Mark your calendars! The Vendy Awards are a full day of eating, meeting new friends, and enjoying incredible views of New York City. I went last year and had a delicious, memorable time. Get your tickets early because they sell out fast! ~Karen Seiger, Markets of New York City
2015 Vendy Awards People’s Choice: Snow Day Food Truck ©Clay Williams claywilliamsphoto.com
Save the Date for the Year’s Most Anticipated Street Food Showdown!
Vendor Nominations Open and Early Bird Tickets on Sale Now
New York, NY – The Vendy Awards, the nation’s original and most beloved food truck competition, will be back for its 12th year on Saturday, September 17th, the Street Vendor Project at the Urban Justice Center announced today. The annual event will return to Governors Island to showcase some of New York City’s best and most creative street food vendors. Last year, more than 2,000 New Yorkers turned up to judge the grill-to-grill cook-off.
Vendors will compete for the coveted Vendy Cup, along with Rookie of the Year, Best Dessert, and Best Market Vendor, which will all be judged by a panel of celebrity judges. The popular People’s Choice Award will be determined by the crowd’s vote. Anew category will be announced in the coming months. In 2015, fan-favorite Snow Day swept the competition, going home with both the Vendy Cup and People’s Choice Award; this year, a new crop of vendors will compete for their profession’s highest honor.
Nominations for vendors are being accepted now, so loyal NYC street vendor patrons can nominate their choice for best sidewalk chef online at http://www.vendyawards.streetvendor.org/nominate/. A limited number of Early Bird tickets are available at $85 for General Admission, $50 for kids, and $135 for VIP. Once Early Bird tickets are sold out, General Admission tickets will be available for $100, $145 for VIP and $60 for kids 8-12 (under 8 are free). Purchase tickets here:https://2016vendysnyc.eventbrite.com
YourPanadas at the 2016 Vendy Awards © Clay Williams / claywilliamsphoto.com
“We’re proud to bring the Vendy Awards back to Governors Island to showcase New York’s exploding street food culture,” said Sean Basinski, Director of the Street Vendor Project at the Urban Justice Center. “Over the last decade, the Vendy Awards has become a platform for vendors from all over the city to present their creativity and skill. It’s also a great way for New Yorkers to taste the latest and greatest in street food, and support these hard-working sidewalk heroes. We invite all New Yorkers to nominate their favorite cart or truck, and snag a ticket to truly celebrate what New York’s street food culture has to offer.”
The Vendy Awards are an annual event to benefit the Street Vendor Project at the Urban Justice Center, a membership-based organization that provides advocacy and legal services for nearly 2,000 vendor members. The Vendys’ modest beginnings took place in 2005 in an East Village garage; today, the nation’s first street food event has expanded across the country to include events in Los Angeles and Philadelphia. The Vendy Awards also launched the successful Vendy Plaza, an outdoor marketplace located in East Harlem’s La Marqueta.
Follow the Vendy Awards on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for the latest announcements at @VendyAwards and use #vendys and #vendyawards.
Apply here to request a press pass for the 2016 Vendys. The deadline to request press passes is August 31, 2016.
ABOUT THE STREET VENDOR PROJECT AT THE URBAN JUSTICE CENTER
The Vendy Awards are an annual event organized by the Street Vendor Project at the Urban Justice Center, a membership-based organization of more than 1,800 active vendors who are working together to create a vendor’s movement for permanent change. SVP’s famed Vendy Awards have determined New York City’s top street chef for 10 years, and have become one of the most beloved and widely-anticipated food events in New York and across the country. The money raised by the events supports the non-profit Street Vendor Project in its organizing and advocacy work to promote street food and the people who sell it.
The Street Vendor Project is part of the Urban Justice Center, a non-profit organization that provides legal representation and advocacy to various marginalized groups of New Yorkers. To join their list of supporters, please click here. Follow the Street Vendor Project on Twitter at @VendorPower.
Renegade Lemonade won Best Street Drink at the 2015 Vendy Awards © Clay Williams / claywilliamsphoto.com
Snow Day Serves 2015 Vendy Award Judges © Clay Williams / claywilliamsphoto.com
Vendy Awards Ceremony 2015 © Clay Williams / http://claywilliamsphoto.com