Food Festivals... not for foodies? [Events]

2015 Jul 18
For once, I was excited about an Ottawa food festival! The Ottawa Asian Fest's Night Market at Lansdowne this weekend sounded interesting and unique and, as a huge fan of East Asian food, I really intended to go. Then I saw that 13,000 people on Facebook had said they were going to the event, and I bailed because I knew there'd be massive lineups.

Fallout on Instagram confirmed my fear. Lineups were insanely long for the truly authentic and rare food items, and even then they were disappointing (e.g. stinky tofu: iconosquare.com).

So people who didn't want to wait in long lines ended up buying poutine. Not the best poutine in Ottawa by any stretch, and at jacked up festival prices (iconosquare.com). Many of the Ottawa vendors there weren't even vendors of Asian food!

Do foodies even care about these festivals? I love food, and what I care about is where I can buy good food on any given day. I'm happy to support fundraising events but these for-profit festivals, with their inferior products, poor value, and downright insulting lineups, hold little appeal for me.

How about you?

2015 Jul 19
I became jaded to events like this a long time ago. **NOTE:** Please do not blindly follow my opinion as your own. Make up your own mind.

Every food related special event gets a lot of good press, but right up to the last minute the vendors don't know how many people will be attending. Some drop out, some don't bring enough product or can't keep up with demand. Not all, but enough. And it's always the ones that you want to try.

I completely understand why. Food is perishable, and not cheap. You don't want to have a huge amount of leftovers or say goodbye to your profits. It's tough enough for a new restaurant/truck/idea.

This often leaves people with butthurt feelings, especially if they had to pay $10 to get into the event.

Add in the enormous crush of people who attend, hoping for something interesting and/or new, and you get a lot of frustration with long lines and overcrowded facilities. This last is true even if the event is considered a success. I'm getting too old to just stand around, waiting for an $8 taco.

It is rare now that I attend events. I used to (and still do!) love the new, the untried, the thrill of being the first. I just can't stand to do it anymore. That's just me. With friends or not, it can go either way.

I'll pay to go out to a restaurant/charity event where seating is limited or the price is pretty high because I know there will be fewer people there who are just looking for something to do. I prefer to be in a more similarly-minded crowd. No kids, no dogs, everyone there is focused on the event.

I love reading the reviews from the people who have attended the event, though. I want to know. I just can't stand to find out for myself.

I hope I haven't offended too many people.

2015 Jul 19
I don't like lineups . . .

When catering to a large, open, public group you probably aim for "average". Spicy means a different things to different people, so you probably tone it down towards bland :-)

2015 Jul 19
I went and the lineups were extremely disorganized.
Where do you pay for foods, where do you pick them up and who was just standing around talking to friends??

Foods kind of expensive and why would I want Greek food at Asian fest?
Same for gelato,churros.
A lot of the signs for foods were in um.....Asian writing and I do not read that.

I did do a short review and have some pics.

prettytastyreviews.blogspot.ca

I was tempted by the spiral fried potato,but when that is almost $10 and long lineup I passed.
Also earlier I was at Whole Foods and they make their own potato chips in-store and they are $3-4 a bag and very good (it is $3 for a 150g bag).

Whole foods also often has asian foods in their hot buffet,like Korean style chicken, had some last week and it was good.

2015 Jul 19
Yup I feel this way about beer festivals.

I am a major beer geek but cannot seem to drag myself out to one of those festivals.

2015 Jul 19
zymurgist, yes beer festivals are a perfect example! You line up for hastily pulled beer in a flimsy plastic cup (or purchased sampling glass), which you then have to find somewhere to perch or loiter to consume, all for more than you'd pay to sit down with a delightful cold pint glass in a cozy pub.

P.S. I changed "beef" to "beer" in your first sentence, because I'm pretty sure that's what you meant. I'd probably give a beef festival a try. ;-)

2015 Jul 19
As I see it, the main draw of Festivals/Shows is that they bring lots of people together in one place; the actual subject of the festival is secondary. A foodie wants the subject to be the primary draw.

And of course the Organizer of the festival needs to be paid to make it worth their while. So now you have vendors working in an unfamiliar environment, having to charge higher prices so the Organizer can get his cut. It's a perfect scenario for overpriced and underwhelming product.

Thank goodness we have all-year food trucks and restaurants so we don't need festivals! :-)

2015 Jul 19
With all due respect, I disagree that these events are not for foodies. They are in fact more democratic in that everyone lines up. Why would foodies or self declared foodies have preferential treatment or entitlement to a better experience? People enjoy food their own way. One way to enjoy the food a bit more is to go earlier or on the Friday to beat the line ups. I think there is still value in trying different foods.

I do admit I was fairly discouraged by the line ups, the prices were a bit steep for some items, and thought there could have been more variety in the food (no roasted pig hocks or ramen burgers as there is in the Richmond, BC night market). Understandably, no one wanted to venture into what might not sell well and Ottawa remains an ambivalent market when it comes to "exotic" foods. Nonetheless, I did get to try more different food (fried oysters omelette, grilled squid, lamb skewers) than I did at the 613 Night Market at the Ottawa Congress Center which was a mix of truck and restaurants setting up a table for the event (not that it wasn't good - just commenting of trying something new).

Another aspect of this festival that drew me in more than other recent food festivals is that it was also a cultural celebration. There was a Lion dance and various Asian singers throughout the afternoon and evening. Cheesy as it might be, my mixed Asian kids rarely get to see Asian entertainment so for me that is a little plus.


2015 Jul 19
RiceLover, you raise some excellent points, especially regarding the cultural aspects. If you view the higher prices and lineups as the "cost of admission" to the dancing and singing shows, then it's much easier to approve of the whole thing!

To clarify, nobody's asking for preferential treatment for foodies... it's the other way around. People who are purely interested in food aren't likely to endure the lineups unless there's a real benefit. The Poutine Festivals are a perfect example: you can get the same poutines any other day of the year for less money and with no lineups. The Asian festival is an exception because some of the offerings are in fact unique. So I can understand foodies tolerating the lineups for the opportunity to try something new (or even better, going at non-peak times as you suggested). But please don't line up for poutine or souvlaki! :D lol

2015 Jul 19
... or ribs, or corn, or a potato tornado on a stick, or mini donuts ...

Okay, maybe for mini donuts.

2015 Jul 19
I used to love going to food and beer festivals but then it wasn't so fun anymore. The food festivals were poorly run with average food so I stopped going. The beer festivals became laden with so many restrictions and, as FF mentioned, more expensive than the pub. I stopped attending those as well. I much prefer the European markets where you can eat and drink and be horribly adult most days of the week. No mad rushes, no overwhelming one day crowds.

2015 Jul 19
Curious about the backlash for the beer festivals (& what restrictions?). I've been to all the craft beer festivals at city hall (is that 2 or 3 years now?) and always enjoyed them. Mind you, we get there for when it opens and leave when it gets crazy at night.

I agree it's not the most economical way of boozing, but when I go to the pub I tend to keep drinking the same thing, and it's something I know.

The craft beer fest allowed me to try things I wouldn't have otherwise bought like weird fruity concoctions from Beyond the Pale and Flying Monkeys, as well a one-off deliciously alcoholic (~9%) tar like substance from Beaus. I couldn't have drunk any more of them than the samples I had, but they were interesting.

I also helped me discover my favourite beer - Ashton Amber, plus a delicious special Maple Beer from Perth Brewery.

The other advantage of the festival is it's easy to get a 'pass' from Mrs Ratty. If I were to say "mind if a skip the house chores and spend all afternoon at the pub with my mates" I'd get a raised eyebrow. However the fact it's a special festival means the eyelids don't even bat.

So to me the appeal of the beer festival is the chance to try lots of different things, kind of like the equivalent of 'small plates'. Maybe I should start a pub with a 'small glasses' concept. Or even more horrible, 'shared pints'.

Ratty.

2015 Jul 19
Ratty, I get where you're coming from and I love trying little samples of new things as much as anyone. Several pubs in Ottawa offer flights of beer. The king of these is Brasseurs du Temps with their "clock of beer" -- 12 samples of their beers, arranged in a circle. It's a beer festival on a tray! Wonderfully convenient, but it might not get you that easy pass from Mrs Ratty. :-)

2015 Jul 21
Totally agree with the anti-festival theme. I have had good luck many years ago with fundraiser type events ($150/person - many chefs/restaurants providing food). As far as beer fests, the one Beau's Octoberfest I attended (helping Zym) seemed to be awesome. Many craft conditioned beers not available elsewhere, decent selection of restaurant offerings, + entertainment. Keeping to my limit so to drive myself home was the biggest downer of the day.

2015 Jul 21
I'm glad you posted this topic Fresh Foodie, I had the same impression of the food market. On the plus side it was free attendance, some of the boothes looked really interesting, one had something that looked like colourful cartoon candy skewers, stunky tofu, a few local restos stands but with heat and huge line up I didn't try much:( I loved DJ music and gelato even off topic was nice in the heat:) Ifvthey have it again I hope the logistics get sorted out. In the mean time more trips to T&T :)))

I noticed too in recent years that local events were hit and miss with quite a few misses or poor time/cost per value but some awesome ones too. I'll post a new topic string, I'd love to hear more of local good fun food events/experience as there are a few great memorable ones too:)

2015 Jul 22
i'm a big supporter of the brewery market beer festivals. where else can you get some many beers too choose from. Plus all the proceeds goes to ottawa river keeper charity. support our local brewers and charities. can't go wrong. plus you get to enjoy being outside in a park for the afternoon.

I know i will be attending the brewery market this weekend. 10 breweries!! a few breweries i have never tried before.

2015 Jul 27
We went to the Ukrainian Festival this past weekend. We got there shortly after it opened and there were already long line ups for the food, especially the perogie line. So I opted for a plate consisting of an unadorned cabbage roll, a meat patty and potato salad. I would have liked to have had a sauce on the cabbage roll but I guess that must be how they eat them so I can't complain about that. The food really needed salt, so I decided to go back to where they were serving to pick up a couple of those little salt packets. However, all they had was a single salt shaker so was unable to take it to where my food was. The food was well prepared but way too bland. Hopefully next year they will either season things or have individual salt packets. Anyone else go?

2015 Jul 27
We went to the Ukrainian Festival too. You had to buy tickets first for the perogies and sausages and then line up for the food. There was a really long line for tickets, but then someone told us there was another ticket booth inside the beer garden that had no line, so we didn't end up waiting very long. I'm vegetarian and unfortunately the guy selling tickets didn't know much about the food so I couldn't make sure before buying a ticket for the perogy plate that I'd actually be able to eat it. It all worked out though and the perogies were really good, but needed salt. A larger portion of sour cream would also have been nice. My husband got the perogy and sausage plate and said the sausage was good.

We also bought a cheesecake square from another vendor. It was good, but they had no forks, and the main food booth wouldn't give you a fork for food purchased from other vendors.

All in all, it was a good event with a few kinks to work out for next year.

2015 Jul 27
Brewery Market was great, as per usual. 53 beers from 10 local breweries, 3 or 4 food vendors, no lines at all this time. $6 for a 12oz pour. Not too shabby.

Always good times.

2015 Jul 29
Went to the Ukranian fest.

The perogies were good and not much lineup on a sunday.
Skipped the sausage as there is so many good sausage shops that have cooked sausages,I rarely get those at festivals.

Was kind of interested in the doughnuts,till I realized the box looked very familiar- like the box they have at the Polish store beside my house (where they let me buy just 1 or 2 doughnuts and not a whole box).
I'm only 1 person here,so do not want 6 doughnuts.

The Polish store gets doughnuts and pastries from Montreal a couple times a week (Polka deli, walkley rd).

There is a food truck festival this weekend at Aviation museum and they are asking $20 for admission only.
I'm not paying $20 for admission, plus to get stuff from a food truck and wait in line.

I like different foods and already eat so much different stuff that I just go to the food and wine event at the Hull casino in the fall and that's about it.

Whole foods also has some food events that are free and listed on their calendar.
They had a Canadian cheese tasting last week, Tues from 6-7:30 and it was quite informal, but very generous samples and you just had to show up between those hours.
They had at least 10 cheeses to try and got maybe almost 1 oz of each kind and kind of was stuffed and that was my dinner...

-last week they had some kind of cookie tasting,but I missed that. Looked kind of fun...

2015 Jul 29
We were at the Ukranian Festival on Saturday and they were selling individual doughnuts. If I remember correctly they were $2 for one, but $6 for a half dozen. At that price we did go for the six. We also got single pieces of the poppyseed cake and cheesecake, which were both very good.

The lines were long on Saturday but they moved quickly enough. We enjoyed both the perogies and sausages (didn't feel the need to add salt). I would have liked to try the cabbage rolls (and vodka), but we were going out for dinner that night and I didn't want to stuff myself more than I already did.

I thought the festival was really well run considering it was 'first annual'. Often the first edition of a festival (thinking Beau's Oktoberfest) can be a bit adhoc, and takes a couple of tries to get right. They might have ended up getting more people than expected but they seemed to handle it well.

2015 Jul 30
I heard about the food truck event at the Aviation museum...I really don't get the $20 entrance fee...it makes no sense at all. The entrance to the museum is free but still.

2015 Jul 30
I went for scuba in Key West and there was a food festival Taste of Key West. Spend a chunk of change there but they were serving nice stuff like lamp chops from rack of lamb, tuna sashimi, fish pate, paella, etc. from the local restaurants, not food trucks. Also prices are decent and in line with reduced portions compared to the restaurants offerings so a good opportunity to try a number of places quickly to find ones you would like to go back to...

I don't see anything similar in Ottawa..

2015 Aug 15
I'm going to continue my rant here, after visiting the Forum - West End Food Truck Rally today. Sula Wok was great -- I had a wonderful spicy chicken taco, loaded up with seaweed, kimchi, and Asian slaw, and topped with crunchy peanuts, spicy chili sauce, and sesame seeds! $4 for a taco... not unreasonable at all.

Ad Mare on the other hand was an utter disappointment. I've wanted to try them out for years but never made the trek downtown. In the picture, you can see $14 worth of food, and it looks bigger in the picture than it was. The $6 fish taco was not terribly flavourful... not remotely comparable to the deliciousness you get at El Camino for less money. Food trucks are supposed to be cheaper than restaurants due to significantly lower operating costs! The $8 "fish and chips" consisted of a tasty, but slightly overcooked, 3 oz chunk of cod with 4 homemade potato chips. The caper-laden tartar sauce was excellent. Still, for $8 I do not expect a light snack. Notice that at The Glen Tartan Kitchen , you get a massive hunk of excellent haddock, a load of chips, and a drink for just a few dollars more.

Festivals and food trucks can sometimes be very cheeky.

2015 Aug 15
I have only eaten at Ad Mare once since I haven't been working downtown for a while. The one time I went, I had the shrimp po boy with half salad and half chips on the side with a bit of coleslaw. It was beautiful. The shrimp were deep fried in a light batter and covered in a slightly spicy creamy sauce.

I can see how the $6 taco might not have delivered. I don't like most tacos in Ottawa (having had such great fish tacos in Phoenix, Arizona - I am ruined forever).

But I get your point about the priciness of food truck food. It's probably a reflection that it is costlier to operate than we think? Permits, taxes, having to probably have long line ups every day just to make a small profit.

2015 Aug 16
The prices at some of these food trucks seem ridiculous to me, but I concede that as long as there are lineups the prices are not too high. A smart business owner will charge the maximum amount that doesn't scare off customers.

Knowing what I know, though, I won't be in those lineups. iCook Pho You sits 200 meters from yesterday's food truck rally. For $4 you can enjoy a delightful snack-sized bowl of won ton soup. $6 gets you a generous green papaya salad with shrimp and prawn crackers. All this with comfortable chairs and air conditioning. The joke was surely on those of us standing in line, sweating, and eating with plastic forks while the restaurant sat almost empty so close by!

2015 Aug 17
Warby, the fish taco at El Camino is also $6.

2015 Aug 17
ProsciuttoEggSammie.. Ah, you're quite right. I see all their prices have gone up by 20% or so. Thanks for calling me out on this!

I'm quite happy to pay $6 for El Camino's excellent product. And until the lineups at both El Camino and Ad Mare get shorter, nobody really has any right to say that they're charging too much. ;-)

2015 Aug 17
... and for those not wanting to stand in line at Ad Mare, just order online (before 11am). Then watch the jaws drop as you saunter up to the front of the line and pick-up (and pay) for your food.

admareseafood.com/

Why be 30th in line ? ... when you can be #1.

Now don't spread this beyond the foodies or it could ruin a good thing.