By Allison Seidel

In the midst of midterm season, the University of Maryland is bringing students together for events to help them destress. 

The Department of Resident Life hosted their second annual Foodtruck Festival near the Mowatt Lane Parking Garage on Wednesday, Oct. 19th. The event ran from 11:30-2:30 p.m., giving students plenty of time to stop by for a quick meal before or after class. 

The festival consisted of four different food trucks, providing a variety of options for students to choose from. The food trucks were serving shaved ice, barbecue, Mediterranean sandwiches, and more. The lines were filled with eager students waiting to try all of the food the trucks had to offer. 

Jaclyn Jacobs, a freshman accounting major, visited the food truck festival. She spoke of the convenience of the festival’s location. 

“I think it’s really cool, especially because we live in Prince Frederick Hall, so we just came down here [after we] saw it out our window,” she said. 

Jiayi Wang, a freshman finance and information systems double major, liked that the festival provided a way to get involved within the community. 

“I think it’s a really good way to really bring people together and just have fun when classes are still going on,” she said.

Wang also thought that it would be a great idea to have another food truck festival sometime in the future, and possibly bring in a different variety of food trucks. She explained that it could be beneficial to have some “new food trucks come as well.” 

Both Jacobs and Wang tried food from the Halal Grill as well as Kona Ice, two different food trucks that were included in the festival. They both got the gyros at the Halal Grill and shaved ice from Kona Ice. 

The Federalist Pig, another food truck that came to the event, mainly served barbeque foods such as ribs. They also served smaller bites including sliders and mac and cheese.

The Trini Vybez food truck, which was also in attendance, serves authentic food from Trinidad and Tobago. Some menu items include the curry chicken platter, which consists of chicken in a curry sauce with rice, chickpeas, and potatoes. They also serve a variety of wraps with chicken, shrimp and tofu. 

Trinity Weaver, a sophomore cell-biology and genetics major, heard about the festival through friends but was not able to attend. Weaver explained she definitely would go if there was another event, given that “a lot of students on campus don’t really have access to, you know, vehicles, to be able to get different varieties of food.” 

Weaver also mentioned that bringing different types of food to campus “breaks up the monotony” — referring to the dining halls on campus and the restaurants at the Stamp Student Union. 

After participating in the food truck festival, students are eager to see another food truck festival come to UMD at some point during the school year to experience something that is different from their everyday meals.

Featured image: Students wait in line for the Halal Grill and Kona Ice food trucks outside the Mowatt Lane Parking Garage. Photo by Allison Seidel.