Poutine festivals offer cheesy fun near Ottawa in 2024!

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Poutine is just one of those dishes: You either can’t get enough or you can’t stand the thought of it. If you’re in the “can’t get enough” camp, you’re in luck, because there are LOTS of poutine festivals coming to Ottawa, Gatineau, Eastern Ontario and even New Hampshire in 2024!

Every year, it seems there are more events are devoted to what more and more people are deeming Canada’s National Dish. (Hey, whatever happened to maple syrup, Nanaimo bars and butter tarts?)

The sticky dish of fries, cheese curds and gravy has become insanely popular over a relatively short period of time. Several Quebec establishments have claimed credit for inventing it in the 1950s or the 1960s, including restaurants in Warwick, Drummondville and Princeville.

Since then, it has spread far and wide; in the U.S. Northeast, it is still sometimes known as “disco fries”; in at least one Vietnamese restaurant, they top it with kimchi and pulled pork.

Not all of the American attempts at the iconic dish get top marks from Quebec connoisseurs; check out the immediate, horrified reaction from Reddit readers when news surfaced in 2017 that one New Jersey restaurant topped its version with—quel horreur!—Kraft cheese singles. (For the record, it does look pretty horrifying.)

If chips dowsed with gravy and cheese curds are your thing, here’s the scoop on some places within a day’s drive of Ottawa where you can get your fix. Note that these festivals have become so popular that some cities have rival events with similar names.

• Petawawa Poutine Feast, April 11 to 14, 2024
• Renfrew Poutine Feast, April 25 to 28, 2024
• Poutine Fest and Mac My Cheese, Ottawa City Hall, April 26 to 28, 2024
• Peterborough Poutine Feast, May 2 to 5, 2024
• Orleans PoutineFest and Street Food Frenzy, May 3 to 5, 2024
• Carleton Place Poutine Feast, May 9 to 12, 2024
• Barrhaven Ribfest and Poutine, May 17 to 20, 2024
• Kanata Ribfest and Poutine, May 24 to 26, 2024
• Le Grand Poutinefest Gatineau, May 30 to June 2, 2024
• Gatineau Ribfest et Poutine, June 7 to 9, 2024 (to be confirmed)
• North Bay Poutine Feast, June 13 to 16, 2024
• Le Grand Poutinefest Mirabel, June 28 to 30, 2024
• Le Grand Poutinefest Vieux-Port de Montréal, July 17 to 28, 2024
• Prescott Poutine Feast, July 18 to 21, 2024
• Belleville Poutine Feast, July 25 to 28, 2024
• Cornwall Poutine Feast, August 1 to 4, 2024
• Bancroft Poutine Feast, August 8 to 11, 2024
• Brockville Poutine Feast, August 15 to 18, 2024
• Arnprior Poutine Feast, September 12 to 15, 2024
• Kingston Poutine Feast, September 19 to 22, 2024
• New Hampshire PoutineFest, Manchester, New Hampshire, October 12, 2024
• Poutinefest on Sparks, Sparks Street Mall, Ottawa, October (2024 dates to come)

Did I miss your favourite festival of fries, gravy and squeaky cheese? Let me know in the comments!

And if you like poutine, I’ll wager you also like ribs! If so, check out my list of local ribfests (to be updated shortly).

Post updated April 10, 2024. Cover photo by Brayden Prato on Unsplash.

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As the owner of Ottawa Road Trips, I acknowledge that I live on, work in and travel through the unceded, unsurrendered territory of the Algonquin Anishinaabeg Nation. I am grateful to have the opportunity to be present on this land. Ottawa Road Trips supports Water First, a non-profit organization that helps address water challenges in Indigenous communities in Canada through education, training and meaningful collaboration.

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