Food festivals and their efforts to foster culture in cities

Thompson Nghiem

Abstract: This research brief is to summarize the Background

findings of the study conducted on food festivals As a driver to educate people on new cultures, and
across 3(three) major cities in Canada: Toronto, spur cultural growth, food festivals can be analyzed
Vancouver, and Montral. As for the food festivals, and likened to Graeme Evans work in Hard-
the objective was to identify how a certain festival Branding the Cultural City From Prado to
would differentiate themselves from their Prada. Evans explains through the way food
competition in terms of: admission costs (or if the festivals brand themselves, can create images
festivals charged any entrance fees), entertainment [which] stamp a collective identity creating new
that supplemented the experience, ethnic themes to spaces of public cultures (Evans, 2003, p. 421).
construct the festival around, and governmental
aid. Upon analysis, Toronto stood out as the city to Food festivals charging admissions can be viewed
be deemed most suitable for housing food festivals as a barrier of entry. However, if food festivals
and culturing its growth. Vancouver came in charged no entry fee, and allowed the pricing to be
second, whilst Montral resulted in the lowest set up by the vendors, and vendors alone,
score. customers feel that they would have a choice to
buy and eat whatever they choose.
Key words: festival, food, Toronto, Vancouver,
Montral Entertainment at food festivals are supplementary;
however, they can be used to enhance or win over
Introduction customer experiences at events. Ezra W.
Food festivals are a prime breeding ground of Zuckermans Candidate-Audience Interface is a
culture, or rather, provide an area for citizens of theory in which a festivals success is reliant on
any given city to experience something they would whether or not it audience can agree with what the
not otherwise have a chance to. Different food hosts have to offer (Zuckerman, 1999, p. 1401).
festivals can bring together those who come from These acts are meant to engage customers long
different cultural backgrounds to be introduced to a enough so they would buy more food, and in turn
culture that before, could have been entirely funnel more money into the festival.
unknown. Because of the influence food festivals
can hold, in the context of the Canadian landscape, Ethnic themed food festivals fill out a small niche
they can absolutely supplement and reify the in the market of food festivals. Nevertheless, they
multicultural identity that Canada holds as a nation. are what Carroll and Swaminathan calls specialists
The aforementioned cities were selected upon in a generalist market. Though thought out to be
determining them as cultural hubs of Canada, stretched thin, the specialists are less likely to be
representative of the Canadian national identity. invaded by the ever-encroaching generalists
This brief will present the findings of a quantitative (Carroll & Swaminathan, 2000, p. 720). The lack
study on which subject city is better suited to host of resources can be used to their advantage as it
food festivals, and allow them to prosper for long- can offer them a unique platform to brand
term growth and exposure. themselves.

Culture, Creativity, and Cities Capstone Course | Dept. of Sociology | University of Toronto Scarborough
1265 Military Trail, Toronto, Ontario M1C 1A4 Canada
Food festivals have to rely on sponsorships, but in
certain instances, governmental aid. The municipal
government can play a hand to aid in marketing to
groups that would not have been aware of the
festival otherwise. Certain cities can have better
infrastructures in place and use its connections to
the broader network and leverage itself into being a
tourist attraction (Driscoll, 2016, p.16).
Methods
All food festivals that were included in the study
were from the downtown core of each respective
city. However, the outliers, which resided just
outside of city boarders were classified as
attractions by an aggregate of tourist websites to
attract potential festival goers. This aggregate
resulted in 34 food festivals in Toronto, 14 in
Vancouver, and 10 in Montral. Coding was
completed on the aforementioned categories:
Admissions, Entertainment, Ethnic Themes, and
Governmental Aid.
Findings
To be able to quantify and come to a definite
conclusion on which city among the three that were
studied to be the best city to culture food festivals,
a point system was devised. Whichever city had the
highest percentage of any given trait, they were
given 3 points, 2 points to the next city, and 1 point
for the remaining city. This was done across all 4
categories of study.
For admissions, the desirable trait was deemed to
be festivals not charging an entrance fee. Toronto
had 56% of its festivals not charge a fee, earning 3
points; Vancouver had 43%, earning 2; Montral
had only 20% of its festivals open to the public,
earning just 1 point.
Culture, Creativity, and Cities Capstone Course | Dept. of Sociology | University of Toronto Scarborough
1265 Military Trail, Toronto, Ontario M1C 1A4 Canada
Supplementary entertainment was operationalized
to be desirable in a food festival, as to enrich the
overall experience. Toronto once again earned 3
points, with 74% of its festivals having
entertainment of sorts, Vancouver 2 points with
71%, and Montral earning 1 point once again,
with 60%.
Ethnic themed food festivals were classified to be
the favoured trait, as it adds to the cultural diversity
that is representative of the Canadian identity.
Vancouver came in at 29%, earning 3 points.
Toronto earned 2 points, at a very close 24%, and
Montral earn 1 point with a low 10%
Finally, government aid was the favoured trait as
help from the government, at any level, enables a
sense of validation from the government and a
seal of approval for the city. Toronto came in
first, with 29% of its festivals being backed by the
government, Vancouver with 14%, and Montral
fell short once again with no backing whatsoever
except from its sponsors.
Out of a total 12 points to earn across 4 categories
and a maximum of 3 points to earn, Toronto came
in first with 11 points only failing to earn 3 points
in the category of ethnic themed food festivals.
Vancouver came in second earning 9, whilst
Montral earned the lowest possible score of 4.
Conclusion and Recommendation
Thus, through the study and criteria set out, it can
be stated that Toronto is the most desirable city to
host food festivals compared to Vancouver and
Montral. Torontos infrastructure is in place to
foster the growth of food festivals and cultural
togetherness. By not charging admissions at the
door, providing supplementary entertainment to
enrich the festival experience, having
governmental backing to increase its reach, and
providing an adequate amount of diversity in the
food culture scene, Toronto trumps Vancouver and
Montral as the city to host food festivals.
During the initial stage of special analysis,
restaurant collaborations were established. These
were unconventional food festivals wherein
restaurants, instead of congregating at a public
location to be vendors, collaborated to sell tickets
to their restaurants for customers to attend and eat
set meals at a subsidized price. Initially, this
premise seemed very attractive as it broke new
ground for what was initially set out to be studied.
However, as the study progressed, the idea did not
have any tangible reason to be considered as a
separate entity, and thus, was just a loose end. In
another iteration, the focus of the study needs to
altered and changed to retrofit restaurant
collaborations and incorporate it into the study.
To replicate the study, a more refined search
parameter can be set in place to yield more
controlled results. For example, to keep the
research across cities consistent, focusing
specifically towards the downtown core would be
favourable.
Culture, Creativity, and Cities Capstone Course | Dept. of Sociology | University of Toronto Scarborough
1265 Military Trail, Toronto, Ontario M1C 1A4 Canada
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