Update: Feb. 7, 4:30 p.m.
The first annual Sudbury Poutine Fest is scheduled for Aug. 25 - 27, taking place in downtown Sudbury.
The festival will offer patrons free entry all weekend long where they can experience an array of poutine related food vendors of both regional and local ownership. It will also include a multitude of ancillary beverage, craft and treat vendors to appeal to all tastes.
Sudbury Poutine Fest will be held outdoors within two adjacent downtown Sudbury parking lots with road closures, which are currently in talks with city departments.
The outdoor venue will be designed to include a large dining court, entertainment gardens and vendor strip. The venue will be outfitted with multiple furnished eating areas arranged with tables, chairs and tents to accommodate large dinning crowds of upward to 3,000 patrons at a time.
The festival will feature free entertainment all day, with commercial headliners at night. All free live events will include an outdoor stage, beer gardens and brand partner activities. Notable headlining artists for 2017 are yet to be announced.
The festival will also host a number of beverage and poutine competitions including Eating Contests and Best in Category drinks/dishes, where vendors will compete for patron engagement and votes. Contest prizing to be announced.
For more details, visit www.SudburyPoutineFest.ca or www.facebook.com/SudburyPoutineFest
Original story:
About all we know is a name and a date. And it all started with a quiet social media post on Feb. 6, Monday. It popped up on Facebook and Instagram, a webpage went live and a Twitter account tweeted its first message, "#SudburyPoutineFest Aug 25-27, 2017 #downtownSudbury! #Summer2017 #SudburyOntario www.SudburyPoutineFest.ca."
There's ticketing and venue information available on AdmiralLive.ca already. Apparently, entry to the event will be free and the festival "will feature an assortment of Food & Craft Vendors with free Live Entertainment all weekend long. Many more details to be announced." http://admirallive.ca/events/poutine-fest_downtown-sudbury_sudbury-on
Other than that the festival will be in the downtown core, no location has been released. Again, according to the post on Admiral Live, the event will be general admission for all ages, but will be licenced.
That's about it. That's all we know. But boy howdy, that's enough to get our saliva flowing.
Why shouldn't Sudbury, home of some of Ontario's best poutine, celebrate the wonderfulness that is crispy french fries sprinkled in squaky-fresh cheese curds and smothered in rich gravy? Poutine is a Canadian delicacy. And like hockey, it's a gift Canada gave the world.
What's not to celebrate?
Sudbury.com is trying to find out more. And as soon as we do, we'll share it with you (the story, not our poutine. You can't have our poutine. Get your own).
In the meantime, enjoy this video Sudbury.com (back when we were still NorthernLife.ca) produced back in 2013 in which we tried to suss out who makes the Nickel City's best poutine.
Bon appetit!
