Long queues snaked from most of the vendors set up yesterday for the island’s first Food Truck Festival.

About 16 trucks lined up along the waterfront at No 1 car park selling everything from burgers and hot dogs to pulled pork and shark hash. Customers also enjoyed the drink stalls and were seen sipping beers and cocktails as well as refreshing homemade lemonade.

There was a good incentive to fill up as every customer who spent $15 or more at any of the trucks got a raffle ticket and stood a chance of winning a number of prizes through the Bermuda Tourism Authority which organised the event.

Live entertainment included the Simons Brothers, The Kennel Boys Trio and Rusty G. The music kept the crowds hanging around once they all had their fill which made it quite difficult to find any proper seating.

Micah Franklin was tucking into a fresh fish taco he had just bought from Cann Da Licious which is usually parked at Albuoy’s Point. He said: “The food is amazing I definitely rate it. The taco is really good — ten out of ten. It’s nice to see so many people out, it’s a good chance to try lots of food and socialise.”

Owner of the stall Vernal Cann was so busy trying to keep up with orders he barely had time to talk other than to say: “It has been really, really busy. The most popular orders have been the fish taco and the bacon cheese burger.” The stall had to stop taking orders for a short time just so the staff could catch up with the orders.

Ashley’s Lemonade stall also had trouble keeping up. The young owner of the stall Ashley Stephens told The Royal Gazette: “It’s been fabulous but crazy busy. I think we underestimated how many people would come out. We didn’t imagine we would have lines this long. It’s been great publicity for us because we brought out some new flavours. We have the Bermuda Gombey with mango, berry and a kick of ginger. Our most popular drink of the day has been Bermuda Vacation — another new drink. It has watermelon, pineapple, passion fruit and lemonade. We have had hundreds of customers today — they should definitely do this more — every year.”

Nipun and Pratha Mohanty are new to Bermuda and said they hoped to see more events like this in the future. Nipun Mohanty said: “We have had a fantastic time, the atmosphere is electric. We love the songs and the food is fantastic. We really hope there will more events like this in Bermuda it really brings people together.”

Twisted Spoon’s Stephan Gitschner was concocting an array of cocktails for the thirsty throngs of customers. He said: “It’s been busy for the most part. Our Tally-Ho cocktail has been the most popular drink so far — it has cucumber, Thai basil lemonade with lavender. It is very refreshing and herbaceous.”

Product development manager at the BTA Tashae Thompson said she was extremely encouraged by the numbers that turned out to the festival.

“It’s been busy, busy, busy! We have had overwhelming lines it’s great to see people eating, drinking and having a good time.”

Among the prizes in the raffle are attraction passes to the Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute, Fun Golf and Grotto Bay.