Fringe Festival 2025: A Fringe Feast Like Never Before!

I was able to attend (only!) eight days of the Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival this year and I made the most of every second! I managed to see 23 shows and spent a ton of time on the grounds eating everything in sight! The largest, longest running Fringe theatre festival in North America feeds its people well! The iconic green onion cakes are a must (I ate six!) but I was also happy to see a bunch of new additions this year and a wider variety of food options. It's great to see that the food offerings are keeping up to speed with the eclectic tastes of festival patrons. There's still an entire weekend left of this year's fest and that means that you still have plenty of time to get down to the grounds, see a few shows, and taste some amazing flavours! Here are the foods that I ate at the festival this year:

Green Onion Cake from YEG Green Onion Cakes ($8.00) If there's ONE food that you must know about in Edmonton, it's this. The revered, iconic, legendary green onion cake. Why is this crispy pancake such a thing? I have no idea. But I love them and I won't argue with it. At the beginning of this year's fest they were serving the cakes with an off-brand type of sambal which wasn't great. It was too salty. BUT nearing the tail end of the fest I could tell that we were back on the Huy Fong Foods brand and everything was saved! Yes, the "good" sambal matters because you're gonna need copious amounts of the stuff for the ultimate green onion cake experience!

The Fringe Beer Tent Blonde from Sea Change ($9.00) I LOVE that local brewery Sea Change is the beer sponsor for the Fringe and not some mass marketed crap brand. I especially love that they brewed up a special blonde beer just for the fest! And I extra extra LOVE that the can had a beautifully exclusive design to match! I'm not much of a beer-drinker myself but I can certainly appreciate how cool it is to have something as special as this available.

Flipside Bao from Flipside BBQ ($16.88) Flipside pulled pork, smoked for 10 hours served in a bao with pickled papaya, topped with flipside sauce. These were popular during the hockey playoffs because the bao were being served in blue and orange colours! Here at the Fringe they were purple and green which was equally beautiful! Served with crunchy shrimp chips, these are a perfect snack that is portable and satisfying at any time of the day. The juicy pulled pork was very delicious. One of the best food items available!

Pineapple Punch from Flavour Agency ($5.00) Formerly Filistix, you can expect the same great quality and flavour from Flavour Agency. Their refreshing Pineapple Punch was probably the most quenching thing that I drank - think Jollibee but better! And let's face it, we're all dehydrated at the Fringe and we need this.

Siomai from Flavour Agency ($10.00) Crispy shrimp and pork dumplings, chili oil, citrus soy glaze. These were my favourite item that I ate last year and they did not disappoint this time! Very delicious and full of big flavour, these crispy dumplings are tender and juicy. You can pop them into your mouth while running to your next show and you'll love every moment of it!

Tiger's Blood Lemonade from Lemon Heaven ($4.50 for small) This lemonade is a Fringe classic. I used to be a purist and would only get mine un-flavoured... But then I got turned on to the Tiger's Blood flavour which is strawberry coconut. This year the flavours were "serve yourself" and that was a fun activity all in itself! You get to battle the 120 wasps that have claimed the flavour syrups as their own and attempt to stick your hand through their defenses! Will you emerge victorious? Only time will tell!

Nasi Goreng from Satay Madura ($10.00) Indonesian fried rice with vegetables and egg. YUM. I love nasi goreng and I was very pleased to find it at this year's fest! This is a pretty basic version without many bells or whistles but they seemed pretty into it when I asked if they had sambal for me to put on top. The flavour of the rice was really good and totally embodied what nasi goreng is supposed to taste like. This was great!

Black Grass Jelly Drink from Takopo ($7.00) This might be one of the weirdest beverage options available... Which is why I had to try it! There was a jelly in the drink not unlike the type that you can get at any bubble tea place and it tasted sweet. I can't quite pin point the flavour but it definitely wasn't bad!

Spread Me Krammed Kookie from Krammed Kookies ($15.00) Peanut butter cookie dough mixed with PB chips, strawberry Pop Tarts, white chocolate chips, krammed with PB and strawberry jam. What's a FIFTEEN DOLLAR singular cookie like? Well, it's really big for starters, so that's good. This monstrosity was a pretty good time and jammed full with all kinds of stuff! I liked the actual peanut butter and jam on the inside the most. A pretty intense cookie experience but maybe not worth the money.

Dubai Pistachio Chocolate Slush from Bestea Bubble Tea ($12.00) The "ultimate luxurious" and comes in JUMBO size only! The Dubai chocolate trend has landed at the Fringe! I thought that this bubble tea version was pretty fun. There's a lot of chewing involved between the tapioca and the knafeh but I wasn't mad at it. Hop on the trend bandwagon!

Ultimate Seafood Trio from Takopo ($13.00) Not sure what "seafood" is included in this trio and I didn't ask. Octopus can be assumed since that's the main ingredient in traditional takoyaki. But who knows what else there was! Maybe some crab? Regardless, these were pretty good. I liked the dancing bonito on top and each dough ball was soft and tender. Maybe a bit too soft? Lots of stuff going on here and interesting to try.

Matcha Magic from Fringe Grounds Cafe ($7.00) Coconut milk, amaretto syrup, ceremonial grade matcha. I LOVED that Fringe Grounds Cafe made a special drink just for the festival!!! Unfortunately, they were out of coconut milk when I visited, so I had mine made with oat milk instead. I loved this beverage! The flavour of the amaretto really came through and harmonized really beautifully with the matcha! I'd love to see more concoctions like this from them!

Meatball Marinara from Spaghetti Cone Food Truck ($18.00) SPAGHETTI CONE! I do loves me a spaghetti cone! It's got everything; portability, a large portion of spaghetti, and a probable mess down the front of your shirt! I've been trying different ones each year and this time was the meatbally one. I liked that there were meatballs hidden throughout - even one right at the bottom! Next year I want to get the Coconut Curry one!

Bali Delight from Satay Madura ($6.00) Shredded cantaloupe with lime & basil seeds. Super yum!! This was SO delicious and refreshing! And such a unique flavour! I really enjoyed the taste of cantaloupe and lime. The basil seeds were similar to what chia seeds are like in a drink. Very good and a must-try!

Dubai Fresh Chocolate Strawberry Cup #3 from Bestea Bubble Tea ($18.00) Chocolate + strawberry + pistachio kunafa OVERLOAD. YES AN EIGHTEEN DOLLAR CUP OF STRAWBERRIES!!! The Dubai chocolate trend continues in the form of everything thrown on top of strawberries! The fruit was nicely ripe and fresh. There was TONS of chocolate! The only problem is that it was a cooler day and the chocolate solidified pretty quickly and didn't remain in the desired molten form. But otherwise, high cost aside, I really liked this. What a great Fringe! I had such an amazing time living my life on the grounds and being an active participant of the most wonderful festival in Edmonton! See you next year for even MORE green onion cakes!