Tickles the Clown offers a twisty balloon to Adrienne Williams, age 3, who came with her parents from Brookline to have some fun and food at the Southern NH Food Truck Festival hosted Aug. 1-2 at the Hampshire Dome in Milford by Great New England Food Truck Festivals. Photo by LORETTA JACKSON

MILFORD – No slow boat to China was needed to savor some oriental flavors on Aug, 1-2, for plenty of exotic cuisines and local favorites were on the menu at the 10th Annual Southern New Hampshire Food Truck Festival, presented at Milford’s Hampshire Dome by Great New England Food Truck Festivals.

“What a day of fantastic fun,” said Jody Donohue, founder and director of Great New England (GNE) Food Truck Festivals.

Donohue hosts a series of 14 GNE events from March through November that spotlight foods, arts and crafts.

“We had 19 food trucks here, 42 vendors, bounce houses and some costumed princesses, along with Buzz & Woody characters, face painting at The Funky Brush and Tickles the Clown,” she added.

The venue is a Milford landmark. The Hampshire Dome sports complex, 34 Emerson Road, is a 94,000 square foot indoor arena that features sports fields, a driving range, a running track and a snack bar well patronized by regional athletic teams and the community.

Laura Duboy, left, a resident of Pepperell, Ma., and her daughter, Ashley Herbert, a resident of North Chelmsford, Ma., deemed the food truck festival a good enough reason to hold an impromptu Mother-Daughter Day. Photo by LORETTA JACKSON

Wafting aromas at the festival promised curry dishes, baked potatoes, barbecued beef and pizza, cannolis, exotic coffees and gluten-free selections.

The 19 vehicles that were fortified with ovens, grills, steamers or freezers, as needed, encircled a cafe-style dining space in the center of the parking lot. Patrons nibbled, sipped and supped, mostly among local friends and families, or visitors from elsewhere.

Donohue and her team alerted attendees to a unique upcoming event — New Hampshire’s first-ever and timely celebration, the Gluten Never Ever Expo, an event with a slogan proclaiming, “Gluten is Never on the Guest List.”

The Gluten Never Ever Expo is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sept. 5-6, at the Hampshire Dome, where parking is always free and ample.

She invites everyone to learn more about how delicious dishes can taste without gluten, a family of proteins present in wheat, rye, barley and other recipe components. The substance is proven to trigger digestive distress and intestinal damage to the intolerant, especially people contending with Celiac disease.

Kasey Martin, left, and Chloe Smith, both of Dracut, Mass., were the food truck festival representatives of Nothing Bundt Cakes whose Concord bakery has branched out to a new location — its Nashua store at 219 Daniel Webster Highway where 11 flavors of Bundt cakes topped with a signature cream cheese frosting can be ordered at nashua-nh@nothingbundtcakes.com. Photo by LORETTA JACKSON

Bakers, grill chefs, pastry chefs and prep cooks at the upcoming gluten-free event may feature corn, chia, nut flowers, soy and tapioca, along with flax, beans, kasha and other naturally gluten-free ingredients. A multitude of ready-mades for take home are anticipated.

“I invite everyone who came out to the Southern New Hampshire Food Truck Festival this year to mark your calendars for the Festival’s return, next year, on Aug. 7-8.” Donohued noted.

More information on the upcoming gluten-free expo is available online at glutennevereverexpo.com.

General inquiries are welcome by email to GNEEventsllc@gmail.com.

Louise Cook from Amherst, a Marine Corps veteran and owner of Bold Fox Design Studio, operated with her husband, Trevor Cook, also a Marine Corps veteran, pauses in displaying some of her original hand-drawn, laser-cut and hand-painted artworks of layered wood, resin and acrylic that are for sale online, at selected shops, or commissioned by contact online to boldfoxdesign.com. Photo by LORETTA JACKSON

Sharon Jarry, owner of Briar Bush Farm, 160 Briar Bush Road, Canterbury, was featured at the food truck festival exhibiting soaps, lotions and gift baskets whose ingredients are enhanced with the milk of eight farm goats, productive animals whose bounty is available through briarbushfarm.com. Photo by LORETTA JACKSON