Ranch Nite Wednesdays in Lakewood Ranch takes a summer break

At 6:45 p.m. Wednesday, the air on Lakefront Drive in Waterside was heating up like the inside of the Cornerstone and Company’s wood fired oven.

Even so, it only took the food truck another hour to sell out of pizzas. 

Despite the heat, residents from Sarasota and Manatee counties flocked to Waterside Place to indulge in the last Ranch Nite Wednesday of the season. Ranch Nites feature rotating food trucks, a market, live music and a cornhole league so big it takes up an entire block. 

The event is well attended each week, even when temperatures rise. Nicole Hackel, the Events and Resident Experience manager for Lakewood Ranch, said the idea of making Ranch Nite Wednesday a year-round event like the Farmers’ Market has been discussed.

But even regulars like Elizabeth Mitchell and Dillon Cowart, who drive from Ellenton and Brandon to meet and eat at the food truck gathering, said they wouldn’t attend as often during the summer months.

“Maybe once in a while, but it’s hot,” Mitchell said. 

It isn't likely Ranch Nite Wednesdays ever will become a year-round event, and not just because of the heat.

“It rains in the evening in the summer,” Hackel said. “The Farmers’ Market is easier (to continue year-round) because it’s in the morning.” 

So those who love the event will have to wait until October for the next one.