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| - It's that time of year again!
Marking the end of the summer, the Ex has once again opened up their gates for the unfortunate souls who decide to enter her artery-clogging, carnie-filled, money sucking gates that we've all learned to love. Pray for me brothers and sisters, as I shall be visiting this place not once - not twice - not thrice... not (enter term for 4 times)... but 5 times. It's a good thing I decided to save up for these glorious times because I honestly feel like I'll be a week's worth of wages lighter (but several pounds heavier) after this whole ordeal. I'll try to keep this as short as I possibly can despite trying to include everything - as this is a review for the entire festival itself.
Traffic: 1/5. As to be expected, getting there is horrendous. Almost expected as part of the experience, prepare to spend nearly an upwards of an hour trying to find a decent place to park. A better alternative would be to take the go trains from wherever you come from, but don't expect the trains to be any less crowded; at least you won't have to worry about the parking.
Foot Traffic 0/5. Oh my Goodness. This year has got to have been the worst of the years. At some places (read: food truck scene and cat exhibition) you're literally(not literally) swimming in people. The fact that they've gated off the area for the food trucks has made it even more compact, and now adding in the beer tour within that already crowded area made it just about impossible to do anything. We walked through once, and didn't even bother stopping to look at any of the menu items due to the fact that our visions were blurring from the lack of oxygen.
Games: 3/5. The games haven't changed at all. From the seemingly impossible ring toss, to the BB gun start shootout, to the always busy bowling ball rail challenge, to the countless gambling games, you'll always find a place to sink your money into and have some fun - mainly be frustration, but some fun nonetheless. With the newest addition of a Sriracha bottle as a prize, I knew I had to win one for Ashley. Luckily for me I have one specific game I can always win without fail.
Food: 3/5. As you've probably read by now, there is a plethora of food selection as always. New foods can be found on the blogTO posts, and include things like bacon wrapped everything, deep fried everything, and this year's addition: poutine everything ( I don't get this one, cake in a shape of a french fry does not constitute a poutine). Of the 2 days I've been there so far I've been able to try many of the new foods, and ultimately they left me with the same underlying verdict: meh. A lot of the foods you'll try here will be Food A + Food B combined to equal Food AB.The foods here are indeed crazy and wacky and fun, but in terms of flavour you're probably just going to get a mouthful of salt, or sugar, or sugar and salt. You're paying out to try some new and novelty type foods. And when I say pay out, I mean it. Don't expect the world's tastiest foods here, because at the end of it, A Jamaican patty, a burger, and a chicken patty were not really made to compliment eachother.
As it currently stands I've had the chance to try Bubbs' burgers, Jack's Lobster, Fran's, and many concession stands. All expensive, all pretty tasty, all coma-inducing. I'll have a lot of exercising to day at the end of these 5 days there.
At the end of the day you come to have a great time at a festival. You go there with your friends/loved ones and you (hopefully) come out with great experiences. A tradition created so many years ago still holding strong just goes to show that despite all the negatives, this place is definitely a Canadian treasure. And even with all the above considered, I still find this to be a great time, and A-OK in my books. I'll be back every year for the foreseeable future!
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