The man behind Ottawa’s PoutineFest — former Sparks Street BIA boss Les Gagne — is launching a rival PoutineFest in early May, just four days after the original event is scheduled to be held in late April.
The new Ottawa PoutineFest, not to be confused with the existing Sparks Street PoutineFest that’s been around since 2013, is to be held at Marion Dewar Plaza in front of city hall.
Gagne organized the first PoutineFest in 2013, which was a resounding success.
He was the organizer again in 2014, but in November he was unexpectedly let go from his position, with no reasons for his departure given publicly.
“I was advised it was because they wanted to go in a different direction,” Gagne says now. “That came as a huge surprise when you consider the strong public support for our four of the 10 biggest festivals in Ottawa, our very active social media communities, the new vibe on Sparks that was missing for over 20 years, and the number of new businesses.”
The original Sparks Street PoutineFest is set this year for April 24-26, with the new Ottawa PoutineFest on its heels the following weekend of May 1-3.
Gagne says that he was surprised to hear that the Sparks Street PoutineFest was even happening, let alone on the weekend before his.
“When we decided to do the poutine festival, we had heard from several people that there were no plans for another poutine festival in Ottawa,” he says. “I jumped at the opportunity to do this.”
Kevin McHale, program and events co-ordinator at the Sparks Street BIA, says he is unable to comment on Gagne’s rival event.
Not only are the two fests close in time, their locations are also remarkably close together.
Sparks Street is the classic Centretown location for the first festival, and the brand new event would be held a short stroll away, in the festival plaza in front of city hall.
Thousands of people have lined Sparks Street in past years for their serving of poutine, so interest is not something Gagne says he worries about.
“They must obviously feel that there’s a lot of interest in having a second one,” Gagne says. “I’m not too worried about the fact that there will be another one.”
He’s more concerned about the future of his event.
“We’re trying to find out what people want to see an event like this evolve into,” he says. “We want to make it turn into a tourism destination, or a reason to come to the city to kick off the month of May.”
He says he’s incorporated some novel ideas this year, such as a poutine-eating contest with celebrity judges such as Ottawa Mayor Jim Watson, creative poutine cooking contests, potato-themed games, and perhaps a few pop-up vendors.
“I wouldn’t eat every single meal there,” says Sonia Jean-Philippe, a dietitian with the City of Ottawa, but she isn’t too worried about the health impact of the two poutine festivals.
Another distinguishing feature of the new Ottawa PoutineFest is its beer garden, something that was unavailable at the Sparks Street PoutineFest.
The Nepean-based Broadhead Brewing Company is going to by supplying the suds, and John Buist, head of sales at the brewery, says the company is excited about the opportunity.
“From the beer world, there’s more than one beer festival in the city throughout the year, so I can’t see why there isn’t room for more than one poutine festival,” Buist says. “Who doesn’t love poutine, right?”