On July 14, we rolled our truck westward to the Worcester Palladium to serve concertgoers at the Sad Summer Festival. This inaugural nationwide festival features headliners like State Champs, Mayday Parade, The Maine, and The Wonder Years, and encourages attendees to, ya know, have some feelings with their friends in the sultry summer sun. Emo on!
It was a true moment of seitan synchronicity, our taking part of the Sad Summer Festival. One of the devils who attended the Seitan Summer School recommended Bartleby’s serve during the Palladium’s outdoor concerts this season (we’ll be back there on September 7 for the Self Help Festival!). A few excited emails back and forth, and there we were! Slinging seitan at a well organized event, with guidance from the excellent team at the Palladium. The friendly concertgoers lined up 40+ devils deep to get our select sandwiches, nuggets, frickles, and fries. They could listen to all the bands while waiting on line, and the team on the truck could see all the action from where we were parked. It was loud, crazy, and fun! We heard from so many people how wicked happy they were to have a veg option available at the festival. The meat-eaters were impressed by our savory, southern-fried seitan and came back for seconds! We all had a great time and jammed the hell out. 
We returned to Arlington on Saturday, June 15th for the annual Feast of the East! It's a super wholesome community festival featuring live music, a parade, tons of food, a soapbox derby, and heaps of other great activities. I love seeing everyone biking, strolling, and picnicking with their family and friends. It was a beautiful summer day to be out in the streets of Capitol Square. Summer is finally here! [Ed: Only briefly, it seems.]
We sold lots of cold summertime beverages (iced teas and lemonades) alongside orders of nuggies and sandwiches. It was great saying hello to repeat customers, and wicked great to meet new devils who were just walking by the truck, tried a sample, and then ordered whole mess of seitan! This year, our commissary neighbor Parfait parked just a block down from us. Parfait is a new Nice Cream truck (their frozen desserts are dairy free, soy free, gluten free, etc.) with kombucha and cold brew coffee on tap. Later in the afternoon, as the crowds died down, we traded our sweet potato fries for Parfait pops, and I think everyone won. Especially our customers. Thanks for hosting such a great day, Arlington devils! 
The Vegan Market, Mother's Day Edition. Sunday, May 12, 2019. Somerville, MA.
Katie, of the Soy Much Brighter candle company, also organizes The Vegan Market series. And she is a powerhouse. She gathers and supports amazing local plant-based vendors, and hosts them all during recurring editions of The Vegan Market. This past Sunday, Bartleby’s was delighted to be a part of the Mother’s Day Edition, held at the armory building in Somerville.
We were tabling at the event, which means we could offer pre-packaged items only (no cooked-to-order sandwiches or salads). We had stacks and stacks of nuggets and tubs of sauce that you devils had pre-ordered online (see our Pick-Up page for how to orders nuggz anytime!) and also had some Mini Party Packs of 15 nuggz available on a first-come, first-served basis. And you came! So many happy faces showed up to celebrate #nugglife. Some couldn’t wait to find our truck out in the streets for lunch service, and immediately found and followed us on Instagram to keep tabs on our schedule. We also debuted our new, fully compostable buckets. They’re kinder to the environment, and we think they’re cute, too. Who doesn’t like food in buckets? It’s wonderful to be surrounded by small businesses that not only understand your mission, but also share it. We’re already booked for the next edition, coming up soon on June 10th! It’s the Mini Vegan Market at Winter Hill Brewing in Somerville, and we’ll be providing good eats with another local vegan superstar, Littleburg. Hope to see you there! 
Taza Chocolate Annual Block Party / Saturday, May 4, 2019 / Somerville, MA
Taza Chocolate really knows how to party! Their annual shindig features great food and beverage makers, a DJ spinning beats, and a live band. I think my truck crew danced the entire day! Plus, of course, Taza provided all the amazingly delicious stone ground chocolate you could ever want. (It should be said, repeated, shouted that Taza’s products are organic, ethically traded, minimally processed, and that many of their bars are certified vegan. They do good things.)
The crowds were so fun, and loads of people had a locally brewed cider or beer in hand while they enjoyed the lovely spring day. I’m thankful for the good weather (the original forecast called for cold rains), which likely boosted the number of devils we fed. We actually sold out in the last twenty minutes―after serving over 200 people! The good vibes continued even after we closed the truck, cleaned up, and headed back home. I got to see the photos and funny comments that customers posted of us that day. I love engaging with you devils face-to-face and on social media. And I’m seriously so excited that Bartleby’s gets to be a part of this vibrant community. I live in Somerville, so to park my truck and serve my food in this city as a peer to a local business that I look to for inspiration, is truly, truly a dream come true. 
The New England VegFest is a free festival that brings the local community together to celebrate vegetarianism: an animal-friendly, environmentally sustainable, and healthy lifestyle.
The New England VegFest is a wicked whirlwind! I was so excited to be there and see the thousands of smiling faces celebrating vegetarian/vegan companies and small businesses. I am honored to be among this group of hardworking, like-minded individuals who put their blood, sweat, and tears into growing companies that are good for the world.
It’s especially great that VegFest lands so early in our truck season. The good energy of the event gives me fuel and inspiration for the remaining eight months of the year! And I’m grateful for all our devilicious customers who came out that day (and every day we’re on the road). Special thanks, too, to the organizers and volunteers who guide the vendors with endless patience, and provide outstanding promotion and outreach to make the event such a success. It’s no small feat, and I’m already looking forward to next year! 
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