Melanie LeCroy/Gulf Coast Media

GULF SHORES — After a successful debut in 2022, the Alabama Food Truck and Craft Beer Festival will return to Gulf Shores in November, but organizers are still working on the exact date, city officials said.

Grant Brown, city recreation and cultural affairs director, said at the Gulf Shores City Council work session Feb. 6 that organizers were pleased with the initial event and planned a second festival to be held a week earlier than the 2022 celebration.

"We had good success and the folks from the Food Truck Festivals of America also felt like they had good success for the first-time ever event last November at the beach," Brown told council members. "So, once again the Alabama Food Truck and Craft Beer Festival is being requested for a public assembly permit Nov. 4 and 5 of 2023."

At the city council meeting Monday, Feb. 13, he said organizers were considering moving the festival back a week to the second weekend in November.

"Since that time, the organizers and Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Sports and Events are looking at possibly changing the preferred date," Brown said.

Council members said they would take action on the request when organizers have set a date.

Brown said the event will be in the same location as 2022, the town green area with trucks lined up on the green and the beer garden in the center.

"They would have music, family-friendly fun and, of course, food trucks," Brown said.

The proposed resolution would set conditions for the festival.

Each food truck would be required to be certified by Baldwin County Health Department before being allowed on event site.

Each food truck will pass a city of Gulf Shores food unit fire inspection and propane requirements before being allowed on event site.

Tents will meet the minimum flame resistance requirements.

Brown said most participants followed the requirements in 2022, although some issues were reported by health and fire safety inspectors.

"Being a first-time event last year, there were some hiccups as far as the coordination of the propane gas inspectors and the food truck inspections by Baldwin County Health," Brown said. "The agencies that were doing those inspections really worked very well with the city and with the organizers to make sure that all trucks that wanted to be inspected and wanted to participate were able to be inspected and be here."

Mayor Robert Craft said organizers and city officials will look over issues such as parking in making plans for the 2023 event.

"The only concerns I would have, again, is parking," Craft said. "We combine these things together finding a parking place for everybody and keeping them from parking in places they shouldn't."

Brown said parking in the area has improved since 2022.

"There is a little bit of good news on the parking side," Brown said. "The city has worked last year on Phase 1 of the Beach Walking District on-street improvements and on-street additional parking. I know there's additional on-street parking in the area being developed and added as well."