FORT COLLINS • Joseph McQuain was ready to throw in the towel. 

Four years into operating his Fort Collins-based barbecue food truck, BIGS Meat Wagon, McQuain’s confidence and energy had wavered in 2016.

“The first four years were brutal,” said McQuain, who launched his food truck in 2012. “I definitely had some second thoughts. I thought, well, I’ll do the Taste of Fort Collins one more time. This was back when the event was three days, and we somehow managed to get a 50-yard line of people the whole day for all three days. It was incredible and made me think: ‘Well, I guess I’m doing something right. I need to figure this out.’”

Though the food truck industry is competitive, McQuain is grinding and thriving to a degree. His truck specializes in all things barbecue and is drawing good reviews, developing a good reputation throughout the state. 

McQuain brought his truck to the Food Truck Carnival in Northglenn in May and was on location in Beaver Creek at the Blues Brews & BBQ Festival during Memorial Day Weekend. 

He says that traffic was steady at both events, and he knows it will be, as well, in his hometown of Fort Collins throughout the annual Taste of Fort Collins that runs June 7-8 at Washington Park in Old Town Fort Collins.

“It’s been an amazing event for us and our community,” McQuain said. “People make it a point to go to the event and get our food. They come from out of town and even out of state to attend. It’s one I look forward to every year.”

Presented by First National Bank and produced by Townsquare Media, the Taste of Fort Collins has been a fixture in the city’s summer circuit of events and activities since the late-1990s. 

Zandi Collins, the market president of Northern Colorado for Townsquare Media, regards the event as the “unofficial kickoff to summer in Fort Collins.” 

Collins also noted that with NewWestFest ending in 2021, the Taste of Fort Collins has solidified itself as the “largest festival in Fort Collins.” Weather permitting, Collins estimates that the Taste of Fort Collins will draw around 26,000 attendees. 

The festival is unique in the area in that it serves as a community celebration seeking to highlight the best of Northern Colorado through participation from restaurants and food vendors like BIGS Meat Wagon, and also as a platform for local and regional artists to show off their creative works. 

Collins said that the two-day event will feature 100 vendor booths and will require over 80 staff and volunteers to run it.  

Equally important is that the Taste of Fort Collins also doubles as a music festival. Twelve bands and musicians are slated to play this year’s event, with Neon Trees and Fitz & The Tantrums serving as the headliners for Saturday and Sunday, respectively.

Notable performers such as Nelly and Rick Springfield have played the Taste of Fort Collins in years past. 

The event even drew some national attention in 2015 when Smashmouth lead singer Steve Harwell threatened the crowd after being hit with a piece of bread during the group’s performance. The incident, which was laced with obscenities, made national media rounds. 

While Collins called Harwell’s outburst “hilarious,” she was quick to point out that booking national headliners for the event takes a lot of time and thought.

“There are extensive conversations between our local team and our live event team that’s national,” Collins said. “So, those discussions and negotiations go on for months just to make sure that we’re, you know, targeting the right bands that people in Fort Collins would want to come see. People in northern Colorado, I should say, would want to come see.”

Single-day tickets for Taste of Fort Collins can be bought for $22.56 if purchased in advance, with two-day passes running $30.53 — also in advance. 

Single-day ticket prices go up to $33.96 on the day of the event. VIP packages are also available through the Taste of Fort Collins website.

Collins said that keeping costs down and value high for attendees is the primary challenge that event organizers deal with annually.         

“Costs are ever-increasing, especially today,” Collins said. “We want to keep our ticket prices low and affordable for families, I think is our biggest challenge, because everything has gone up, which includes all of the costs of putting on a festival.”

The community-based theme of the festival is spotlighted by the involvement of the Kiwanis Eyeopeners, the Fort Collins chapter of the organization, which has operated as the Taste of Fort Collins charitable organization since the late 1990s. 

The Kiwanis Eyeopeners aspires to help local youths in the area through various grants and programs. It does everything from providing youth sports equipment to helping fund nursing scholarships to supporting high school Key Clubs. 

The Taste of Fort Collins serves as the Kiwanis Eyeopeners’ big fundraiser of the year that supports many of their community-driven youth initiatives.

“We came on as the Taste of Fort Collins nonprofit organization over 25 years ago, and our relationship with the event and its organizers has been excellent,” said Bob Garretson, who serves as the Taste of Fort Collins event organizer for the Kiwanis Eyeopeners. “They’ve always been happy with the services we have been able to provide, and it’s been a great event for us.”

Perhaps no one is in a better position to say how great and impactful the Taste of Fort Collins can be than Joseph McQuain.

The owner of BIGS Meat Wagon noted there was a time when he would have to pawn guns and other items in order just to have his food truck operational at some events during the early years. He would only be able to buy those items back from the pawnshops provided the sales from his food truck were good. 

McQuain referred to those early days as “one big stressful gamble.” 

That all seemed to change, however, when McQuain took one last leap of faith and attended the Taste of Fort Collins nearly 10 years ago, where his barbecue food truck was met with large crowds eagerly awaiting his food.

“It’s been a grind,” McQuain said, “but my stress levels have gone down since the beginning. I’d love to eventually open a brick-and-mortar store, but real estate is crazy high these days. I just keep my fingers crossed that if I keep grinding, it will work itself out one day.”