Appetizers

Get ready, all you fans of the mobile-food movement, here comes yet another ambitious SactoMoFo project, the HoHoHoliday Brewfest.

Check it: 24 microbreweries and 25 to 30 mobile food trucks, carts, grills and stalls from around Northern California, spilling their cornucopias of mini-burgers and sweet-potato tots, Korean barbecue and Indian curry, among other delights. And all in an indoor venue.

"We're about halfway there with the logistics, and still doing outreach to the vendors," said SactoMoFo coordinator Paul Somerhausen, on the phone this morning. "We want to do something for charities during the Christmas period, and provide an opportunity for mobile food vendors to have a good day (during wet weather)."

HoHoHoliday Brewfest will be 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Dec. 3 at the Power Balance Pavilion (previously Arco Arena; www.powerbalancepavillion.com). Tickets: $5 admission only, $10 admission and five beer samplings. Buy additional beer tastings inside; food items will be $5 or less. Tickets are available now at www.ticketmaster.com, and coming soon to www.sactomofo.com.

SactoMoFo is the main advocate for our region's somewhat controversial mobile-food movement, which has a legion of devotees. Their voices were heard on May 1, when 10,000 hungry supporters lined up at 21 mobile food trucks for the Sacramento Mobile Food Festival at midtown's Fremont Park. They wanted to send a message to the Sacramento City Council: We want food trucks, so lighten up on the local ordinances that restrict mobile food vendors.

Two weeks later, a petition signed by 3,700 food-truck fans was handed over at a city council meeting. Now, five months later, the council is preparing once again to address the food-truck issue.

Currently, Sacramento food trucks cannot stay parked for more than 30 minutes at a time in most parts of the city, and must shut down at dusk, among other regulations.

As for the upcoming event's possible effect on the city council's collective consciousness, Somerhausen said, "We hope it accentuates (to the council) that there is a demand for food trucks. The uncertainty that comes with the ordinances makes it very difficult for our vendors to operate businesses that enrich our food culture."

HoHoHoliday Brewfest will benefit Toys for Tots and the Sacramento Food Bank. Donate to either charity and the $12 arena parking fee will be waived.

HoHoHoliday Brewfest is a work in progress. For continuing updates and more information: www.sactomofo.com, and SactoMoFo on Facebook and Twitter.