Food fairs, shows, festivals, etc -- any more coming up? [Events]

2006 Nov 7
The Ottawa Wine & Food Show was -- well, some parts were great, but it was too much 'Ottawa Sluts & Shots Show' for me.

Is anything else good in the offing?

2007 Jan 9
A bit of a wait, but I'll put a couple in the queue:

Midsummer Herbfest 2007: Sunday, July 29
Hosted by the Herb Garden, near Almonte
www.herbfest.ca

Perth Garlic Festival
August 11 and 12, 2007
www.perthgarlicfestival.com/

2007 Jan 10
My bf and I attend the Bon Appetit food show every year. It's held in the Cattle Castle at Landsdowne, usually the first Tuesday in May. This year it will be on Tues May 1st.

I MUCH prefer this event to the Ottawa Wine and Food Show. Firstly you buy your admission tickets in advance and once you walk in and give your ticket, that's the last one you will use for the night.
Tickets are $75 with a $45 tax receipt, and are all inclusive of food and wine for the evening.
That's right, it's all you can eat and drink all night from 5:00 to around 10:00ish and you use NO tickets. You just walk up to each stall and get a small plate of food from each vendor. You can return to each vendor as often as you like.
Likewise for the booze. You get the small plastic wine glasses from each wine vendor or a small plastic glass of beer. At the beginning of the evening they are usually filled about half way. Hubby and I hang until the bitter end, and by then they want to get rid of what they have left and they are filling them up to the top and telling you to come back for more when you are done.
It's a really fun evening and I suggest that you plan to cab home because you can and will get tipsy.
All the proceeds go to charity.

www.bonappetitottawa.ca

2007 Jan 10
OH MY GOD! The Bon Appetit show sounds amazing....I've always wanted to go to the Food and Wine Show (because it supposedly is so good and is always sold out, long line ups, etc....) BUT I will definitely give this one a try with the boyfriend. Thanx!

2007 Jan 10
Wow! This sounds incredibly awesome. Thanks much for the notice! :-)

2007 Jan 11
It definitely is awesome, and they usually have a great mix of restaurants from casual (Lone Star, Red Lobster) to eclectic (Savana Cafe) to upscale (Parfyum, Urban Pear).
It's a good crowd of people and they always have a live band playing - usually Johnny Vegas and band from Maxwell's. They usually clear a dance floor and the more tipsy among the crowd end up doing some dancing :)
Since it's for charity, there are alot of politicians and company execs that go and buy a block of tickets for their employees. You also see the odd local celebrity. They do a silent auction as well with some great prizes (lots of restaurant gift certificates).
It's an all round really fun evening without the stress of the tickets.
There can be line ups at the beginning of the evening at the more popular booths, but around 7:00, once people start getting full (or start leaving), then you can pretty much walk right up to any booth and get what you want right off the bat.

If anyone decides to go, I hope you enjoy!

2007 Jan 11
On the Québec side here, i know there's the "rendez vous des saveurs" in september. It's held in Hull, for a whole weekend, and is free to attend.

Students from 3 cooking schools are there and present their "creations" (you can taste the food also) and there are also lots of local chefs who present their "local cuisine".

There is also a conference on the 24th of february in gatineau called "Journée sur la consommation des aliments régionaux" (Regional foods) where you can sample some of the "local foods".

I know it's not in the region here, but in Montréal there's the "Festival Montréal en lumiere", which is one of their big "yearly" festivals, and every year they have different foods, tastings, courses, etc.. This year i think they have a lot of NYC chefs in town. A few years ago i had attended a great 3 hour wine course on Xeres wines.

2007 Jan 11
The only crappy thing about the Bon Appetit show is that it's on a Tuesday....sort of a bummer that it's not on a Friday or Saturday!

2007 Jan 12
The only food and wine show I have attended was in October in Calgary, and the ticket thing was a pain, the food was under-inspiring, the portions tended to be miniscule, and it was VERY overcrowded. The Bon Appetit show sounds like a big improvement and well worth it.