5 Top Reasons to Attend the 2026 Taste of Place Summit in Edmonton
The Taste of Place Summit is Canada’s leading gathering for culinary tourism, agritourism and destination development professionals. Taking place June 15–16, 2026, in Edmonton, Alberta, the Summit brings together chefs, farmers, tourism leaders, marketers, entrepreneurs and storytellers from across the country to explore how food, culture and place intersect.
If you’re considering joining us in Edmonton, here are five standout reasons the Taste of Place Summit belongs on your calendar.
1. Incredible Keynote Speakers
Tam Anderson
Owner, Prairie Gardens & Adventure Farm
Kicking off Day One before delegates head out on Learning Journeys, Tam Anderson brings nearly four decades of experience in horticulture and culinary tourism. As the owner of Prairie Gardens, Tam has welcomed more than one million visitors to her experiential farm in Sturgeon County, Alberta. Her work blends long-table dinners, youth education, seasonal festivals and prairie hospitality, all rooted in local food and sustainable practices.
A finalist at the 18th World Agritourism Day Awards in 2025 and recipient of the 2024 Edmonton Tourism Culinary Experience Award, Tam is widely recognized as a visionary leader in agritourism. Her collaborative approach has empowered chefs, artisans and farm women across Alberta, making her keynote a fitting and inspiring start to the Summit.
Linda Hoang
Canadian Blogger + Social Media Strategist
Edmonton-based creator Linda Hoang, also known as @lindork, brings a digital-first perspective to Taste of Place storytelling. A journalist by training and a seasoned social media strategist, Linda is known for sharing thoughtful, engaging content about food, travel, culture and community.
She is the founder of major Edmonton-based initiatives including the Edmonton International Cat Festival, Chinatown Chow Down, Chúng Ta Cùng Nhau and Stop Race Based Hate. Linda’s work advocating for local businesses and tourism has earned her the inaugural Edmonton Best Tourism Influencer Award in 2024, recognition in Edify Edmonton’s Top 40 Under 40 and the Spirit of NAIT Award. Her keynote offers insight into how authentic storytelling, advocacy and digital platforms can amplify taste of place experiences and build lasting community impact.
Alex Blagdon
Culinary Director, The Cape Retreat
With roots in Newfoundland’s forests and shorelines, Alex Blagdon’s culinary journey has taken her across the world, from restaurant kitchens to farms and villas. Her work centres on minimizing food waste while celebrating land and sea through thoughtful, immersive dining experiences.
As Culinary Director of The Cape Retreat, Alex connects guests directly to the wild, translating terroir into flavour and experience. Her perspective adds a deeply sensory and values-driven lens to the Summit’s keynote programming.
2. Learning Journeys
The Taste of Place Summit is known for its immersive Learning Journeys, full-day, hands-on experiences that take delegates beyond the conference walls and into the communities shaping Alberta’s culinary and agritourism landscape.
Urban Edmonton
Discover Edmonton’s taste of place through its river valley and vibrant urban core. This journey includes an artisanal chocolate tasting with a master chocolate maker, guided foraging with a local expert and a chef-prepared snack inspired by wild ingredients. Delegates will take part in a creative lunch and cocktail workshop, tour Canada’s only purpose-built barrel fermentation brewery and ride a historic streetcar back downtown, complete with Indigenous refreshments and storytelling that connect past and present.
Leduc County
This full-day experience highlights the power of collaboration in rural Alberta. Delegates will meet entrepreneurs, producers and makers working together to strengthen local economies and attract visitors. From coffee tastings and wellness stories to sustainability-focused ventures and Indigenous-owned businesses, the journey showcases how municipal leadership and destination marketing organizations can build thriving clusters. A chef-prepared lunch sourced from nearby producers anchors the day in flavour and community.
Strathcona County
Just east of Edmonton, Strathcona County offers a deep dive into prairie agriculture and partnerships. Delegates will visit Pierogerie, the region’s only certified-organic pierogi farm, learn hands-on pierogi making and explore partnerships with Lamberry Ranch, a neighbouring Saskatoon berry farm. The day continues at award-winning Bar OA Flower Farms for a long-table lunch among the blooms, with beer pairings and storytelling from Manual Labour Brewery. The journey concludes at Elk Island National Park with Bird Dreams, offering wildlife education and Indigenous cultural experiences rooted in place.
Edmonton + Rural Heartland
This journey blends nature, craft and agritourism. Delegates will explore the University of Alberta Botanic Garden near Devon, enjoy a botanical-inspired tasting and connect flavour to landscape. The experience continues at Anohka Distillery for grain-to-glass storytelling and prairie-inspired spirits before concluding at Prairie Gardens Adventure Farm with a farm-fresh lunch and hands-on countryside experience.
3. A Powerful Welcome with Warrior Women
The Summit opens with the Warrior Women Celebratory Welcome, sponsored by Explore Edmonton, setting an intentional and cultural tone for the days ahead.
Co-founded by Matricia Bauer and Mackenzie Brown, Warrior Women is a powerful platform for cultural education, Indigenous tourism and storytelling through music, art and ceremony.
Matricia Bauer is a singer, songwriter, drummer and artist from Sturgeon Lake Cree Nation. She is the visionary behind Warrior Women and a global ambassador for Indigenous tourism, having shared Cree culture through workshops, performances and speaking engagements around the world. She is also the founder of Wisakipakos Indigenous Bitters and a certified plant walk guide.
Mackenzie Brown, Kamamak, is a First Nations Cree performer and multidisciplinary artist based in Mohkinstsis, Calgary. Her work spans drumming, painting, beadwork and large-scale murals across Canada. Her contributions have been recognized with honours including Indigenous Woman of the Year, Top 30 Under 30 and the Calgary Mayor’s Arts Award for Indigenous Artists.
BONUS Reason!
In addition to the opening welcome, Matricia Bauer will appear on Day Two as a panellist in Rooted and Rising, Indigenous Chefs and Entrepreneurs Redefining Taste in Alberta, moderated by Chelsey Quirk, alongside Chef Iserhoff of Bernadette’s and Chef Chartrand.
4. Launch of the Air Canada Youth Taste of Place Entrepreneur Showcase
The Taste of Place Summit is where the future of culinary and agritourism takes flight. In partnership with Air Canada, the Culinary Tourism Alliance is launching the Youth Taste of Place Entrepreneur Showcase.
This national initiative celebrates emerging Canadian entrepreneurs ages 19–30 who are shaping food and agritourism through local flavour, culture, sustainability and community impact. Two winners will be flown to Edmonton to present their businesses at the 2026 Summit in a featured Air Canada–moderated session titled How My Taste of Place Business Took Flight.
Winners receive round-trip flights, accommodations, full Summit access, national exposure and industry visibility among tourism leaders and innovators. The showcase reinforces the Summit’s commitment to mentorship, opportunity and the next generation of taste of place leaders.
5. The People, the Food + Exploring Edmonton
Beyond the sessions and Learning Journeys, the Taste of Place Summit is about connection, with people, with food and with the host city.
Edmonton’s culinary scene is bold, diverse and deeply rooted in place. Delegates can explore Indigenous-inspired cuisine, Prairie-grown ingredients, global flavours and a thriving craft beverage scene. The city also offers world-class attractions like the Royal Alberta Museum, the Art Gallery of Alberta and the largest stretch of urban parkland in North America along the North Saskatchewan River valley. Explore more here!
Networking comes to life at signature events, including the Opening Night Reception at the Art Gallery of Alberta and a showstopping wrap-up invitation to the Foraged Cocktail Contest with Moonlight Cocktail Club. These moments create space to connect with peers, collaborators and future partners in unforgettable settings.
The Taste of Place Summit 2026 is more than a conference, it’s an experience rooted in land, culture and community. Join us in Edmonton this June to learn, taste, connect and help shape the future of culinary and agritourism in Canada.
