The number of food festivals set to take place in Burlington this year is expanding — the current count is six, each in various stages of planning and in the city’s application process.
Burlington residents will be spoiled for choice: two food truck festivals, which are working their way through city processes currently, as well as the third annual Burlington VegFest, and Rotary Burlington Lakeshore’s long-running Canada’s Largest Ribfest. Then there are also three themed food events in the works —the Mac and Cheese Festival, Wing Festival, and the Longest Dinner Table.
Late last year, it looked as though the Burlington Food Truck Festival might not happen again, after downtown Burlington businesses objected to the festival’s presence at Spencer Smith Park, saying that the festival took business away from them.
Street Eats Market then stepped up with a food truck festival called Street Eats Burlington — but with Aldershot’s LaSalle Park as the proposed location.
And then Canadian Food Truck Festivals, who have run the Burlington Food Truck Festival for seven years, began to look at Burloak Waterfront Park as a possible new location.
The City of Burlington is currently asking for public input on the proposal to run the Burlington Food Truck Festival at Burloak Waterfront Park from July 19 to 21 (click here to go to the survey). Canadian Food Truck Festivals have also put in an application for a food truck festival at Hamilton’s Gage Park on July 12 to 14, 2024.
The city is also seeking public input on the proposal to run the Street Eats Market Burlington at LaSalle Park (click here to take the survey). Alongside food, this event is set to feature family activities, live music, and an area licensed for alcohol. Street Eats is proposing off-site parking and a shuttle service to and from the event site to mitigate parking challenges.
Street Eats Market is looking at LaSalle Park and other sites in Burlington for its Mac and Cheese Festival (to run May 18 to 20), and Wing Fest (to run June 28 to 30). Street Eats is also working on a location for the Longest Dinner Table event.
Says Philip Suos, founder and CEO of Street Eats Market and an Aldershot resident, “I’m trying to bring things to Aldershot.” Suos explains that he’s working on finalizing the venues, pending city approvals.
Apart from the Longest Dinner Table event, which will be ticketed, Suos’ events all feature free admission as well as aiming to raise money for local charities. He’s open to ideas from local non-profits and charities on how they might participate in the festivals and raise some money.
The free admission is because “We’re trying not to create a barrier for people for entry,” Suos explains. Instead, Street Eats uses an a la carte approach, with VIP packages for people who want official Street Eats merchandise, to bypass lines, and to access to exclusive washrooms, for instance.
“We’re about food trucks…and more,” Suos says, noting that the charitable component is important to Street Eats.
The Mac and Cheese Festivals have been running for 10 years, across the GTA and as far away as Winnipeg and Halifax. Suos expects that there will be “over 50 varieties of mac and cheese,” and he invites any BIA members to participate for free.
The Mac and Cheese Festival —and the Wing Festival — is a competition, too, with categories for judges’ choice and people’s choice.
For the Wing Festival, Suos says there will be “new flavours that you’ve never tried before.”
Local chefs and restauranteurs are, of course, encouraged to participate in these festivals.
