Subhead: With over 35,000 visitors, North America’s largest halal food festival is back July 20-21 for its seventh year.
TORONTO, July 16, 2019 – Halal Food Fest Toronto (HFFTO), the largest halal food festival in North America returns for its seventh consecutive year between Saturday, July 20 and Sunday, July 21, 2019 at The International Centre in Mississauga.
With over 200 of the Toronto’s top halal restaurants, bakeries, manufacturers, specialty stores and artisan vendors, this year’s guests are in for a diverse range of flavours from around the world all under one roof, all halal.
Exhibitors are looking forward to getting their delicious creations into the hands of hungry
guests. Unique menu items being served up this year include white chocolate Pani puri from Mia Bhai, Krispy Kreme Texas fried burger from Chef Ahem Baig, cotton candy coated buffalo chicken wings, nihari sliders, halal beef jerky from Carne Jerky and much more.
This year’s show expects to attract over 35,000 visitors from around the GTA and across the border. The Muslim population in Canada is the fastest-growing religious group and the needs of this market continue to grow," says Faizal Kagdi, Founder of Halal Food Festival Toronto.
“Families are always excited to find out what is new in this market, and the opportunity to come out, sample delicious foods and see interesting presentations makes a great day out”.
According to most recent Statistics Canada's data, it is estimated that the country’s Muslim population currently sits at 1.4M and is projected to exceed the size of Canada’s 1.6 million Chinese population by 2021*.
As this niche community grows, the food sector will need to work strategically to fill in the growing gap. Walking through this year’s Halal Food Festival will share a glimpse of the multicultural community while giving insight into the industry, sourcing and halal education.
New this year will be two fabulous events:
1. Halal Food Fest is proud to invite you to Innovation Station , a unique space for acclaimed chefs to create and present dishes especially and exclusively for Halal Food Fest. Be the first to try the next big thing and join us on the frontier of food evolution!
2. Its time to playyyy Family Foooood! Played just like the hit TV game-show Family Feud, our competition will feature a showdown between Team Fashionistas (celebrity fashion bloggers) vs. Team Foodies (celebrity chefs). Come hype up your favourite team! Family Food will be played live Saturday at 5pm at our Central Bergham Indoor Stage.
Keep an eye out for an insightful session from HMA Canada (Halal Monitoring Authority) on the value and importance of halal certification. Nutritionist Nazima Qureshi will talk about healthy eating while Chef Russell Auckbaraullee will teach you how to get creative with common house hold ingredients.
The festival also features a 14,000 square foot Kids Zone included with admission, a baby
lounge for families with young children, a dedicated shopping bazaar, and lots of free parking. The festival is dedicated to creating a fun-filled, family-friendly environment for all attendees to enjoy. With so much of the Muslim community being made up by larger and younger families, events like this make it possible for all ages to have a good time.
This year’s title sponsor for the festival, Sufra, an HMA-certified halal brand, will be
hosting a children’s cooking class featuring Sufra products as well as providing
complimentary food samples. Other sponsors include Central Bergham, Zabiha Halal, Mina
Halal, Carne Jerky and Al Safa.
Central Bergham will host the main stage, complimented by a fully-designed IKEA kitchen used for demonstration. HFFTO is funded in part by the Government of Ontario.
*As projected by Stats Canada via alternative religious mobility
Event details:
Date: Saturday, July 20 10 a.m. – 10 p.m. and Sunday, July 21 10 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Location: The International Centre, Entrance 5, 6900 Airport Road, Mississauga
Tickets: $5 each – ages 4 and older. Sample tickets available for purchase at event – $10 for 20
tickets.