The only thing better than delicious food is talented vendors competing to win over your taste buds. The annual Foodtruck Wars Street Festival in Saskatoon has it all.

Now in its 5th year, the three-day festival will be taking place from Friday, July 26th to Sunday, July 28th. You’ll find it set up along 20th Street West, between Avenue C and Avenue F. This family- and pet-friendly festival is expected to attract over 25,000 people.

The festival is completely free to attend, just make sure you set aside some spending cash to sample the different food vendors that catch your eye. It is scheduled to run from 11 am to 10 pm on Friday and Saturday and from 11 am to 5 pm on Sunday.

There will be a number of different food trucks, stalls, and carts set up around the Foodtruck Wars Street Festival. Just some of the many food vendors you can expect to find are Alpha Dog Waffles, Nom Nom, Smoke’s Poutinerie, Rebel Melt, YXE Burgers, and Kabab King. Street market vendors will also be selling a wide range of gifts and knick-knacks. Market vendors include Marjielous Creations, Colour Me Cushions, ClassicMint, and VoxxLife Wellness Products.

Another big draw of the festival is the food competitions, which will be taking place at the Affinity Credit Union Main Stage located on Avenue D. The first competition will be Hot Dog Havoc, a festival favourite that has been held during every previous year. Come by the main stage at 6 pm on Saturday to watch competitors try to eat as many hot dogs as they can in just 10 minutes.

Make sure you visit the main stage again at 2 pm on Sunday for Pie Me!, a high-intensity contest that also gives competitors 10 minutes to eat as many pies as they can. This will be followed up by the 4 pm Foodtruck Wars Flavour Challenge, which serves as the highlight of the festival. Competing food vendors will select menu items to be sampled by a panel of celebrity, food-loving judges. Only one will be crowned the winner.

The mains stage will host other free entertainment over the course of the festival that you can watch while enjoying your food, including cultural demonstrations such as Japanese drumming and Ukrainian dance. The aim is to highlight the different cultural communities that make Riversdale and all of Saskatoon their home. There will also be a buskers’ area at the intersection of Avenue D and Avenue E where you can see talented street performers.

Just like last year, the Foodtruck Wars Street Festival is striving to be a truly zero-waste festival. Attendees are encouraged to bring extra paper, plastic, and cloth bags for donation at the information booth, which will then be given out for free to other attendees and vendors that need them. There will also be clearly marked collection bins for any solid waste.

The Foodtruck Wars Street Festival offers a fantastic opportunity to explore the Riversdale Business District, which has gone through a renewal over the last few years. Sample some of the city’s best eats while you stroll down the street and check out in-store specials offered just for this event.