Niagara Folk Arts Festival introducing curbside menu
Niagara Folk Arts Festival is bringing a taste of its festivities to the community this fall, curbside style.
The annual festival, which showcases ethno-cultural community groups and clubs around the region, had to indefinitely postpone its open houses in May due to COVID-19.
Organizers have now come up with a way to celebrate one of the festival’s most popular features — cuisine — in the age of COVID-19.
“One of the big memories that people always have is going to the open houses, enjoying the cultural foods that are there, meeting friends and then enjoying whatever cultural presentations that are offered,” said Pam Seabrook, fundraising and events manager for Niagara Folk Arts Multicultural Centre.
“Of course, COVID has changed everything.
“So if the public has been expecting curbside with the other commercial restaurants and small businesses, I thought, why wouldn’t the cultural groups also have that, so people can have a bit of that happy feeling of eating food that they were looking forward to and didn’t get a chance to?”
The festival is offering Foods to the Folks, a curbside menu from Oct. 16 to 30, featuring authentic cuisine from some of its community clubs’ kitchens.
Falafel, schnitzel, samosa and other edible delights can be ordered from menus at www.folk-arts.ca/festival offered by five cultural groups — Slovenian Lipa Park, Club Roma, Club Italia, Niagara Hindu Samaj and Armenian Community Centre. The Folk Arts Multicultural Centre is also participating and is offering Middle Eastern food.
Orders must be paid for online and placed seven days before pick up so clubs can purchase enough food to confirm the orders.
Food to the Folks is an opportunity to enjoy homemade foods but Seabook said it also supports the cultural clubs which rely on the open houses as their biggest moneymakers of the year.
Last year’s festival drew 20,000 visitors to more than 20 open houses. There were close to 33 events scheduled for 2020.
“We’re all quite sad about missing out in May but this has definitely had a positive revival within the groups that are taking part,” Seabook said.
“Everyone is very, very excited about finally getting their foods to their club members and to the public in general.”
Another curbside tasting opportunity will happen in November, when the festival launches Sweets to the Folks.
Seabrook said with many of the church bazaars and fall bake tables not happening this year, it seemed like a good time to introduce a sampler box of cookies and treats from different cultural backgrounds.
The sampler boxes will be available to order from the website for curbside pick up or porch drop off in late November.
There’s an application online for volunteer bakers who can make a sweet treat from their cultural background. The festival will pay chefs per cookie so there’s an opportunity to make a small revenue.
Seabrook said it would be great to discover sweet treat treasures from new Canadians, in particular.
Acultural cookie sampler is an idea that’s been percolating with Seabrook for some time.
“I’ve always dreamed of it, so I said maybe COVID is an opportunity to engage our cultural groups and then benefit myself, because I love cookies.”