The biggest poutine-eating contest in the world is coming to Toronto this week
Canada’s premier poutine chain is hosting the biggest poutine-eating contest in the world in Toronto this week.
While cinephiles across the city are busy getting amped up about the return of TIFF on Sept. 4, poutine-lovers have a festival of their own on the horizon that’s drumming up equal excitement.
Returning to Sankofa Square for its 13th year, Smoke’s Poutine’s Smoke-a-Palooza is Toronto’s preeminent celebration of all things poutine. Okay, maybe it’s the onlyĀ poutine festival in the city, but this one is still huge.
While the festival itself is chock-full of all manner of poutine-based festivities, it’s the annual World Poutine Eating Championship (WPEC) ā the biggest poutine eating contest (and, again, perhaps the only) in the world ā that really draws the crowd in.
Year after year, some of the top competitive eaters from around the world flock to the festival to crown the ultimate poutine pounder of the year. The top prize comes out to a whopping $5,000, with additional prizes totalling another $4,500 handed out to runners-up.
The world record was shattered in 2019 when 28 lbs. of poutine was consumed by a single individual, so, yeah, this isn’t just your typical night-out chow sesh.
It’ll be a particularly high-stakes year for the World Poutine Eating Contest, too.
Last year, the Smoke-a-Palooza (and, thus, WPEC) returned after a five-year hiatus. For the last two years before the break, competitive eating legend Joey Chestnut raked in the top title at the competition, joining his other three victories in 2016, 2013, and 2012.
In 2024, a new hometown hero emerged in Canadian food influencer and competitive eating champion Joel Hansen. Will 2025 mark Chestnut’s triumphant return? Will Hansen steal the title for a second consecutive year? Or will a new challenger rise from the ashes?
You’ll just have to watch and find out.
While registration may have closed for this year’s WPEC, so you, yourself, won’t have the chance to compete in the competition, there’s still plenty of reason (beyond watching fully grown adults smash pound after pound of poutine into their faces) to attend the festival.
Taking place for an entire Saturday at the newly renamed Sankofa Square, Smoke-a-Palooza is a celebration for poutine-lovers of all calibres, even those who prefer to keep their consumption at perhaps a more doctor-approved level.
At the festival, you’ll be able to tuck into as much free poutine as your heart desires, rock out to tribute bands playing your favourite hits of yesteryear, and watch some of Canada’s highest-ranking CEOs go head-to-head in the Ryan Smolkin Memorial CEO Challenge, where the executives race against the clock to see who can consume the most poutine in two minutes.
And, hey, if you find yourself still hungry after all that free poutine, maybe it’s a sign that you should start training for next year’s competition.
Smoke-a-Palooza
When:Ā Saturday, Sept. 6, 2025
Time:Ā 11 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Where:Ā Sankofa Square ā 1 Dundas St. E.
Admission:Ā Free
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