Ottawa will be getting cheesy this weekend with the city’s first-ever Mac my Cheese Fest, being held at the plaza in front of city hall from Friday to Sunday.
Being the first of its kind in the city, the event is sure to bring about a new twist to a Canadian favourite.
“It is not just about having Kraft Dinner; it is about doing baked, doing pizza mac and cheese and more,” says Les Gagné, the festival director and producer.
“Mac my Cheese Fest was based on the success we had at Poutinefest. We asked a lot of people what they would like to see in terms of a new foodie festival and mac and cheese seemed to be … the most popular to have,” says Gagné. “French fries and mac and cheese, they are the same type of food that you can … do gourmet and you can do exotic.”
Gagné began his involvement with local food festivals as the executive director of the Sparks Street BIA, which hosts annual events celebrating ribs and poutine. After being let go, Gagné launched his own PoutineFest.
The St-Albert Cheese Company is the major sponsor for the macaroni-and-cheese event, just as the Ottawa-area company was for PoutineFest. St-Albert is the major cheese manufacturer for eastern Ontario.
“St-Albert wants to support local activities that have to do with very wholesome food,” says Eric Léveille, the company’s director of business and development. “We are seeing all over North America that people are really getting back into comfort food.”
Gagné, as well as the vendors and sponsors, have high hopes for this event, with the Facebook page stating that close to 10,000 people are attending, according to Gagné.
The event at city hall plaza will include contests, as well as craft beer pairings and live entertainment from local bands such as the Cardboard Crowns. “I think it (is) an opportunity to get social and find something you may never have thought possible for mac and cheese,” Gagné elaborated.
This weekend is a big event for the local universities as well, featuring the rivalry football game between Carleton University and the University of Ottawa.
“With the Panda game between Carleton U and Ottawa U the same weekend, we set up an eating contest between the two schools on the Friday,” says Gagné.
The event brings in a variety of vendors for a period of three days. One of the local vendors, Richard Hash of Bytown Bayou food truck, is getting ready to add a southern BBQ touch to his mac and cheese.
“The mac and cheese is really a southern BBQ thing, it is part of their culture (down south). BBQ is a religion down there and you have to have really good sides — one of them is bacon mac and cheese,” says Hash. “Mac and cheese is just something I think every kid grows up on … we are adding bacon mac to just about everything you can think of, including on our sandwiches.”
“(Mac and cheese) is special because it is a comfort food,” said Diana Martinez from Mr. Churritos, one of the vendors. “I think it is challenging all the vendors to add their own twist to it. I think even from a vendor’s perspective it has been great, it has challenged us all to create something new.”
Mr. Churritos is going to be serving churros, a Latin American fried-dough pastry, with cream cheese on them to add their own flair during the festival.
Many of the vendors have been working on new items to showcase at Mac My Cheese Fest. Robert Legere of Smokin’ R&R BBQ food truck said, “It is going to be something you’ve never seen before.”
Toronto held the first mac and cheese festival in Canada in June. One of the challenges organizers faced was running out of food due to its popularity. The vendors in Ottawa are getting prepared to deal with what is expected to be a large crowd.
Smokin’ R&R BBQ is currently equipped with a mobile kitchen which would allow them to make food on site should they happen to run out. “A mobile food kitchen is a new and big idea … we will be providing a gourmet food that comes to them,” says Legere.
“I think Ottawa prides itself on becoming a real dynamic and real foodie town. Number one, having it in Centretown, really allows everyone to become a part of it,“ says Gagné. “It will be the cheesiest festival Ottawa has ever had.”