Cape Breton's Cabot Trail Food Truck Rally returns with 19 vendors for 2026

The Cabot Trail Food Truck Rally is back for it’s seventh year with more vendors than ever before.

There are 19 food trucks participating in this year’s food truck rally. There are some new trucks and some returning like Amanda’s Island Bistro. Owner Amanda Pyke said 2026 will be their fifth year “and going strong.” It is the customers that keep Pyke bringing her truck back.

“They come from all over to see a little piece of ‘our heaven’ and try our amazing dishes that the folks of Cape Breton make,” said Pyke.

“We truly are an island. Everyone from behind the scenes (that) pull this together every year, they’re amazing. We look forward to it every year.”

From seafood to burgers to pastries and the world’s coldest ice cream, there is a wide selection of food to try along the picturesque Cabot Trail. Terry Smith, CEO of Destination Cape Breton, suggested bringing containers to take home the leftovers.

“You definitely want to take your time. Nineteen food trucks is a lot,” said Smith about the two-day event.

“We know a lot of people who want to try the food at every stop. Some people chose here or there. Definitely, you’re going to want to book a night or two, ideally, somewhere close to the trail.”

First started by the Cape Breton Food Hub, Destination Cape Breton provided a supporting role until being offered the chance to take over operations. Smith said they saw the tourism opportunity the Cabot Trail Food Truck Rally has.

“We’re trying to extend the (tourism) season a bit at the end of October,” he said. “There’s still beautiful fall foliage around the island. It’s after Celtic Colours and we’ve chosen that date to stay one more week in the season. It’s doing exactly what we intended to have happen.”

While participants and customers were originally from Cape Breton, now people from around the world travel the Cabot Trail to sample the food trucks from around Nova Scotia and New Brunswick.

One new participating food truck this year is Avatar. Operated by chef Anishkumar, who formerly worked at the Delta Beaujolais in Moncton, Avatar specializes in Indian and Canadian cuisine.

Another new truck is a sweet one: Mikka’s Dippin’ and Dots based in Bridgewater. Six years ago, Mikka’s started as a specialty candy shop and has grown into a mobile candy store, traveling to festivals across Nova Scotia.

Along with candy they have Dippin’ Dots, which is marketed as the world’s coldest ice cream. Mikka’s also sells specialty items using the Dippin’ Dot, like floats and slushies.

“For an event like this, it’s not very expensive (to operate). It would be under $20,000 for us which includes all marketing and promotion,” Smith said.

“We do get some funding through the province and ACOA (Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency) and the municipalities, Inverness and Victoria, so that helps out as well.”

There is no charge to the food truck operators to participate and Smith said they are given a gas card to help offset some transportation costs.

It is hard to determine how many people participate in the Cabot Trail Food Truck Rally because there’s no admission.

An app for the food truck rally which Destination Cape Breton launched last year does show a increase in the number of users this year over last.

In 2025, there were 1,016 app users, up from 677 in 2024.

Smith said feedback for the event from food truck vendors and people who tour the Cabot Trail to try them has been consistently good; with many tips for future food truck rally customers.

“The big thing is just take your time. Don’t try and squeeze it all in in one day. Some of these food trucks will have to wait a little bit because there’s so much popularity,” said Smith.

“The other thing is, and I’ve heard this from some of the pros who have been doing this for a long time, they say it’s good to take a cooler and to take some Tupperware that you can put things in because you will probably want to have a bite of everything.”