Ranch Nite Wednesdays returns to Waterside Place

Ranch Nite Wednesdays made its annual debut, and it is even bigger this season. 

The weekly gathering of food trucks and vendors has expanded into Gateway Park with different activities each week. 

The first Wednesday of the month now features a themed night market. On Oct. 2, the theme was “Bark-tober Fest,” so all the vendors were selling products for dogs. 

Pet Wants was selling natural dog treats, and dog trainer Olivia Meger was on-hand in the tent if anyone needed training advice.

“Training the people is the biggest part,” she said. “I train the people as much as the dogs.”

Meger’s perfectly behaved Doberman Pinscher, Thea, acted as the perfect advertisement for her services at K9 Connections. 

Next month’s market will feature an entirely different set of vendors, as the theme is “International Foodie Fest.” 

For the remainder of the month, the park will host drop-in pilates on the second Wednesday, drop-in line dancing on the third Wednesday and 9-hole minigolf on the last Wednesday. 

“We were just looking for different ways to activate the entire street,” said Nicole Hackel, the events and resident experience manager for Lakewood Ranch. 

The rest of Ranch Nite Wednesday flows the same as it always has. From the park, visitors walk down the center of Lakefront Drive between a dozen food trucks parked on both sides of the street. 

The row of food trucks leads to the pavilion, where live music is playing and there’s plenty of seating to stop and eat. 

And beyond the pavilion, Lakefront Drive is shoulder to shoulder with corn hole players because MVP Sports and Social hosts the largest recreational corn hole league in the nation each week. 

Ranch Nite Wednesdays run from October through May.