Taste of Edmonton touts itself as the largest outdoor food festival in Canada, and with 400,000 hungry customers filtering through each year, it needs to keep things fresh.
Organizers made a number of changes for the 2017 event.
New restaurants
Taste of Edmonton routinely has a waiting list for vendors and this year, seven restaurants are selling their food for the first time.
One of those restaurants is Won Jung Gak.
Owner Ki Tae Kim says he’s been in business in south Edmonton for about two years but wanted to attract new customers through the festival.
“Many people don’t know what Korean Chinese fusion food is,” he said. “I just want more people to know.”
Kim and his team are serving up deep-fried chicken — their most popular dish — as well as a traditional black bean noodle dish Kim ate as a child.
“The first time seeing it, it’s kind of strange, but when they’re eating — it’s: ‘Oh, this is kind of tasty.'”
Beside Won Jun Gak on the north side of Sir Winston Churchill Square is FanFan Patisserie.
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“We just opened two weeks ago and we’ve been amazed because there’s already so many people,” owner Franck Bouilhol explained.
“We came in Taste of Edmonton thinking it’s going to be a good way to let people know we are open.”
Bouilhol has been running around-the-clock to keep up with demand for his ice cream and choux.
“We do our own sorbet, our own gelato — this one is the raspberry one. We put a macron shell on top. The second one is a puffed pastry. One is filed with chocolate, the other with passion fruit.”
FanFan is already seeing the rewards of being part of the festival.
“We already have customers who came to see us here and they went to the shop right after! That works really well for us.”
New layout
Organizers also redesigned the layout of the festival after hearing feedback from patrons.
“One of our biggest pet peeves was always congestion,” general manager Paul Lucas said.
This year, the tents all face the square in a U-shape.
“The entire square is surrounded by 47 restaurants.”
That means there’s more space to walk between vendors, as well as an all-ages, licensed piazza.
“Wander around the entire square, go grab some food outside, bring it in and sit and relax, enjoy with your kids and your family,” Lucas said.
The piazza has umbrellas to hide from the sun, patio-style seating and liquor sales. The combination is appreciated by parents.
“Normally, we’re fighting to find a picnic space — there is no grass space, you can’t sit on the ground or it’s mucky,” said mother of two, Natalie Lima. “So to be able to come sit in the shade and have an adult beverage is pretty great.”
New location for 2018
Starting in September, Churchill Square will be closed temporarily, meaning festivals will have to find new locations for next year.
“The city has, I believe, 20 projects that they want to work on here on the square to make it more accessible, as well as the Valley Line LRT,” Lucas said. “Construction starts in September. We’ll be moved off for 20 months.”
Organizers have been in talks with the province about moving to the legislature grounds but the final details have yet to be announced.
One thing, though, is confirmed.
“It’s one of the top five festivals in Edmonton, the largest outdoor food festival in Canada and we have no intentions of letting that slide next year, not at all,” Lucas said.