The Local Roots food truck aspires to be more than just an average food truck. Owners Dustin Spruill and Kacie Spruill first held the now-annual Roots Fest in 2017. Dustin Spruill said they had ideas beyond people coming to just enjoy their food, as they love the community and fellowship Tuscaloosa has to offer.

“I kind of knew when I started the food truck that we wanted to kind of do things other than just be a food truck,”  Dustin Spruill said. “And then we’ve always loved music festivals, and just you know anytime that we would have live events and live music, people would show up, so we kind of just started it as a little block party and it grew from there.”

What was originally just a block party created to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the Local Roots food truck turned out to be a full blown yearly music festival that brings world class music to the community. The number of attendees over the years has also skyrocketed as Local Roots continues to bring the family-oriented music festival to Tuscaloosa.

This year’s Roots Fest will be held at Government Plaza in downtown Tuscaloosa on Saturday, April 27, 2019 from 4:00-11:00 p.m. The admission to the music festival is free and welcomes people of all ages.

“It’s 100% free, so if you want to come listen to music, there’s no charge, there’s no gates, it’s come-and-go and we want it to stay that way.” Dustin Spruill said. “I think Tuscaloosa is a neat town and I think we’re begging for events like this that are free that you may see in Nashville or Austin or places like that.”

Dustin Spruill said the Roots Fest team has been working diligently while preparing for this upcoming Saturday, and he is thankful for all of the sponsors who allow the event to continue to be free to the public. This year, the music festival includes performances by Drew Holcomb and the Neighbors, American Aquarium, Adam Hood, Jason Eady, Courtney Patton and Joshua Ray Walker.

“The biggest thing that we are trying to say is, ‘Hey, it’s an awesome day, it’s six bands, it’s six hours of music and its 100% free,’ and that’s the biggest thing that we’re trying to get out,” Dustin Spruill said.

The only cost for attendees is the food they may wish to purchase. Of course, the Local Roots food truck will be prominently featured. The event is also providing a beer garden.

The Roots Fest will benefit the West Alabama Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA) this year, with all proceeds going to the local organization.

Alex Wilson, a senior majoring in public relations, is the Local Roots social media intern, and she has been a helping hand with building their social media and website. Wilson is getting hands-on experience as a student by creating graphics, posters, flyers and billboards to help advertise the upcoming Roots Fest as she hopes for all to attend.

“I think it’s just a good way to get involved in the local Tuscaloosa community and I think it’s a great event that they are putting on,” Wilson said. “The artists are really good, and it’s going to be I think a lot of fun.”

Wilson is planning to go to the event, and she is encouraging her friends to come along with her. She said the Roots Fest displays the passion Local Roots has for the Tuscaloosa community, and it does not go unnoticed.

“I really just hope that it brings kind of everyone together, and everyone kind of sees that Local Roots is a really good family-run business, family base, and they’re very involved in the community,” Wilson said. “And I think that it’s so great that they’re putting on an event like this that’s free to the public that you know anyone can attend.”

Tancy Champion, an account manager at Fitts Agency, said she attended the event last year with her husband and some of their friends. She plans to return this year because she said she had a great time last year.

Champion said she recommends for everyone who is a part of the Tuscaloosa community to attend as she shares her enjoyable experience from last year.

“We definitely enjoyed it,” Champion said. “It was very, very family-oriented [with] lots of kids. Lots of pets were there. It was real laid back. You know, you brought your own chair, and everybody had blankets [to sit on]. The music was really good. I mean, we really enjoyed it.”

Champion said she is looking forward to listening to the new entertainment that will be featured this upcoming weekend as she will be able to spend time with her family and friends at the event again.

“We just like to have community-driven events with people from different backgrounds that can come enjoy music, have awesome food, and hang out and give something like that to Tuscaloosa that we can, you know, have as our own and then we can kind of grow on and hopefully this continues to grow,” Dustin Spruill said.