Rockford Chow Down food truck festival called off over tough inspection rules

ROCKFORD, Ill. (WTVO) — Rockford’s stringent food safety inspections were cited as the reason behind the cancellation of the 2025 Rockford Chow Down food truck festival.

Organizers announced the cancellation on Facebook on Sunday.

“After much consideration and with heavy hearts, we’ve made the difficult decision to cancel this year’s Chow Down event,” they wrote.

“Over the past few weeks, we’ve faced growing challenges with the local inspection process, particularly regarding requirements placed on out-of-town food trucks. Despite our efforts to advocate for clearer, more reasonable policies, we continued to lose vendors due to the financial and logistical burdens they faced, including inspections, travel costs, and costly equipment not required in their home jurisdictions,” the message continued.

Rockford Chow Down was put on by the Belvidere-based Mexico Americanos Saliendo Adelante (MASA), a nonprofit that “provides entrepreneurial education for aspiring and current business owners and organizations, youth mentoring for young at-risk Latinos in the tri-county area,” according to its website.

The organization also puts on Tamale Fest, scheduled for Saturday, September 6th, 2025, in the parking lot of U-Haul storage at 5909 E. State Street.