CALGARY, ALBERTA — Alberta Burger Fest, presented by Alberta Beef, is kicking off its 2016 festival with a record number of restaurant participants. From downtown Calgary to Shaganappi to Symons Valley, over 100 locally-owned restaurants representing 38 neighbourhoods across the city have stepped up to create a custom burger in support of five local charities and are encouraging Calgarians to dine out for a good cause. This year, Alberta Burger Fest runs May 6 to15 in support of Kids Up Front, Kids Cancer Care, Ronald McDonald House Southern Alberta, Bullying Ends Here and Missing Children Society of Canada.
"I've been a part of Alberta Burger Fest since its earlier inception in 2013," shares festival founder, Terry Lo. "We've grown from a handful of local restaurants battling for the title of Best Burger in Calgary to more than 100 restaurants in 2016. We've capped the number of participants in the past, but this year we opened it up to any locally-owned restaurant who wanted to compete. It's a lot of burgers in one festival, but it's city-wide and it means more people outside of the core can also join in the fun in support of local charities."
Burgers are broken out into three price categories: $10, $15 and $20. This year, the public will determine the winners of each category by voting for their favourites. Our new voting platform has a tried and tested anti-cheat system for ensuring an even voting field and is used in food festivals in cities like New York and Boston.
Festival Facts:
- Alberta Burger Fest runs May 6 to15, 2016 in Calgary and is supporting five local charities.
- Local charities are: Kids Up Front, Kids Cancer Care, Ronald McDonald House Southern Alberta, Bullying Ends Here and Missing Children Society of Canada.
- We're debuting our first burger from an Indian restaurant, our first vegetarian burger, our first hot dog burger and our first food truck participants.
- Outside of downtown and 17th Avenue, Acadia has the second largest concentration of participating restaurants.
- The festival is launching its first burger bus and walking tours in association with Calgary Brewery Tours, the local craft breweries and Yelp. All tickets are available at http://calgarybrewerytours.beer.
- Famed local cooking school, Cuisine+Chateau, is offering "The Art of The Burger" cooking workshops on May 15th with a portion of the proceeds going to the charities. Tickets are available under events at http://www.cuisineandchateau.com.
- Several dessert favourites such as Crave Cupcake, Family Freezed and Burnt to Order will be offering a burger inspired dessert for the charities.
About Alberta Burger Fest:
Alberta Burger Fest is a volunteer lead and run initiative that was founded in 2013 as YYC Burger Week. It has grown to include burger weeks in Calgary and Southern Alberta with planned expansions to Edmonton and Jasper/Canmore/Banff. The festival is also a qualification round to enter the Canadian Food Championships with the winner going on to the annual world competition.
For more information, visit www.albertaburgerfest.ca or find us on Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook under ABBurgerFest.
Source: Alberta Beef
