The P.E.I. Fall Flavours Festival, featuring more than 75 culinary events at venues across the province, gets underway Friday in Abram Village.
The festival opens with Le Festin Acadien avec homard, a traditional style Acadian feast featuring authentic Acadian dishes, including rapûre, fricot and meat pie.
Guest host Chef Corbin Tomaszeski, of Food Network’s Restaurant Makeover, will present lobster dishes and the event will include entertainment by Helen Bergeron and Louise Arsenault, formerly of Barachois.
On Saturday, Tomaszeski will take it outside for a lobster party on the beach at Cedar Dunes Provincial Park. He will join Chef Andrew Nicholson to present “lobster done five ways, oysters, mussels and all the fixings.”
Free round-trip shuttle service is being provided to the beach, leaving Founders Hall in Charlottetown on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. and Summerside’s Harbourfront Theatre at 3:30.
Other events featured in the festival’s early days include the Culinary Institute’s Mediterranean Flavours, a culinary bootcamp devoted to Greek, Italian, Spanish and French foods, and Thrills on the Grill, a bootcamp devoted to great grilling techniques and recipes.
“From beaches to ferry boats, lobster to beef, the festival provides such a wide range of incredible food and locations that the toughest decision will be deciding how many of these great events you can fit in,” says Chef Jeff McCourt, chairman of the P.E.I. Culinary Alliance, which is responsible for the festival.
This year’s festival features a number of guest host chefs. Internationally known Curtis Stone has been brought in by the P.E.I. International Shellfish Festival, while Canadian Food Network celebrity chefs Lynn Crawford, Mark McEwan and Tomaszeski host at other Fall Flavours signature events. Also featured is singer and cookbook author Matt Moore, who hosts and performs at Charlottetown’s Great Big BBQ Cook Off and Block Party.
The Fall Flavours Festival, held Sept. 2 to 25, is presented by the Culinary Alliance, which was created to develop innovative food industry partnerships, culinary experiences and promotional programs. It is a partnership between the Atlantic Canada Opportunities Agency and the P.E.I. departments of Tourism and Culture, Innovation and Advanced Learning, Agriculture, Fisheries, Aquaculture and Rural Development, and industry representatives.
For information or to purchase tickets for the Prince Edward Island Fall Flavours Festival, visit www.fallflavours.ca or call 1-877-445-4849.
