If 17 food trucks, a beer garden, and a day of family fun aren’t good enough reasons to attend Gunstock’s Summer Send-Off Food Truck Festival on Sunday, August 25, how about games of chance and skill to benefit kids in need?
Participating in two of Gunstock’s Food Truck Festival events, Cow Patty Bingo and a Celebrity Dunk Tank, will help local children and their families. The Greater Lakes Region Charitable Fund for Children is a nonprofit that helps community organizations in the Central New Hampshire region. Numerous fundraising events in the Lakes Region support The Greater Lakes Region Children's Auction, an annual event held every December. In the past four decades more than $8 million has been distributed to over 80 nonprofits that serve low-income families and children in the Lakes Region.
At Gunstock’s annual Food Truck Festival, local celebrities and noted officials volunteer to take a shift sitting in the dunk-tank seat. Festival attendees purchase balls to throw at a target in hopes of sending their favorite Belknap County and Gilford officials into the drink.
Then, just a few yards away, the anticipation builds throughout the afternoon at Cow Patty Bingo. Coleman, a very friendly local steer, is let loose to wander a fenced enclosure with a grid containing numbers painted on the ground. Spectators purchase squares on the grid in advance, and whoever has the number of the spot where Coleman deposits a patty wins half of the proceeds from the sale of squares on the grid. The other half goes to the Children’s Auction.
Gunstock’s second annual celebration of street food and family fun is scheduled from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $5 per person in advance at gunstock.com or $8 per person when purchased the day of the event. Children 10 and younger will be admitted for free. Food, beverages and activities are priced separately. This year, Gunstock has increased the number of trucks at the festival and is limiting admission to ensure a great experience for all attendees.
Live music will fill the mountain air and accompany family activities to include a kids’ foam pit, Cow Patty Bingo, a dunk tank, ax throwing, face painting and more. Another highlight of the festival will be a pre-season gear and clothing sale at Gunstock Ski & Sport.
Gunstock’s Adventure Park will be operating during the Food Truck Festival. Visitors can ride a mountain coaster, take a scenic chairlift ride to the top of the mountain, tackle obstacles in a treetop challenge course or soar above the trees on a zipline tour.
