Fall Flavours fatter this year

This year's second annual Fall Flavours festival promises to entice many more modern, savvy tourists to Prince Edward Island for the shoulder season, says Chef Michael Smith.
The festival, which focuses mainly on preparing and showcasing local food, will be even bigger and offer twice as many activities this year since its inception last year, including over 150 culinary events.
Avid food lovers who love to travel are currently taking tourism markets worldwide by storm, which makes this festival just the kind of thing that could help PEI's normally slower fall season, Smith said during a press conference Thursday (Aug. 6).
"Prince Edward Island is a gourmet Mecca, it's a food-lover's paradise and we're blessed with so many different culinary artisans, so many different great ingredients - so many things that all add up to make this the world's premiere culinary destination," Smith said.
Until Fall Flavours came along, there was no coordinated effort to draw those culinary travelers to the Island. That's why Smith came together with a few businesses people last year to pilot the new festival.
The results were so favourable, the Department of Tourism and Tourism Charlottetown came on board this year. Tourism Charlottetown is taking the lead in advertising and organizing this year's events.
All this will help to continue to grow Fall Flavours into a world-class event, Smith said.
"Last year could not have gone better, we opened a lot of eyes," he said.
"We have a huge treasure trove of resources to draw from to make an event like this successful… I think Fall Flavours is going to continue to grow over time."
This year's festival will take place over 10 days, including two weekends, and will have many events for food connoisseurs and just plain food lovers.
There will be many interactive taste workshops like 'cheese lovers paradise.' The Culinary Institute will offer a variety of culinary boot camps featuring Kidz R Kookin', Seafood 101, Chocolate and Wine, and Thrills on the Grill.
The Best of Chef At Home with Chef Smith will be hosted also at the Culinary Institute. Smith will be launching his new cookbook during the festival, as well-an event, which will see all recipes in the book prepared and served to guests.
Fall Flavours also offers ways to experience PEI food at one of many 'direct to the source' product experiences such as 'pick and press' at Wintermoor Orchard, or a lobster lovers feast.
Select restaurants across the Island will get into the spirit of Fall Flavours by participating in the new Dine Around the Island program. This program will feature 22 select restaurants, where their chefs and food artisans will create Table D'Hote menus that will offer a unique and interactive dining experience. All menus will showcase Island products and producers, with wine pairing options.
The events begin on Friday September 25 and run straight through to Sunday, October 4. -The Guardian