Food Festivals In Kingston

Each year, Kingston celebrates great food with a variety of food festivals and other culinary-based celebrations. For the last few years, early June has been anticipated for the YGK Craft Beer (and food truck) Fest up at Fort Henry. Every July the annual Taste of Kingston celebrates local food vendors of all types. Summer comes to a close with the annual Ribfest and Craft Beer Show at The Memorial Centre and, ironically, VegFest at St. Lawrence College; and fall brings us Hospicefest (formerly Chilifest) at Confedertion Basin. In addition to festivals celebrating gastronomic wonders, ygk is also known for our informative and delicious Saturday chef cooking demos in Market Square, and food tours that take participants on a historical tour of our local food and culture. Kingston loves food!

A new addition to the list was announced recently: Kingston Poutine Feast. This new food fest promises “the best and most unique Poutines you have ever tasted!” and will be held at City Park September 21-23. Hearing about this fest had us talking excitedly about cheesy, gravy covered goodness and got us wondering about what other kinds of food festivals we could enjoy in Kingston. Taking the lead from other cities nearby, we created a list of some of the yummy things we’d love to try in a festival setting in ygk. So, tell us:

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While the option of something like a lobster fest may seem a bit of a stretch this far from the ocean, it has been done here before. Wolfe Island held a very successful lobster festival about 10 years ago, and other Ontario cities such as Burlington, Barrie, Toronto and Guelph celebrate lobster and other seafood each year. While the Kingston Multicultural Arts Festival offers some options, a chance to try a wider variety of international foods would be very enticing, especially in a city our size where options are somewhat limited. Pizza is always a winner as far as we’re concerned, and the same goes for cheese – especially considering how much wonderful local cheese can be found within 100KM of Kingston. Butter tarts have made a comeback and are all the rage these days, so you can’t really go wrong there. I would be willing to settle for a general Dessert Fest though. Head to our Facebook page or Twitter and tell us what you think. What kind of food would you like to see Kingston celebrate for a weekend in festival form?

Thanks to Colorado_Chris for today’s mouthwatering photo.