In the wake of what was billed as the first annual Food Truck Fair in downtown Minneapolis, disappointed attendees are demanding refunds.

Approximately 5,000 fairgoers paid anywhere from $15 to $85 for tickets to the event, held Sunday, Aug. 5 in the Warehouse District. The 14 food trucks on site could barely keep up with the demand, and many ran out of items within a couple hours, attendees reported.

Some people said they waited nearly an hour to get in the gates and then met long lines to get food and to beer samples.

Kevin Walker, one of the event organizers, said they never anticipated everyone would show up right when the festival began at 12:30 p.m. He acknowledged the lines were too long to get in and next time around they will more than double the beer taps and food vendors.

“Obviously you put on an event and this is something you never want to happen,” Walker said. “The first two hours were a failure on our part. But the people who stayed or came later in the day had an amazing time.”

He said the food trucks there did well, with some doubling past record sales. “Getting the proper number of food trucks next year shouldn’t be a problem.”

Following a barrage of online complaints, organizers posted a statement on the fair’s Facebook page (facebook.com/MnFoodTruckFair), saying “the first year is always the hardest.” The statement made no mention of refunds and did not address the many requests for them.

Walker did not say whether refunds would be offered. He said about 97 percent of tickets were sold through Groupon, Social Living or City Pages. And much of the money had been spent for overhead costs.

“Some people think the purpose of the event was too bring in as many people as we could and make as much money as possible. That’s just not true,” Walker said.

But this was not the first local food truck festival.

The Canterbury Park Food Truck Festival, coming up Friday, Aug. 10, is in its second year. It will feature 15 Twin Cities street vendors.