For two years the Maumelle Food Truck Festival was a Saturday event. This year the Maumelle Area Chamber of Commerce made it two days. Food trucks open at 5 p.m. on Friday, November 6, and a kickoff concert runs into the evening before the usual full Saturday on November 7.
That one schedule change gives the end of the fall season in Maumelle a new main event, and the dates leading up to it fall in a clear order. Half of the city's October community calendar listings are at Millwood Station, the food truck park at 100 Millwood Circle that opened in March. The season then moves to Lake Willastein for the festival weekend.
Three editions, one festival that keeps growing
The festival is still young. The first one was held on November 2, 2024, and KATV covered it as Maumelle's first food truck festival. The city's listing that year promised more than 20 trucks and 40 vendors. The second year, Saturday, November 1, 2025, was still a one-day event from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Lake Willastein, and advance coverage counted more than 40 trucks.
| Edition | Date | Format | Size reported beforehand |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Saturday, Nov. 2 | One day | 20+ trucks, 40 vendors |
| 2025 | Saturday, Nov. 1 | One day, 11 a.m.–6 p.m. | 40+ trucks |
| 2026 | Friday, Nov. 6, and Saturday, Nov. 7 | Two days, Friday evening concert | 40-plus trucks and vendors, per the race page |
Crowd numbers point the same way. Before the 2025 festival, a local report said the first year drew about 6,000 people, and a preview of the 2025 event forecast around 8,000. No final 2025 attendance figure has been published, so 8,000 is a forecast, not a count. Even so, adding an evening is what you'd expect from an event outgrowing a single afternoon.
The Friday night, hour by hour
The Friday program is short and built around music. The Chamber's published schedule calls it the Kick-Off Concert:
- 5:00 p.m. Food trucks open
- 6:00 p.m. Heath Sanders
- 7:30 p.m. Midnight South
- 8:30 p.m. Last call for food trucks
That's about three and a half hours, starting after the workday ends. If you've skipped the festival because of Saturday commitments, Friday is the first chance to go without giving up a weekend afternoon. If you plan to come both days, plan your meals around the 8:30 last call. The trucks aren't scheduled to stay open past it.
Saturday is the full day
Saturday keeps the family program the festival is known for and opens with a race. The Maumelle Foodie 5K/10K starts at 10 a.m. from 309 Lake Willastein Drive on a route that loops the lake. After that, the published schedule runs like this:
- 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.: food trucks, vendors, kid zone and DJ, with face painting, games and inflatables
- 11 a.m. to noon: kids' performances on the main stage
- 12:00 to 12:30 p.m.: Arkansas Circus Arts
- 12:45 p.m.: 5K and 10K awards on the main stage
- 1:00 p.m.: hot dog eating contest
- 1:30 to 2:00 p.m.: Arkansas Circus Arts again
- 2:00 p.m.: pie baking contest
- 4:00 p.m.: Bree Ogden
- 5:30 p.m.: Tyler Kinch
- 6:30 p.m.: last call and festival close
For runners, the timing works out well. The awards come at 12:45, less than two hours after the trucks open, so finishers can eat and still be at the main stage for results.
Two things are still missing. The 2026 Chamber page doesn't say anything about admission or parking. Last year, general admission and parking were free, hay-ride shuttles ran from nearby parking areas, and the bounce houses required a paid bracelet. Check the Chamber's festival page for this year's details before you go. Also, the city's November calendar lists only the Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., while the Chamber, which runs the festival, lists both days.
October happens at Millwood Station
Before the season moves to the lake, the city's October calendar keeps coming back to 100 Millwood Circle. The park has been busy since its grand opening weekend, March 13–15. KATV counted seven full-time trucks there in May: Phillips Lips and Tips, Tacos Atilano, Phonzie's 1 Stop Hog Shop, Wing Krave, Shakes, Travelin' Coffee and Crepes, and Lumpia Hut. KATV reported Spud Love as a new truck in July. The city hasn't published a current fall roster, so that list reflects spring and summer reporting. The city's food truck interest form says it isn't taking on new full-time or part-time trucks and already has more than 70 trucks on its event list.
Here's the October calendar in order:
| Date | Event | Time | Where |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fri., Oct. 2 | Farmers Market at Millwood Station | 4–7 p.m. | 100 Millwood Circle |
| Sat., Oct. 3 | Bella on the Boulevard | 9 a.m.–3 p.m. | 100 Millwood Circle |
| Fri., Oct. 16 | Farmers Market, last listed date | 4–7 p.m. | 100 Millwood Circle |
| Oct. 16–18 | Keep MyMaumelle Beautiful Fall 2026 | Your choice of time | Your choice of area |
| Sat., Oct. 17 | Maumelle Pawlooza | 10 a.m.–3 p.m. | 100 Millwood Circle |
| Sat., Oct. 24 | Vendor Fest at Millwood Station | 10 a.m.–3 p.m. | 100 Millwood Circle |
| Sat., Oct. 24 and Sat., Oct. 31 | MYC's Haunted House and Halloween Carnival | 5:30–10 p.m. | 1100 Edgewood Drive |
The farmers market season ends October 16. The city runs the market on the first and third Fridays from May through October, and no dates are listed after the 16th. One participating vendor also lists October 2 and 16 as its last Maumelle dates of the year. If you've been meaning to stock up on market goods, those are the last two Friday evenings of 2026.
Bella on the Boulevard is an open-air vintage market. The city's FAQ describes it as a smaller version of the Bella Rustina Modern Vintage Market, with more than 50 booths and at least seven food trucks, locally owned by Ashley Norris of Ashley's Finds, LLC. The market's own site lists at least six trucks. October 3 is one of four Millwood Station dates on the market's 2026 schedule, and Bella was part of the park's grand opening weekend in March.
Pawlooza is billed by the city as "A Celebration of Dogs, Community & Fun!" Courtney Dunn, the city's community engagement director, is listed as the contact. BringFido describes it as city-sponsored and benefiting the Maumelle Animal Shelter, with a pet market, a photo area, a play zone, food trucks and adoptable dogs. The city's own listing still says "More information coming soon," so expect details to change. Dog owners may also notice that last year's festival listing included a Dog Show, and this year's published festival schedule doesn't list one. Pawlooza is the dog event on this fall's calendar.
Keep MyMaumelle Beautiful is the most flexible event of the season. You pick your own time and area anytime from October 16 to 18. It falls on the same weekend as the last farmers market and Pawlooza, so a household could pick up litter on a street of its choosing, then walk to Millwood Station.
October 24 is the city's busiest Saturday of the month. Vendor Fest runs at Millwood Station during the day, and MYC's Haunted House and Halloween Carnival opens that evening on Edgewood Drive. The carnival runs again on Halloween night.
Millwood Station's role is planned to grow
The city's 2026 State of the City address describes Millwood Station as the hub of a planned bike and pedestrian network connecting to Center on the Lake, Lake Willastein, nearby neighborhoods and the commercial center. It said construction on the Club Manor corridor was expected "later this year." No completion date was given, and that statement doesn't confirm construction has started. For now, getting from the October events at Millwood Station to the November festival at Lake Willastein still mostly means driving.
After the trucks leave, the food news moves to Maumelle Boulevard
Once the festival closes at 6:30 p.m. on November 7, the next food openings in the area are restaurant buildings, and none have firm dates.
Problem Child is the one people will likely be watching. The Midtown Little Rock pizzeria won Best Pizza and Best New Restaurant for Little Rock and North Little Rock in the Arkansas Times 2026 Readers Choice Awards. It's opening a second location at 10840 Maumelle Blvd., the former Count Porkula building just east of Maumelle, on the North Little Rock side. Co-owner Adam Sweet told the Arkansas Times the menu will be "mostly" the same as the original, with an open pizza kitchen built into the middle of the dining room, and that the restaurant could open by the end of the year. That's a target, not a confirmed opening date.
Farther west, the Maumelle Area Chamber of Commerce confirmed in August that Braum's, Little Caesars and Vietwich have signed on for a new commercial development on the north side of Maumelle Boulevard. Space remains for two more businesses. The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette calls the project Gateway Plaza and places it in the 9800 block of Maumelle Boulevard at Orleans Drive. KARK reported that none of the three has announced an opening date. For timing, Braum's has said it expects its Conway location, which broke ground in June, to open in early 2027.
So the dated part of the season is finished on November 7. After that, new places to eat along the Boulevard will open whenever their construction is done.
If you'd like to know how activity like Millwood Station and new Boulevard construction factors into what your Maumelle home is worth, Richard Henley and Will Henley can walk you through it without any pressure. Get a Free Home Valuation, and we'll give you straight numbers whenever you're ready.
