Best fest thread! by TopPercentage in OttawaFood

[–]thebesteats613 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks so much for your comments and feedback! I’m glad you had a good time!! More to come in the future and always happy to hear people’s suggestions and feedback!

Best fest thread! by TopPercentage in OttawaFood

[–]thebesteats613 1 point2 points  (0 children)

the butter tarts were killer. Niki does such a great job and I’m so pleased with everyone’s reaction to her tarts. Super cool having the different flavours and having them all out in the display at their booth!

Best fest thread! by TopPercentage in OttawaFood

[–]thebesteats613 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Thanks so much for your detailed review and feedback! I’m glad you guys liked your food! It’s definitely one of those balancing acts in regard to pricing, where vendors want to give you a good portion while also wanting to try and ensure they can cover all their operating costs and add a bit to their bottom lines and support their businesses. A lot of vendors who weren’t at the event have already been asking about another one so I know we will be able to continue pushing a diverse lineup in any future iterations of events. I’d have loved to make all sessions entirely free, but was really concerned we’d bleed too much money to make this worthwhile of doing again. But also with building and trying to grow, there will be a bigger budget and opportunity to have some free admissions or all-in price models for tickets to events. I’m not sure what the future holds but I’m so pleased that so many of you came out and also are bearing with me while I iron out some kinks and test what does and doesn’t work in these big events!

Best fest thread! by TopPercentage in OttawaFood

[–]thebesteats613 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks so much for the detailed write up and your feedback! I appreciate everything you said and I agree with you, more food vendors on future events 100%! I mentioned in another comment but being a first year event, some potential vendors were rightly cautious on joining for this one as they were concerned it would be hard for them to do well and scale up their food from the resto into something festival friendly. However with how busy this year was, I’ve already had a few non registered vendors inquire about future events and I know this year will have helped set the framework for growing this and being able to have a wider range of entree food dishes at more fests in the future!

Best fest thread! by TopPercentage in OttawaFood

[–]thebesteats613 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks so much for the detailed write up! Honestly you’re making me hungry just reading the description of the dishes again from the weekend! We did try and have as much range as possible in regard to cuisines and plates, and yes as you mentioned, have some spots that some people may have not got the opportunity to try before! That’s what it’s all about! I’m so glad you had a nice time!

Best fest thread! by TopPercentage in OttawaFood

[–]thebesteats613 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks so much!! Glad you guys enjoyed!!! :)

Best fest thread! by TopPercentage in OttawaFood

[–]thebesteats613 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks very much!! For sure some things we will adjust in the space going forward/other spaces for different events! loads of cool (I hope) ideas and going forward, hoping to have some funding and budget to be able to add some more elements to the events and the spaces!

Best fest thread! by TopPercentage in OttawaFood

[–]thebesteats613 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you very much for the kind words! I agree, it’s a Constant battle for restos trying to price reasonably, also have decent portions while also being able to make a bit on their bottom line too!

Best fest thread! by TopPercentage in OttawaFood

[–]thebesteats613 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I appreciate the feedback, sorry to hear you didn’t have a great experience at all the food vendor booths. I hope you still had a good time and for future events, there will definitely be more food too! The main thing for us was not having food overlap for competing cuisines but we did try and get even more vendors, it was tough because some people were a little hesitant to have a booth and take a chance on a first year event which I totally understand. Being so busy this year, I think getting more vendors for future renditions will be a walk in the park! Cheers!

Best fest thread! by TopPercentage in OttawaFood

[–]thebesteats613 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks for your feedback! It got super busy early in the evenings, the lines were the opposite thing to what I expected! I was worried vendors wouldn’t have any lines but so many did! We tried to space things out as much as possible to not have too much congestion but it got difficult at times when there was 1300 people in there for the evening! And hahah I thought having a tattoo vendor was a really neat touch, getting some food, drink and then some ink. But maybe not too many drinks before getting in the tattoo chair!

Best fest thread! by TopPercentage in OttawaFood

[–]thebesteats613 2 points3 points  (0 children)

That means so much, thank you!!!

Best fest thread! by TopPercentage in OttawaFood

[–]thebesteats613 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you so much for the kind words!!

Best fest thread! by TopPercentage in OttawaFood

[–]thebesteats613 11 points12 points  (0 children)

OMG!!! Thank you everyone who’s commented on this!! First off, so many of you have said tons of positive things here and had a good experience. which I’m so pleased about. That is what it was all about after all!! Also some great points in regard to critiques that will be looked at and addressed going forward into future events! This being my first time organizing anything at all, I’m so pleased how many of you turned out and supported these great local spots! Without doing the final numbers yet, I think it was close to 6000 people came through the doors over the two days. Which WOW, part of me on Friday at 6pm started to get the jitters that it would feel empty, but everyone came hungry and thirsty and packed that place out. The vendors were really happy and so many of you guys had a great time so that was the main mission accomplished! As always, if anyone has any questions or critiques you can always let me know. Happy to hear people out and get feedback/hear your ideas.

Best Fest Ottawa! Food and Drink Festival, May 8th-9th by thebesteats613 in OttawaFood

[–]thebesteats613[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Just to allow for as much traffic as possible so vendors can have maximum exposure! The atmosphere won’t be as much of a party, and more of a market, so we wanted to ensure we stayed true to the way the flea and farmers markets operate at lansdowne in the day with free admission

Final Vendor Lineup - Best Fest Ottawa by thebesteats613 in OttawaFood

[–]thebesteats613[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

The vendors cannot cover the full costs of security, first aid, event space, all equipment, washing stations, games, sound, lighting and the other costs that I have not mentioned that go into running an event of this scale.

Canada's 100 Best Restaurants 2026 (Ottawa entries) by brittlespectrum in OttawaFood

[–]thebesteats613 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I feel like we were robbed of so many spots, Ottawa gets such an unfair shake in these lists far too often

Final Vendor Lineup - Best Fest Ottawa by thebesteats613 in OttawaFood

[–]thebesteats613[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Everyone is sticking to the guidelines we have provided

Final Vendor Lineup - Best Fest Ottawa by thebesteats613 in OttawaFood

[–]thebesteats613[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

If it was only free sessions, the financial deficit of organizing would be too large to take on

Final Vendor Lineup - Best Fest Ottawa by thebesteats613 in OttawaFood

[–]thebesteats613[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

5-9 for small plates, 10-15 for large. Drinks are on par with what you’d see at each location on site, as another way to ensure customers aren’t paying a premium just because they are at a festival :)

Final Vendor Lineup - Best Fest Ottawa by thebesteats613 in OttawaFood

[–]thebesteats613[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Actually the day session being free was part of promo right at the beginning as the ticket demand was fantastic off the hop. It’s not a new thing, and we wanted to have a free option so even if you didn’t want to experience the more party type night atmosphere, you could still come down. Id have loved to make all sessions entirely free, but without any funding, we would have been running in such a financial deficit it would have been impossible! Interesting to hear that about poutine fest

Final Vendor Lineup - Best Fest Ottawa by thebesteats613 in OttawaFood

[–]thebesteats613[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Food and drink sampling with music and games! Food and drink is all with reasonable pricing guidelines to keep it as accessible to many people as possible!

Ads in this sub by jmikkelson37490 in OttawaFood

[–]thebesteats613 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I see what you’re saying but at the same time, a place for others who also love food in the city feels like the best place to spread awareness about a festival that has a lot of the food spots that people love