3 Can’t-Miss Food Festivals Throughout Ontario
Food festivals celebrate the best of a particular area, cuisine, or type of food, which is why you find festivals that revolve around butter, peaches, or Indian food.
Canada is home to a wealth of festivals devoted to everything from bread and honey to strawberries — but if you want to snack to your heart’s content, then you need to keep an eye out for festivals that highlight more substantial dishes. Watch out, however — your mouth will water from merely reading about the filling food festivals waiting for you around Canada.
Eat & Drink Norfolk Has a Taste of Everything
Eat & Drink Norfolk is a festival that takes place in Simcoe every April. The spots easy to find — if all the food trucks don’t give it away, just look for the town’s fairgrounds, since the festival occurs at the same site as the Norfolk County Fair. The event typically takes place over three days, but because you can also buy alcohol, only attendees who are over 19 can come.
Restaurants from all over Norfolk County participate in the festival, leaving visitors the opportunity to taste a variety of delicious foods. Craft beer breweries and wineries share their wares, as well. As you sample cheeses, Italian cuisine, comfort food, and pub fare, you can sip a brew, listen to live music, and finish up the evening with a delicious pastry.
Eat Pizza in Vaughan
Image via Flickr by rob_rob2001
If you love pizza, then you need to look for accommodations in Vaughan. Limit your search for July because that’s when Pizza Fest takes place. The festival is relatively new, but that just means that you can get in on the ground floor of the tradition.
Over the course of three days, you have the chance to try a slice from 25 different pizzerias, with live music making up the soundtrack to every meal. To truly test your limits — and your love of pepperoni and cheese — you can participate in the pizza eating contest or simply sit back and watch while you sip a beer. The event even includes an artisan pizza market where you can buy pre-made pizzas or fresh ingredients.
Be a Jerk in Toronto
Image via Flickr by Rick McCharles
August in Toronto is all about Caribbean cuisine. That’s when Jerkfest takes place over one indulgent, flavorful weekend that’s devoted to the celebration of all things jerk. From jerk chicken and even goat to jerk vegetables, you can try the classic food in a variety of ways. However, plenty of stalls and food trucks offer an array of other Caribbean dishes you can try. Don’t limit yourself to just jerk — but don’t deny yourself the pleasure of stuffing yourself silly, either.
Whether you get to indulge in a beloved food, such as pizza, or you have the chance to sample a dish you’ve never tasted before, you can’t deny that you get your money’s worth at a food festival. Besides that, one of the best ways to familiarize yourself with a new place is to eat the food. What’s your favorite type of food festival?