Food truck vendors say Dreamville is a dream for business

RALEIGH, N.C. — Get ready dreamers, Dreamville is back this weekend.

Artists on stage won’t be the only ones hitting notes this weekend, notes of flavor that is.

What You Need To Know

The Dreamville Festival kicks off this weekend, but many events are starting on Friday

Dreamville had a close to $146 million impact on the Raleigh area in 2023

Yesterday the city announced a continuation of a festival similar to Dreamville, in partnership with Live Nation, for the next four years

Dreamville is expected to see over 100,000 attendees this weekend

For Jeff Groce, this is the second year his food truck Oink N’ Moo has attended the Dreamville Festival.

Oink N’ Moo’s Jeff Groce at Dreamville last year (Jeff Groce)

“We have a reputation for having pretty good food. We try to be a little different. Our stick is brisket with a twist,” Groce, the owner, chef and head caterer of Oink & Moo said.

He has always had a passion for cooking, leaving his career as a landscape contractor behind to convert an old truck into today’s Oink N’ Moo.

“We have our smoked brisket quesadilla. We have our brisket grilled cheese, which is our number one seller,” Groce said.

His extensive menu will feed the sold-out crowd at Dreamville this year, and Groce and his crew have had more time to prepare this year than last.

“We expect to do much more than we did last year,” Groce said.

For Oink N’ Moo, Dreamville has been a cash cow, contributing 15% of their annual sales last year.

“It’s a nice little jump for the year starting your spring,” Groce said.

Groce will be just one of the over 70 food vendors at the festival with long-timers like Richard Garner, the chief operating officer of Caribbean Kicker.

Caribbean Kicker at Dreamville (Richard Garner)

“It’s a big deal. You can’t be a part of it and not look forward to it every year,” Garner said.

Garner has attended every Dreamville and has his prep down to a science.

“We probably start two to three weeks out. In relation to managing and getting everything together,” Garner said.

Throughout the years, he said the festival has totaled around 20 to 30% of his annual income.

“It’s helped us manage things in a fast manner, learning how to process and get food out very, very quickly. I think it has prepped us and primed us to be successful in our business,” Garner said.

Garner is hoping to sell 900 of their jerk chicken bowls per day along with other items like a Philly cheesesteak egg roll.

“We’ve just been excited for the opportunity. For the moments that we’ve shared with our fellow dreamers,” Garner said.

Both businesses have been able to expand from food trucks to catering events and other future adventures.

Oink N’ Moo and Caribbean Kicker will have special items on the menu this weekend. Caribbean Kicker will have funnel cake fries and Oink N’ Moo will have special combo platters with fried fish, shrimp and fried okra.

Oink N’ Moo will be located in GA+, and Caribbean Kicker will be next to the Ferris wheel on Food Truck Row.