The fairground food vendors are where restraint takes a holiday.<\/p>\n
From pizza on a stick to hot honey chicken nachos, I taste-tested some of the PNE Fair\u2019s wildest new food creations.<\/p>\n
You might think I\u2019m more at home in a Michelin-starred restaurant, and you wouldn\u2019t be entirely wrong. But I\u2019m also never opposed to a corn dog here and there.<\/p>\n
The PNE Fair is where restraint takes a holiday: a place for portable pizza, towering nachos, mini donuts\u00a0and 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\u00a0and save room for something sweet.<\/p>\n
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 \u2014 and it works.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Bomb Nachos\u2019 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\u00a0and 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.<\/p>\n
Check out the Taste of Canoe Cultures area<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
The chocolate mini donuts come topped with vanilla and chocolate drizzle, icing sugar, and sweet B.C. cherry filling. They are messy, nostalgic\u00a0and best eaten while still warm.<\/p>\n
We also sampled the Spamalot Mac and Cheese from Reel\u00a0Mac 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.<\/p>\n
I wished I\u2019d 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.<\/p>\n
Diggity Dogs featured a Lamb Merguez Dog, Wing Addiction served a Maple Bacon Wing Waffle Stack\u00a0and 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\u00a0and slightly improbable to try.<\/p>\n
For a quieter but equally worthwhile stop, look for the Taste of Canoe Cultures area. Vendors including Tradish, Salmon n\u2019 Bannock, Hype Chocolate, and Coast to Coast Traditional Foods offer Indigenous food and drink.\u00a0That includes bannock, artisanal chocolate, jams, buffalo sausage, bison jerky, coffee\u00a0and handcrafted freezies.<\/p>\n
The 2026 PNE Fair runs through Sept.\u00a07 at Hastings Park (closed Aug.\u00a031). Go with a group, make a loose plan\u00a0and order the Twista-Roni first.<\/p>\n
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