The fairground food vendors are where restraint takes a holiday.

From pizza on a stick to hot honey chicken nachos, I taste-tested some of the PNE Fair’s wildest new food creations.

You might think I’m more at home in a Michelin-starred restaurant, and you wouldn’t be entirely wrong. But I’m also never opposed to a corn dog here and there.

The PNE Fair is where restraint takes a holiday: a place for portable pizza, towering nachos, mini donuts and all the deliciously improbable food mashups that only make sense once a year. I set out to try as much as I reasonably could, and my advice is simple: arrive hungry, share generously and save room for something sweet.

My favourite bite of the day was the Twista-Roni from Our Carnival Kitchen. Imagine pepperoni and melted mozzarella stacked on a stick, brushed with garlicky butter, and finished with marinara. It’s essentially pizza in a portable, wonderfully ridiculous fair-food format — and it works.

The outside has that satisfying crispness, the batter is thoroughly cooked, and the cheese stays properly melty inside. This is the one I would go back for.

Bomb Nachos’ Hot Honey Chicken Nachos were another standout: fresh tortilla chips topped with melted cheese, queso, Nashville hot grilled chicken, pickles, green onion, lettuce, sour cream and a drizzle of hot honey. There’s plenty happening here, but the sweet heat and tangy pickles keep it from becoming too heavy. If you’re sharing a dish with friends, put these near the top of the list.

Check out the Taste of Canoe Cultures area

And then there are the doughnuts. The Little Donut Bakery is marking its 55th year at the PNE, and its BC Cherry Black Forest Brownie Donuts are exactly the kind of fair-only treat that makes the annual visit feel essential.

The chocolate mini donuts come topped with vanilla and chocolate drizzle, icing sugar, and sweet B.C. cherry filling. They are messy, nostalgic and best eaten while still warm.

We also sampled the Spamalot Mac and Cheese from Reel Mac and Cheese, as well as the Smash Burger Poutine (beef crumble, crispy bacon bits, cheese curds and diced pickles with smash sauce and gravy) from Unroutine Poutine.

I wished I’d had more room by the time we hit the Crispy Ginger Beef Perogies from International Perogies, which I would have dived deeper into had I not been reaching my limit.

Diggity Dogs featured a Lamb Merguez Dog, Wing Addiction served a Maple Bacon Wing Waffle Stack and plenty of the usual suspects were on hand. Not every PNE bite needs to become tradition, but that’s part of the fun: there’s always something new, excessive and slightly improbable to try.

For a quieter but equally worthwhile stop, look for the Taste of Canoe Cultures area. Vendors including Tradish, Salmon n’ Bannock, Hype Chocolate, and Coast to Coast Traditional Foods offer Indigenous food and drink. That includes bannock, artisanal chocolate, jams, buffalo sausage, bison jerky, coffee and handcrafted freezies.

The 2026 PNE Fair runs through Sept. 7 at Hastings Park (closed Aug. 31). Go with a group, make a loose plan and order the Twista-Roni first.


A fixture in Vancouver’s food and hospitality scene for decades, Cassandra Anderton tells the stories of the chefs, producers, and places that define our city. She is the publisher and editor of Good Life Vancouver and a member of both the B.C. chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier and the Chefs’ Table Society. Whether she’s exploring B.C.’s wine regions or scouting the best new table in town, Cassandra’s work is a love letter to the “good life” in the 604 and beyond.