Fall festival season is underway across metro New Orleans. Here is how vendors and local businesses can get a truck or trailer wrapped in time.
If your business parks a truck, van, or trailer anywhere near a festival crowd this fall, the vehicle is your sign. A plain white box truck gets walked past, and a wrapped one gets read, photographed, and remembered.
The calendar is full this year. FOX 8's fall festival guide lists events across metro New Orleans running from late September through the end of November.
Several of the biggest crowds of the season have not happened yet. According to the FOX 8 guide, these are among the events still to come:
Two changes in that guide matter for vendors. The Gretna Heritage Festival is now Gretna Festin', which FOX 8 reports has shifted from its traditional three day format to a free concert series spread over four Saturdays.
The National Fried Chicken Festival also marked its 10th anniversary by expanding to a full three day weekend at the Lakefront Arena Festival Grounds. Longer formats and repeat weekends mean the same vehicle sits in front of a crowd more than once.
A wrap is a fixed cost that works every time the vehicle is parked or driven. A one weekend event gives you one shot at a crowd, while a four Saturday series gives you four.
The vehicle also works on the way there. A catering van crossing the Crescent City Connection to Gretna or sitting in traffic on Veterans in Metairie is being read by people who never set foot at the festival.
Not every festival vehicle needs full coverage. Match the wrap to how the vehicle is actually used and where people will be standing when they see it.
| Vehicle | Good fit | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Food truck or trailer | Full wrap | Crowds see every side, including the back |
| Catering or delivery van | Full or partial wrap | Sides and rear do most of the work in traffic |
| Pickup towing a booth | Partial wrap or door graphics | Lower cost, still identifies the business |
| Several vehicles | Matching fleet graphics | One consistent look across every event |
A food truck is the clearest case for full coverage, because people line up along one side and walk around the others. Our wraps for work trucks, vans, and trailers are designed around the service window, doors, vents, and generator boxes that break up the panels.
If the budget is tight or the vehicle doubles as a daily driver, covering only part of the vehicle can carry the logo, phone number, and one strong image. Planned well, the factory paint color becomes part of the design.
Businesses that send more than one vehicle out on the same weekend should think about consistency first. Matching graphics across a fleet make three vans in three parishes read as one company.
A festival wrap gets read differently than a highway wrap. People are on foot, close up, and often looking at the vehicle from an angle or over other people's heads.
The lower third of a truck disappears behind a line of customers. Keep the business name and what you sell above waist height, and repeat it on the back.
Someone scanning a row of vendors decides fast. The name, the main product, and one clear image do more than a full menu printed on a door.
People take pictures of food trucks they like. A clean social handle and phone number placed near the service window end up in those photos.
Festival vehicles get leaned on, brushed by bags, and parked in full sun for hours. Ask about a protective laminate over the printed graphics, which is standard on quality commercial installs.
The install itself is the short part. Design approval is where projects stall, so the fastest way to hit a date is to show up prepared.
If the next event is too close, aim for the one after it. With festivals on the calendar through Bayou Classic weekend in late November, there is still plenty of season left to work with.
Festival traffic fills streets from the Lakefront to Oak Street, and any vehicle moving through it gets looked at. That includes personal cars, where a one of a kind custom design turns a daily driver into something people notice at Krewe of BOO or on the way to a Saints tailgate.
Our shop is on Rousseau Street in New Orleans, and we work with businesses and drivers from Metairie, Kenner, Gretna, and the rest of the metro area. Call (504) 766-3480 or send us your vehicle details for a quote, and tell us which event you are trying to make.
Get Your Vehicle Festival Ready
Tell us your vehicle and the event date you are aiming for, and we will quote the wrap that fits.