BC Dumpling Festival — Local services in Coquitlam

The BC Dumpling Festival was back and better than ever! This year's event was a true community success, with a fantastic turnout and clear improvements. From a diverse lineup of performers to a spacious kids' area, there was something for everyone. I was particularly impressed by the sheer number of vendors and the volunteers who were on top of garbage and recycling, keeping the venue spotless. And a big plus—there were plenty of portable toilets, which is always a welcome sight at any busy festival. ​But no event is without its bumps, and the main one here was the legendary food lines. The wait was consistently over half an hour in the blazing sun, and it felt like a marathon just to get to the front. It's a real shame, as people come specifically to taste the different dumplings, but the wait can be a huge deterrent. The lines were often chaotic and disorganized, suggesting that the vendors might have been caught off-guard by the massive crowd. Another minor issue was the restricted parking, but that was easy to overlook compared to the food wait. ​Hopefully, next year the organizers will find a way to disperse the food vendors to prevent the huge bottlenecks and make the dumpling experience as good as the rest of the festival. Perhaps volunteers can help with the line? Vendors definitely need to be more organized to keep the...

I'm in Toronto, and I wish I could have attended. Seeing the social media photos and national news coverage, this is my type of Food Festival! No, I'm not Asian, but I stand up against Anti-Asian Hate, and I would have gladly waited in line for hours because I want to support this deliciousness of deliciousness!

And seeing the cooks wearing gloves, and some wearing both masks and gloves (a true form of respect for their customers) and taking their time to prepare, yeah, I would have waited for hours; I wouldn't complain because delicious dumplings must be prepared delicately, this isn't some fast food joint.

Our food festivals in Toronto, a few cooks might wear gloves, but no one wears masks. I wear one (I'm a cancer patient), I get ridiculed for protecting my health, so I don't attend any food festivals in my city due to the cruelty of Torontonians.

Congratulations, Gina, for turning a someone's lemon into a Dumplings Festival! And congrats to all the vendors and cooks, I will try my best to...

We love the idea of the Coquitlam Dumpling Festival—it’s a fun community event with great kids’ activities, entertainment, and vendors. We loved the stage entertainment and the craft vendors as well. You can tell a lot of work (and volunteer effort!) goes into making it all happen.

That said, food area which is the main star of the festival was incredibly crowded and the dumpling lines were 30–60 minutes, and hard to navigate in the hot sun. It was tough to walk around, get any sense of the wait times and there wasn’t much shaded seating to enjoy the food once you did get some. We ended up leaving after trying a couple of vendors - it just wasn't worth the heatstroke.

Suggestions for next year: clearer line management, more shaded seating, spread vendors out for better flow, and maybe even a beer garden! With a few tweaks, this could be an amazing experience from...