| Get ready for Vancouver’s Spot Prawn Festival 2015 |
by Carolyn Ali in Food & Drink on April 17, 2015
Photo credit: Karen Hamilton
Wriggly, pink, and beautiful, they’re the darling of every chef in town. Home cooks and restaurant diners alike get googly-eyed just thinking about them. And they’re back!
That’s right, it’s almost spot-prawn season. The harvest of the beloved crustaceans starts in May and lasts anywhere from six to eight weeks. During that time, you can find these creatures for sale live and on menus at restaurants around Vancouver.
This year, the season is opening a week later than usual, on May 12. Tickets are on sale now for the ninth annual Spot Prawn Festival, which takes place on May 17.
Photo credit: Karen Hamilton
There are a few changes for this year’s festival, which is a fundraiser for the Chefs’ Table Society of B.C.
First, the festival takes place on a Sunday instead of a Saturday. (It’s at the same location, near Granville Island at the False Creek Fisherman’s Wharf.)
Second, while the celebration takes place from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., diners buy a timed ticket in advance for the window in which they want to eat (from 11 a.m. to noon, or noon to 1 p.m., for example). This change is intended to alleviate line-ups at the food booths.
The festival is free anyone to attend, but tickets for the spot-prawn meal are sold in advance. Tickets cost $17.50 each (plus tax and service charge) and include a plate of three B.C. spot prawns, side dishes, and bread. A ticket also grants access to the drink tent to sample Salt Spring Island Coffee, Summerhill Pyramid wine, and R&B Brewing beer.
Chef Rob Clark | Photo credit: Karen Hamilton
As part of the free fun, there will be kids activities, live entertainment, and education about sustainable seafood. Local chefs will be doing demos on how to prepare spot prawns, and the critters will be for sale live, straight off the boats.
Last year, tickets sold out over a week before the festival, so if you’re interested, get them early. See the Spot Prawn Festival website for more info.
You can follow Carolyn Ali on Twitter @carolynali.