Crabapple Has a New Thursday Night Through December, and It Runs on Two Lots

"It will create another welcoming place for people to gather, connect and enjoy all that Crabapple has to offer," Mayor Peyton Jamison said in August, when the City of Milton announced a new outdoor event space at the east end of Market District Crabapple. He was talking about one patch of ground across from Hyde Brewing. Two months later the city launched something that reaches further than that.

Wanderlust Food Truck Fest started on October 15. It runs on Thursday evenings from 4 to 8 p.m., and it doesn't sit in one place. Half of it sets up in the Market District Crabapple parking lot. The other half sets up in the gravel area behind the Green at Crabapple Market. Most nights, those are two separate dinner plans in downtown Milton. On a Wanderlust Thursday they're one evening. After the October 29 edition, three Thursdays remain this year, and the rest of Crabapple's holiday calendar falls around them.

Two lots, each with its own job

The city calls Wanderlust "a new addition this fall to our community's culinary scene." It describes the two locations as Market District Crabapple's parking area and Crabapple Market's gravel lot. Appen Media's Milton Herald reported that admission is free and that you pay each truck directly for what you order.

The two halves don't do the same thing:

• Market District Crabapple parking lot. This is where the live music is.
• Gravel area behind Crabapple Market. This half sits by the Green, where cornhole is set up.

You'll see "East Side" and "West Side" on event materials, but the city and the Milton Herald attach those labels to opposite lots. Go by the venue names, which both sources agree on. Music is at Market District. Cornhole is at Crabapple Market.

The trucks change every time. Before opening night the city said to expect more than a dozen, and it describes each edition as "a little different depending on the collection of that night's food trucks." No one has posted a lineup ahead of time, so you'll find out who's cooking when you walk the lot. Because the city is still taking vendor applications for the November and December dates, the mix should keep changing through the last edition.

The restaurants on either side of the trucks

Food trucks get you out of the house. What surrounds the two lots is what fills out the rest of the evening. Here's a list of places within the two districts, using only restaurants on Milton Restaurant Week's 2026 roster and a 2026 local guide.

On Heritage Walk, near the Market District lot and its music:

• Hyde Brewing/Ceviche, 3300 Heritage Walk, Suite 102, across from the new outdoor event space
• Vice Steak Bar, 3000 Heritage Walk
• Lily Sushi Bar, 1865 Heritage Walk
• L'Antoinette, 1935 Heritage Walk

Roundabout's 2026 Crabapple Fest guide also lists Suite 200 Grille at 3000 Heritage Walk and SmashBurger by Vice at 3100 Heritage Walk.

On Crabapple Road, around Crabapple Market and the Green:

• B&B Tavern Crabapple, 12620 Crabapple Road
• Smoke on the Farm, 12635 Crabapple Road, Suite 210
• Tres Lunas Tequila Bar, 12635 Crabapple Road, Suite 320
• Playa Bowls, 12660 Crabapple Road

The same Roundabout guide adds Campania at 12635 Crabapple Road and MilkShake Factory at 12660 Crabapple Road.

B&B Tavern is the newest name here. ScoopOTP reported in July 2025 that it was coming to 12620 Crabapple Road and aiming to open in the fourth quarter of 2025. By September 2026 it was on the Restaurant Week list. If you haven't been yet, a Wanderlust Thursday is an easy excuse to stop in.

The festival doesn't have to be the whole evening. A plate from the trucks fits just as well before a reservation on Heritage Walk, or before a milkshake on Crabapple Road for dessert.

Three Thursdays left, and what's on around each one

The October 29 edition has come and gone, and Thursday, November 5, is an off week. The next edition is November 12. Here's how the rest of the season runs, Thursdays plus the events in Crabapple that land near them:

1. Saturday, November 7. Two very different events on the same day. Milton's Veterans Breakfast starts at 9 a.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall, 2006 Heritage Walk. It's free, but you need to RSVP to [email protected]. That evening, from 7 to 9 p.m., the Green at Crabapple Market hosts Grace on The Green with Kevin Swan & The Well Collective.
2. Thursday, November 12, 4 to 8 p.m. The first Wanderlust of November.
3. Friday, November 13, 1 to 5 p.m. The Green at Crabapple Market holds a Holiday Market Shop, Sip & Stroll the afternoon after Wanderlust, behind the same Crabapple Market where the cornhole half of the festival set up.
4. Thursday, December 3, 4 to 8 p.m. The second-to-last Wanderlust, two days before Christmas in Crabapple.
5. Saturday, December 5, 2 to 6 p.m. Christmas in Crabapple and the Milton tree lighting at Broadwell Pavilion.
6. Thursday, December 10, 4 to 8 p.m. The last Wanderlust on the city's 2026 schedule.
7. Saturday, December 12, 8 to 11 a.m. Pancake Breakfast with Santa at Fire Station 44, 13690 Highway 9. You don't need to register. Parking is at the office complex next door or at Stonecreek Church.

The schedule tightens in December. Between December 3 and December 12, Milton has an event on four of those ten days, and two of them are food truck nights a week apart. Wanderlust's 4 p.m. start also works for early December, when the light goes early and much of the four-hour window falls after sunset.

December 5 brings the season to Broadwell Pavilion

Wanderlust splits downtown into two lots. Christmas in Crabapple puts everything in one place. The city holds it at Broadwell Pavilion, 12615 Broadwell Road, in what it calls historic downtown Crabapple, on Saturday, December 5, from 2 to 6 p.m.

The city's event page lists face painting, a balloon artist, ornament and cookie decorating, letters to Santa, and Christmas music from an on-site DJ and live musicians, including Milton High's chorus. Santa takes photos with anyone who stops by. You don't need a reservation, and the city shares its professional photographer's pictures free. The tree lighting happens at dusk, with holiday singalongs led by local musicians.

This year there's something new for families with kids who make things. The city is adding a Kids Market to Christmas in Crabapple for ages 5 to 17, where children can sell items they designed, baked, crafted or made themselves. Registration opened in September. For parents, that turns the afternoon into a project to plan ahead of time. Whatever your young baker or crafter makes, it needs to be ready by the first Saturday in December.

If you want to put next year on the calendar now, the city has already set the 2027 Christmas in Crabapple for December 4.

What the new space at Market District is set up to host

The August announcement explains why the city calls Market District Crabapple an event destination. The new outdoor space sits at the district's easternmost end, across from Hyde Brewing. It opened with the All Nashville Roadshow concert, and the Milton Farmers Market is on its schedule.

The city also outlined plans that aren't built yet. These include a permanent stage, plus an office building and extensive landscaping that will buffer the stage from nearby homes. Crabapple Live, the monthly mini-festival the city co-sponsors, is expected back next spring and summer. The same announcement said Market District was "looking into" an outdoor skating rink starting in November. That was a possibility, not a commitment. Until Market District confirms a rink, plan your November around the Thursdays that are on the calendar.

Those Thursdays end on December 10. Until then, a Wanderlust Thursday puts Heritage Walk and Crabapple Road on the same evening, with music at one lot and cornhole at the other.

If you're thinking about what a home within walking distance of Heritage Walk and the Green could look like for your family, Casey Schiltz would love to talk it through over a plate from the trucks. Schedule a Consultation, and we'll find a Thursday that works for you.