"Each concert last summer progressed to a larger crowd," Wilhelm added.

This year's Country and Food Truck Festival was held in May, and Jazz and Food Trucks will take place Sept. 21. Months of planning go into each event, and Wilhelm said she started booking this weekend's rock bands in fall 2018.

This is the fourth downtown music and food fest Hoffman and his wife have attended. He prefers rock, while she leans country.

"It brings the community together a little more," Hoffman said of the festivals. "You see people you haven't seen in forever."

According to Wilhelm, events like this are all about the "good weather, the good music, the good food and getting to celebrate our city."

Nearly 20 food trucks set up Saturday for the event.

Front Door Catering, which has a storefront in the NOTO Arts and Entertainment District, has set up its food truck at each of the partnership's music and food truck festivals. Their festival staple is loaded chip fries — two potatoes sent through a spiral chip machine, topped with nacho cheese sauce and pulled pork.

"We sell those probably 10-1 everything else," said Mike Weibel, owner of Front Door. "Tonight I'll probably go through three to four cases of potatoes. ... It's huge."

Weibel, a native Topekan, credits Wilhelm and GTP with making downtown Topeka a lively place to be on a Saturday night.

"If it wasn't for them, we wouldn't have this," Weibel said. "What's nice about it, too, as a food truck — it's reasonable for us to be here. They don't charge an astronomical price to be here. It's doable, and for a small-business owner or food truck, it makes it profitable."