SUMMERSIDE, P.E.I. — The numbers are in and the first Taste of Downtown Food Festival was a success, say organizers from Downtown Summerside.
Over 6,100 featured dishes were sold during the five-hour long walkable food festival.
The festival was arranged by Downtown Summerside, the City of Summerside and the Province of Prince Edward Island.
"Long before I started with Downtown Summerside I had started surveying residents (of the city) and one of the common responses to what Summerside needs more of is 'restaurants,'" said Lydia Potter, the executive director of Downtown Summerside.
"I think we definitely overcame some of that with this festival. The next step becomes continued support for the restaurants in Summerside which will lead to success and new restaurants to come and that only benefits all of us in the longer term."
By the Numbers:
- 6,100 – features sold
- 29 – participating restaurants
- 10 – restaurants sold-out
- 572 – passports turned in
- 50 – passports were by people from out of province
- 500 – Tiny Turtle Sundaes sold by Holman's Ice Cream Parlour
- $1 to $4 – price range
For the festival, held on June 22, 29 restaurants participated serving up food ranging in price from $1 to $4. Ten of those restaurants sold out of their featured dishes.
Attendees were asked to fill out passports - documenting their travels to the various establishments.
What's in a Tiny Turtle Sundae?
- Chocolate ice cream
- Salted caramel ice cream
- Chocolate sauce
- Caramel sauce
- Candied pecans
- Piece of waffle cone
The top-selling restaurant was Holmans Ice Cream Parlour, which sold 505 of their tiny turtle sundaes.
"That's 1.3 per minute if they started with their first one right at 11 a.m. and ended with their last right at 4 p.m.," said Potter.
Jenny Meister, one of the owners of the popular ice cream spot said traffic didn't pick up until about 11:30 a.m.
"We were a little worried it wasn't going to be too busy. But then we had a line up out the door for the next four-and-a-half hours," she said.
"It was the most profitable day we've had since opening three-and-a-half years ago."
It was likely two to three times busier than a regular day.
"On average at that time of day we'd have about five people lined up, in this case, we had probably 10 to 15."
Matthew Meister, 17, was one of the staffers on hand that day described the day as hectic, crazy.
"We had one person just scooping ice cream, another just putting sauce on it and one person just for whip cream," he said.
"The biggest win here is seeing people together and the camaraderie in it," added Potter. "People were comparing what they had been trying and it was a really positive outcome for all."
