Fringe Festival 2021: My Glorious Return!

It has been eight years since I attended my favourite Edmonton festival and I am BACK for the 40th annual Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival! This year's fest is a smaller, hyper-local hybrid version of the usual festival, however there is still plenty of food to choose from. The selection isn't huge but your favourites are all there. I was just happy to be in attendance and to be part of it again.

Here are some foods that you should definitely try at the festival this year:

Green Onion Cake from Taste of Mongolia ($6.00)

The last time I was at the Fringe these were $4.50. Inflation, man! This is the quintessential Fringe item that you cannot go without. I have eaten five this year (and counting), but there have been years in the past where I have made a point to eat one every single day of the fest. There's something about them - they just taste like Fringe. I enjoy mine with heaping amounts of Sambal hot sauce but they do offer several other sauce options.

Tiger's Blood Lemonade from Lemon Heaven ($5.00 for regular) One of these lemonades is another classic Fringe item that you need in-hand. I usually go for the original one (just lemon!) but this year I branched out a bit. I really enjoyed the Tiger's Blood flavour which is a combination of strawberry and coconut.

Zwick's Cheese Stick from Fringe Grounds Cafe ($3.00 each) First of all, I love Zwick's. So when I heard that they were doing a special Fringe-only cheese stick, I had to get one. Not as warm and fresh as when you get it directly from Zwick's, but a cheese-covered bread baton is never going to be an incorrect choice.

Classic Marinara Spaghetti Cone from Spaghetti Cone Food Truck ($9.00) The spaghetti cone is a bit of a craze right now and I was happy to see it at the Fringe. So yeah, it's spaghetti inside of a cone... Which does make it more fun and portable. The pasta itself tasted pretty good and I liked the zesty, tomatoey sauce. I wasn't angry at this crazy thing at all.

Pork Dumplings from Taste of Mongolia ($7.00) Pretty delicious little fried pockets! The hot and savoury pork was super tasty inside the crispy golden-brown shell. A solid choice and I like them with plum sauce.

Donair Poutine from Soner’s Donair & Kebab ($12.00) A VERY Edmonton thing to do... Donair on everything. I liked the donair meat a lot and really liked that they used sweet donair sauce on top. I didn't like that the cheese was shredded instead of curds (blasphemy!) or that the fries were kinda soggy and not crispy enough. I look forward to returning next year when things are (hopefully!) more normal and the food selection can be a little bit wider. All in all, it was just amazing to be back!