By Sarah Sussman
September is one of the most exciting months for gastronomes in Calgary, stacked full of exciting food festivals and adventurous foodie events. Whether you’re looking to try some Filipino cuisine, explore Calgary’s vegan culinary offerings or witness the great meaty BBQ on the Bow competition, here’s your ultimate guide to September food festivals in Calgary. [Photo credit: YYCFoodTrucks]
Every year during Labour Day weekend, BBQ on the Bow returns for its BBQ competition and celebration of all things southern BBQ related. Hosted by the Kansas City BBQ Society at Shouldice Park, Calgary’s pit masters and BBQ gurus square off to find out who will be crowned as Alberta’s Kansas City BBQ champion. Enjoy plenty of meaty samples, as well as food demonstrations, musical performances and more.
This year, BBQ on the Bow is also hosting the second edition of its Bow River Banquet. The ticketed event takes place at the Montgomery Community Centre Sept. 1, featuring a slow-cooked BBQ feast and live performance courtesy of Boogie Patrol.
From Sept. 1 to 3, Alberta's biggest Filipino cultural festival, Fiesta Filipino 2017 takes over Calgary's Olympic Plaza. The food lineup at the festival is stacked with tasty noshes from vendors like Lola’s Filipino Kitchen, The Happy Fish and Simple Spice. Dig in to traditional eats like turon (banana spring rolls), marinated Filipino BBQ skewers, caldaretta beef stew, cassava cake and more. Make sure you stick around to watch the highly anticipated singing competition, as well as the special cultural show presented by the Karilagan Dance Society on Saturday evening.
Calgary’s annual travelling food, beer and music carnival, Circle The Wagons is the festival brainchild of BassBus, YYC Food Trucks, Village Brewery and Currie. Head to Currie Park Sept. 9 to experience a day filled with live performances from Reuben and the Dark, Skratch Bastid, Humans and more. There will be a site-wide liquor license and three on-site bars by Village Brewery. The food trucks will also be on the grounds offering delicious street eats courtesy of Lil Truck On The Prairie, Family Squeezed, Taiko Taco and more.
VegFest Calgary makes its debut Sept. 3 as the city’s first-ever outdoor vegan festival. If you want to dip your toes into the vegan lifestyle or learn more about going meat-free, VegFest is the place to be. It’s also the place to be if you’re hankering for some tasty veggie dishes. Because, in case you didn’t know, there’s much more to vegan cuisine than the outdated stereotypes of bland tofu and sad veggie dogs. There will be tons of food vendors on site serving up the most decadent vegan eats and treats in town.
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The best of Calgary neighbourhoods:
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One of Calgary’s most anticipated fall events, Beakerhead is an annual festival of experimental creative arts and science that takes over the city every year in September. From Sept. 13 to 17, the festival returns with interactive public exhibits, workshops and talks, street parties, community programming and (most importantly) do-not-miss foodie events.
The most buzzed about part of Beakerhead for foodies, Engineered Eats sees Calgary chefs get creative to produce limited edition menu items for the festival. This year’s theme is barley and participating restaurants have been tasked to come up with a creative spin on the Canadian grain staple.
If you’re looking for a hands-on Beakerhead experience, head to Burger 320 on Sept. 13 to learn the secret to making gelato. Once Chef Mario Spina and Paul Gordon have schooled you, you’ll get to craft your own signature malted milkshake. And while that’s going down, The Cookbook Co. Cooks hosts a butchery workshop Sept. 13 led by Warren Fitch and Charcut co-owners Connie DeSousa and John Jackson.
If beer and cocktails are your passion, head to Beakerbar daily at Fort Calgary for the duration of the festival for lectures and workshops about the science behind beer, what dopamine does to the brain and more. While you’re there, peruse the Inventors’ Market to see what’s brewing in Calgary.
September 2017 marks a very important day for the Calgary Food Bank and a chance for Calgarians to give back to those who are less fortunate. On Sept. 19 the annual city-wide food drive takes place as a chance to help supply Calgarians in need with non-perishable food items for the fall and winter season. Donation bags will be dropped off on doorsteps throughout the city Sept. 14 and will be collected at 10 a.m. Sept. 19. Volunteers will not be knocking on doors or ringing doorbells, so make sure your donation bag is left in a visible location on your doorstep.
With so many exciting food festivals happening around the city this September, take some time to explore the culinary offerings throughout Calgary. Dig into some experimental limited edition dishes, try some exciting global fare and don’t forget to participate in the annual Calgary Food Bank drive Sept. 19.
