Fun Festivals – Poutine

Looking for something to do after your significant other combusted? Then make your way to the Poutine Festival in Drummondville, Quebec.* Poutine, perhaps Quebec’s most famous dish, consists of French fries, beef gravy, and cheese curds or mozzarella. Listen to wonderful music while tasting caloric culinary greatness. Heart specialists are standing by.

This year’s festivities occurred from September 2 to 4. So, you missed it unless, of course, you have a time machine. If history is anything to go by, next year’s excitement will take place anytime from July to September. Keep checking, because 2021’s event only allowed 1,500 festivalgoers per day.

The highlight of the event is seeing which poutinier food truck will win the coveted Gold Fork for making the festival’s best poutine. See if you agree with the judges by sampling as many poutiniers as you can. It’ll be an experience you’ll long remember.

Reflect for a moment that this festival honors poutine. Ah, poutine. Tasty.

The festival is also called la Festival de la Poutine for those who only speak French.

* = Well, 1 hour 15 minutes from the city.

Again, there will many exciting musical groups to hear. I don’t recognize any of them, but I’m not up on my acts from Quebec. The winner of the 2020 Francouvertes attended this latest festival. What is a Francouverte? I don’t know. My imperfect French tells me it means “Green French Thing” or maybe “Open French.” Google translate(tm) is no help at all. It translates “francouverte” as “francocouverte.” However, winning the Francovertes is probably a good thing.

Go there next year and find out what a francouverte is. Please, let me know. And eat lots of poutine. It’s really, really good.

– Paul De Lancey, The Comic Chef, Ph.D.