This festival, which originated in Gatineau five years ago, is now making its way into Toronto and hoping to win the hearts of craft beer lovers city-wide. Taking place at the Enercare Centre inside Exhibition Place over two days (February 19 and 20), the line-up is properly stacked with 50 craft breweries hailing from all corners of Ontario and Quebec. Beyond that, food trucks and live DJs will be playing a part in the festival events - so you’ll have everything you need to keep you warm! Currently earlybird tickets are sold out however single pre-sale tickets are still available for $20/each.
If you’re looking to attend an event with a charity cause, then Chef’s for Change is your ticket. This five-part dinner series taking place throughout January, February and March supports Community Food Centres Canada, a non-profit organization that brings people in low-income communities together to grow, cook, share, and generally advocates for healthy food for all. Taking place at Propeller Coffee, each dinner is created and curated by chefs from across Canada including Connie DeSousa and John Jackson of Charcut, Antonio Park of Park, Todd Perrin of Mallard Cottage and Rob Gentile of Buca - to name a few. Tickets are $125, with a $40 charitable tax receipt post-event.
Winterlicious
January 29 - February 11
The two-week-long, city-wide prix fixe festival doesn't kick off until January 29th, but Winterlicious fever has taken over the city of Toronto. With 200 participating restaurants, it's no wonder why it's been ranked as one of the top three all-time favourite events in the fourth annual Toronto entertainment survey. Reservations opened to the public on January 14th where diners can choose between lunch (priced at $18, $23 and $28) or dinner (priced at $25, $35 and $45) at a variety of top-notch restaurants including Pukka, The Drake Hotel, America, Bannock and newcomers Bar Buca, Colette Grand Café and Diwan at Aga Khan Museum. Your only problem will be choosing where to go.
Looking for a reason to get out of the city? Look no further than the Niagara Icewine Festival. Entering its 21st year, the festival kicked off on January 15 and runs until January 31. Expect a schedule of many different events and tastings happening all through the Niagara region including St. Catharines, Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake that highlight the complexity, dedication and beauty in the making of ice wine. Several different restaurants have partnered up with the festival to include pre-fixe lunch and dinner specials while the Scotiabank Convention Centre has been transformed into an Icewine Village. The festival’s Discovery Pass is $40 per person and includes eight winery experiences of your choice.
Need a festival to celebrate your love of all things fries, cheese curds and gravy? Of course you do and we've got you sorted. From February 1-7, La Poutine Week plans to invade Toronto and celebrate the quintessential Canadian dish by having people vote and celebrate their favourite poutines across the city. The mission - should food lovers choose to accept it - is to find the best poutine possible and discover a new restaurant in the process. It’s an easy, simple and fun little concept that organizers Na’eem Adam, an entrepreneur and marketing professional who co-founded La Poutine Week in Montreal, and lawyer Thierry Rassam thinks everyone will enjoy. If it means we get to stuff our faces with gravy and cheese curds, we concur.
Yuri Long, flickr
There's no denying that Toronto’s dedication to craft beer is strong so it makes sense that this winter, the city's got not one great craft beer festival, but two! The Craft Brewers of Ontario have put together the Roundhouse Winter Craft Beer Festival, taking place on Saturday January 30 from 11am-5pm. Now in its fifth year, the festival has a different vibe than most: laid back with lots of classic Canadian fun, including asking attendees to dress in a theme of retro ski-wear. Each year, the festival has seen its attendance grow in size, as 25 craft breweries hailing from all throughout Ontario take centre stage alongside local gourmet food trucks. Advanced tickets are sold-out but there are limited quantities available at the door. Get there early and don't forget your ski goggles!
