Vancouver Spot Prawn Festival

Every year, Vancouver's annual B.C. Spot Prawn Festival kicks off B.C. spot prawn season with a free festival at Fisherman's Wharf by Granville Island. Highlights of the Festival include the $12-per-person Spot Prawn Boil, cooking demonstrations with Vancouver celebrity chefs, free entertainment and kids' activities, and a chance to buy your own spot prawns fresh off the boat.

This year, the B.C. Spot Prawn Festival happens Saturday, May 11, 2013, 11am - 3pm.

Events at the B.C. Spot Prawn Festival 2013

Spot Prawn Boil: The main event of the Vancouver Spot Prawn Festival is Canada's largest Spot Prawn Boil, a chance to enjoy fresh-off-the-boat boiled spot prawns, plus sides, sauces and bread from Terra Breads, and a sample tasting of B.C. wine or beer, for $12 per person. Tickets for the 2013 Spot Prawn Boil must be bought in advance: Spot Prawn Boil 2013 tickets.

Vancouver Celebrity Chef Cooking Demos: To inspire your own spot prawn recipes, Vancouver's top chefs will be doing live cooking demonstrations (and offering tastings).

Free Entertainment: In addition to two live music stages, the Vancouver Aquarium will be on site to get kids "up close and personal" with live fish and sea creatures.

Buy Your Own B.C. Spot Prawns: Get your own spot prawns direct from fishermen for $12 per lb. (Spot prawns will continue to be sold for 6 - 8 weeks post-festival at the same False Creek Fisherman's Wharf; spot prawn boats arrive daily around 1pm.)

History of the Vancouver Spot Prawn Festival

Sweet and succulent, B.C. spot prawns are a sustainable seafood (they've earned the Vancouver Aquarium's Ocean Wise seal of approval) and a great way to "eat local." Yet until 2005, B.C. spot prawns were exported to Japan almost exclusively. That changed when Steve Johansen of Organic Ocean teamed up with C Restaurant's Chef Robert Clark to create the first B.C. Spot Prawn Festival in 2006 as a way to keep B.C. spot prawns local. Since then, spot prawns have become a beloved local, seasonal food in Vancouver, and the annual Vancouver Spot Prawn Festival, organized by the Chefs' Table Society, has grown into a must-visit event.

If you love B.C. spot prawns, keep an eye on your favourite Vancouver restaurants after the festival: Many Vancouver restaurants will be adding B.C. spot prawns to their menus through May / early-June. Tojo’s famously makes a divine spot prawn sashimi, while C Restaurant will have multiple spot prawn dishes.