La Poutine Week facts for kids
Quick facts for kids La Poutine Week |
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| Status | Active |
| Genre | Food festival, food tour and competition |
| Frequency | Annually, 1–7 February |
| Inaugurated | 1 February 2013 |
| Founders |
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| Most recent | 1–14 February 2022 |
| Next event | 1–14 February 2023 |
| Participants | 700 restaurants |
| Attendance | 325,000 |
| Activity | Creating and consuming poutine |
| Organized by | People Mover Technologies |
La Poutine Week is a yearly food festival that celebrates poutine. Poutine is a yummy dish from Quebec, Canada. It has crispy french fries, squeaky cheese curds, and warm brown gravy. This dish is super popular across Canada and even around the world.
It is the biggest poutine festival on Earth. More than 700 restaurants take part. Over 350,000 people enjoy poutines during the event. The festival usually runs from February 1st to 7th. Since 2022, it has been extended to February 1st to 14th.
Contents
How the Festival Started
La Poutine Week was created by two friends, Na'eem Adam and Thierry Rassam. Na'eem is a marketing expert, and Thierry is a lawyer. They met at a restaurant and had a big discussion. They debated who made the best hamburger in Montreal.
Na'eem wrote about food online. He asked his readers for their opinions on the best burger. People showed a lot of interest in this idea. So, Na'eem and Thierry decided to start Le Burger Week in 2012. It was a festival where people could vote for their favorite burger.
After Le Burger Week was a success, they used the same idea for poutine. They launched La Poutine Week in February 2013. They also created a company called People Mover Technologies. This company helps organize both festivals.
About the Festival
La Poutine Week happens every year from February 1st to 7th. These dates were chosen for a good reason. They help restaurants attract more customers during a quiet time of year. This quiet time is usually between New Year's Day and Valentine's Day.
Restaurants that join the festival create a special poutine. Each unique poutine costs no more than $10. Restaurants in different cities compete for several awards. People can vote online for the "Favourite Poutine." There are also prizes like the "Jury Prize" and "Most Original Poutine."
The festival grew very naturally. Many restaurants were excited to join in.
How the Festival Grew
The first La Poutine Week was held in Montreal in 2013. Only 30 restaurants participated that year. The next year, in 2014, the festival grew much bigger. It expanded to Quebec City, Ottawa, and Toronto. About 100 restaurants took part in total.
In 2015, over 120 restaurants joined. The city of Sherbrooke, Quebec, was added. The festival also went international for the first time. Restaurants in Brooklyn, New York, and Wollongong, Australia, participated.
By 2016, even more countries joined. There were restaurants in Argentina, Brazil, England, France, and New Zealand. In 2018, the festival included 240 restaurants. It spread across nine Canadian cities. New cities included Vancouver, Edmonton, Regina, and Winnipeg. That year, Winnipeg had more than 80 restaurants, even more than Montreal.
La Poutine Week During COVID-19
The festival was able to continue during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is because it is spread out and uses social media. Traditional food festivals often bring many people together in one place. La Poutine Week's setup helped protect it.
In 2021, a dairy company called Saputo Inc. helped sponsor the event. This allowed restaurants to join for free or at a very low cost. A food delivery service, SkipTheDishes, offered free delivery. This was very helpful when people could not eat inside restaurants.
Some restaurants even created special packaging. This allowed customers to build their poutine at home. This kept the ingredients fresh and tasty. In 2021, 700 restaurants across 8 Canadian provinces joined. Montreal became the top city again with over 120 restaurants. About 350,000 customers took part, making it the world's largest poutine festival. One dollar from each poutine sold was given to charities. These charities included Anorexie et Boulimie Québec (ANEB), which helps people with eating disorders.
For its tenth year, La Poutine Week was held from February 1st to 14th, 2022. This longer festival gave people more time to try different poutines.
Creative Poutine Dishes
Restaurants are free to invent any kind of poutine for the festival. Na'eem Adam says that in Montreal, people love poutines that perfect the classic ingredients. These are the french fries, cheese curds, and brown gravy. But in other places, chefs like to create new versions of the dish.
Some chefs get ideas from combining different foods. They mix carbs, cheese, and sauce in new ways. Others create dishes that are very different from traditional poutine. Many chefs make fusion poutines, mixing poutine with other types of food. You can also find vegetarian, breakfast, and even dessert poutines!
In 2015, a supercomputer named Watson helped chefs create five new poutines. These were offered for free tasting during La Poutine Week in Toronto and Montreal. Watson looked at what people in those cities liked to eat. It then used a huge database of recipes to suggest new food pairings.
Festival's Positive Impact
The festival helps restaurants stay open and make more money. This is especially true during slower business times. It also makes people feel good and helps restaurants hire more staff. Organizers say some restaurants have their best sales week during the festival. Some even run out of food because of high demand!
Dairy companies also sell more cheese curds during La Poutine Week. They even make more curds to get ready for the festival.
While celebrating poutine, organizers also want people to know it's not an everyday food. They have a special award for the "Healthiest Poutine." They also give away gym memberships and other health-related prizes. Money from the festival is also donated to charities that focus on health.
The success of Le Burger Week and La Poutine Week led to another festival. Le Pizza Week was launched in May 2021. Na'eem and Thierry had thought about a pizza festival before. But they decided to launch it during the pandemic. Many restaurants asked for it, showing there was a real demand.
