I accidentally stumbled across this event yesterday. We wanted to make a quick stop to Kelly's Bake…read moreShoppe after Veggie Fest and quickly found out why Kelly hadn't brought her vegan baked goods to Hamilton that day. Sound of Music takes over the whole water front as well as several blocks of downtown. We strolled down Brant and passed several small stages along the way. We were able to get vegan soft serve and sit on a bench and listen to free live music. Parking was crazy as a result but we had a nice walk through some fancy neighborhoods and the free live music was quite a pleasant surprise.

Great festival with multiple music stages, a min-carnival and food and craft booths held in Summer…read more(Father's Day weekend) right along the waterfront. Free admission. We'll go every year! Tip: parking can be tough, so get there early or you may miss a favorite band.

What can you say? Even without the World Cup and weather that would dampen any spirits, ITALFEST…read morejust kept moving on. Nice! The Yelpers were treated to a break in the weather with a few spots of sprinkles. After a little wait, our festival guide arrived. It was a pleasure to have Mr. Anthony Petrucci - President of Palma Pasta, be our festival representative. Anthony took us around the grounds and introduced us to several places. Let's list them off shall we? First stop...Mario San Francescos Catering. A full service catering service that is 30 years young and still going strong. Anthony introduced us to one of the owners (I believe she was Mrs. Fiore) and she provided us with Veal and Chicken on a bun. Which was greatly appreciated by all. It's always difficult to have hot and fresh food at a venue like this, however, as caterers they obviously have that talent mastered. https://mariosanfran.com/ Then off to Palma Pasta (est. 1985). Anthony is President of Palma Pasta and he is passionate about the food and his people. They cater, have retail products, and operate hot tables and kitchens. Had a sampling of the penne and meatballs. Delicious! https://palmapasta.com/ Ciao from Pizza Nova! Our tour continued to take out pizza. Who doesn't love pizza? I've been going to Pizza Nova since I was "single digit" years old. Not going to tell you how long ago that was! Anthony calls them the best franchise operations, because they really do use the best ingredients. A true testimonial is that his Family Nights have pizza from Pizza Nova. I have to agree. Between the big franchises, Pizza Nova is my favourite. https://pizzanova.com/ Ahhhh...Lemon Heaven! Who hasn't seen some kind of large fruit POS? After having some good food, we need to wash it down. There is something about a nice lemonade. Lemon Heaven uses freshly squeezed lemons. You can have it classic or you can flavour it as well. We all had a serving of their classic lemonade, and I for one was extremely grateful as I was really thirsty! http://www.lemonheaven.com/ Last stop on our food tour...FIRED UP! Fired Up is what they call a backyard grilling company. They operate out of Port Credit/Mississauga. I've seen them a few times when I have done the Stagger of Fame up and down Lakeshore Road. A sampling today was their Ribs and Mac'n'Cheese. The MnC was "Ri-don-culous"-(Guy Fieri) and the Ribs were better than Ribfest. http://www.firedupbbq.com/ Now for some history. I did not know that Mississauga had such deep roots with the Italian community. Being a Toronto boy, it was college street and then up to Woodbridge. That is all I knew. At the heritage part of the tour, we got a lesson on Pier 21. The pier in Halifax that immigrants, coming in by ship, landed in Canada. Anthony's grandfather and father (I believe) came via Pier 21. We had two ladies from Pier 21, now a historical museum, introduce us to their fascinating work. https://pier21.ca/ More information about the Brickyards and the Italian spirit was presented by Heritage Mississauga. Again, the information that they were able to gather about the shaping of the community was wonderful. https://www.heritagemississauga.com/ Thank you very much Yelp for getting me to go on a grey soaking day to get some culture. Personally want to thank Mr. Anthony Petrucci for his time, passion, and great insight into the lives of his community. Well colour me Green/White/Red and let's go again next year! CHEERS!

It was an amazing event despite the heavy rain and T-storm before the start of the food tour…read more Special thanks for Aisa being patient with all of us coming from afar and our tour guide, Anthony, who was the organizer. We started off near the VIP area and headed to On A Bun where we were treated to veal and chicken sandwiches. They were excellent and the owner told her story of her business. Next, we had some awesome pasta with meatballs. We stopped off for some pizza from Pizza Nova for some samples. In the middle, we had some lemonade from a franchise owner that operates during the summer months at festivals. Last, we had some mac n cheese with some ribs. To finish our tour, we heard some history about immigrants coming to Pier 21 in Halifax and also stories of families who settled in Mississauga. It was definitely a good experience.

This is quite AWESOME!!!! There are quite a few acts around Port Credit and I check out a few…read more You can find performers from around the world. the performers included magicians, acrobats playing with fire, knifes and much more. Behind the library in the park area they had food installs serving the best such as beaver tail and poutine! and much more. The shops also included jewelry, etc. Parking is not hard to find you can either park on street, at the library or behind the light house. Which you are there check out the local eatiers in Lakeshore.

Have been yearly to Port Credit Buskerfest (this year I booked off Saturday & Sunday & used a stat…read moreday on Friday JUST to have this weekend off) The acts are from all over the world and are amazing ! They are So talented and live off the "tips" given by the viewers

This is our second year going to this festival and my kids love it! The kids area is amazingly set…read moreup and equipped with tons of entertainment and leisure options for kids. The shows, meet and greets, face painting, train rides, all free and the kids love spending hours here. If you have kids, this is definitely a festival you don't want to miss!

We went on Sunday at 4 pm....it closed at 6. We had to pay full entry ($5pp) but it would be free…read moreat 5 pm. We entered and saw some food and merchandise stalls and some entertainment on the stages. There were rides and a petting zoo. Prices were high...large cotton candy for $8, 2 beaver tails for $15. It was not busy as it was almost over and it was becoming cloudy/rainy. It is a great community event and a great way to see neighbours. We missed the bread and honey and parade and races, but it was still a fun time.

I am averaging a ribfest each weekend so far this summer. My fourth ribfest of 2021 brought me to…read moreOakville. The ninth annual Oakville Family Ribfest is in a drive-thru format. It was held on the Trafalgar campus of Sheridan College. This ribfest was extremely well-organized. There were signs everywhere as I approached the campus. Turn right at the next light. I love clear instructions. The number of volunteers seemed almost overkill. There were two people at the front entrance waving folks in. I then spoke to a young man who gave me a free reusable bag with perks in it and a program. Program? Yes, it had eight pages of menus and coupons. There was a lovely woman letting me know that I could buy bottled water and raffle tickets a few feet ahead. You truly cannot get lost! I got to another woman who was selling raffle tickets and their proceeds go to the Oakville Rotary Club. You can either pay in cash, or use the machine for debit and credit cards. I had enough change with me. I bought a ticket and got a free bottled water. Luckily, I had looked at the menu online before coming here. I'm glad that I did. Reading the menu and driving simultaneously doesn't sound like a safe activity. I approached another man who asked which ribber I wanted. I went with the one that offered mac and cheese, which was Route 55 BBQ. He let me know which lane to take to get there. The lineup was pretty short. You basically pull up next to the where the barbequing magic is happening and place your order. I had a cheerful woman take my order. I got a full rack of ribs. I like that you can pick your sides here. I went with baked beans and cornbread. I felt weird not having coleslaw! I also got a small tub of mac and cheese. I paid using a credit card without a chip. I inserted it into their Square device and it would not work on three attempts. The woman had to ask her boss for help. She came back and said that it was my card. Um, no. My card worked well when I used it for a work event two days before. It's the Square device that is finicky. Her boss came over and rattled off what acceptable credit cards the place accepts. I was using a MasterCard, which was not the issue. He wanted to give it a try and asked for my card. During a pandemic, I'm not crazy about handing over my card or anything to someone. It means more sanitizing on my end. Well, being a barbeque place, he didn't have the cleanest hands. He did manage to get my card to work. I entered my pin on the iPad, added a tip, and I was done. Perhaps it was his touch with charcoal-tinged fingers that did the trick. I was thankful. Moments later, I got my food in a paper bag. I thanked both the woman handing me my order and the one who took it, and I drove away. This ribfest had Tiny Tom Donuts, corn, and lemonade just before you hit the exit. I saw one guy wave me over for lemonade. I wasn't feeling it and headed to the exit. One man by the exit unenthusiastically said, "Turn right to exit." I don't know if he has a naturally monotonous voice or was exhausted thanks to the hot, hazy, humid weather. I thanked him, turned right, and ended up in a parking lot to have lunch at around 3 pm. There was barbeque sauce at the bottom of the box containing my meal. I definitely couldn't place it on my lap, so I wiped it down with a napkin. There was also sauce on my paper bag. Cleanliness does matter. Thank goodness I wasn't wearing white! The rib sauce was yummy. It had a bit of spicy heat to it. The less meaty ribs were borderline pork jerky. It wasn't horrible, as I love jerky, but if you don't, you may be turned off by it. The meaty ribs were fabulous. Two messy thumbs up. The baked beans were okay. I got spoiled last weekend by getting a medley of beans. This one tasted like the ones you get from a can. Not horrible, but my tastebuds were not wowed. The cornbread was good. It was fluffy and moist. It didn't have any crispy edges on them, though. The mac and cheese was weird. The cheese sauce was clumpy. It was like the macaroni wanted nothing to do with the sauce and didn't adhere well. It tasted creamy and normal, but it was like the mac and cheese didn't want to hold hands after a fight. I like that I didn't recognize any of the rib vendors at this ribfest. The perks dished out to each customer were generous. I ended up with a face mask, a temporary tattoo (can't wait to apply it, as it makes me feel like a kid again), wallet tissues, and informational leaflets. They were a lovely gesture, which makes this ribfest the fanciest one that I have attended to date. I'm glad that I hit this ribfest. I hope to do it again next year. (335)

A couple of friends and I were hanging out at Square One. We wanted a place to eat after exercising…read moreour credit and debit cards. One of them suggested heading to Celebration Square. She had noticed a number of food trucks. They walked over from our friend's place. I left my car parked at the mall and we all walked over. It only took five minutes or so. When we got there, we figured out that we were attending Iriefest, a celebration of all things Caribbean, from all sorts of music, to food and crafts. There were a decent number of food and drink vendors. We settled for good eats from Blue Mahoe Catering. Our logic was that it was a shorter line. I had wanted the oxtail, but it was sold out. Bummer! Instead, I went with the goat curry with two festivals and a pineapple beverage. My friends split the fried chicken. One of them also got fried chicken. The goat curry was stellar! I loved the curry sauce. It was incredibly flavourful. The goat was tender and perfect. My pineapple drink was refreshing. It was sweet, but I didn't mind it one bit. It balanced my meal out nicely. I tried a plantain. It was battered and seemed to be deep-fried again. It was a disappointment. My friends devoured the fried chicken. It looked good. I didn't have a shot at taking a pic. They loved it! We caught some dancers on the stage, strutting their stuff to good Caribbean music. I loved the energy here. Folks brought their folding chairs, planted themselves on the green AstroTurf, and relaxed. There were clothes, artsy items, and more available for purchase. You can either park at Square One, like I did, or try parking in the underground parking lot at Celebration Square. I recommend the former, as it's free. I'm glad I attended my first Iriefest. I had a great time eating, chatting, and taking in the music. (197)

I decided to drop by to check out the Yelp booth on the weekend and check out the action in…read moreCelebration Square. It was a great venue with tons of room and plenty of action happening in the square. Lots to see and Iriefest is a great outlet and expression for the Caribbean culture. The main stage hosted all the live music and demonstrations. The crowd was happy, energetic and awesome! The food vendors were my favorite as I got my Caribbean weakness...ROTI...sooo good...There were also some local food trucks there to serve up their wares as well. The Yelp booth was also great, as it allowed people to chill out on the couches and charge up their phones if they needed it. Props go out to the YelpGTA interns for awesome service! Good food, great venue, awesome live music and free! 4 stars

Hamilton hosted an Asian night market over the August long weekend at the Bayfront Park for the…read morefirst time ever. The Hamilton Habourfront Night Market had about 30 different food vendors this weekend. My girlfriend and I decided to check the food festival out. The event is pretty much a smaller scale version of Night It Up in Markham and the Ontario Place, Waterfront Night Market. They had vendors like Golden Bubbles Waffle, Nam Wan, Yummy Korean Food, Yosh.TO and my girlfriend's favourite (kissing, she actually hates it) Wei's Stinky Tofu. She hates the smell of stinky tofu. Almost no vendors we visited took debit or credit, strictly cash. Please make sure you have cash on you since we didn't see any ATM machines. Parking is limited but if you camp properly, you will get one. The event is absolutely free entrance!

It's Canada day so this is the best event of the year. Plus…read moreYelp was in it so even better. Can't wait until next year. Happy Canada Day . Also a big thanks to Kris and Opie.

Paint the Town Red has been an annual favourite of mine for years. Johnny Bozzo and the gang never…read morecease to put on an amazing day of entertainment. The parade this year was better than ever. The evening entertainment in the park was stellar! To see all those local musicians playing Canadian songs was something I won't soon forget. Tom Barlow, John Bride, Tyler Yarema, Alexander Quail, Gracie, Chuck Jackson, Johnny Maxx and so many more! I hope they do it all again next year.