Queens Borough Hall in Kew Gardens played host on Monday afternoon to a press conference previewing this weekend’s World’s Fare at Citi Field in Flushing.
More 100 food vendors, performers will descend on Citi Field on April 28 and 29 for The World’s Fare. The event re-imagines the iconic 1964-65 World’s Fair — which brought millions of people to the “World’s Borough” — in the 21st century by offering food, drink, art and music from over 100 countries.
Among the vendors that participated in the April 23 press conference were Bushwick Taco Company’s Josie Canosie, who will serve Filipino-fusion from her new undertaking, Bangad & Bougie. Pork is king at this vendor, which specializes in pork belly sisig paired with with ube (or purple yam), pork rinds and pomegranate seeds.
“Our booth is gonna have a really cool display,” Canosie said. “We’ve been busy preparing this week. We’re really looking forward to the festival.”
Mansi’s Filipino calamansi juice and Mexican chapulines (or grasshoppers) from Merci Mercado will also be featured in some of Bangad & Bougie’s dishes.
Katherine Fuchs, chef and co-owner of Australia-inspired eatery The Thirsty Koala, will serve Australian lamb rubbed in indigenous spices, paired with a spicy salsa and pesto. The Astoria eatery opened in 2012.
“The World’s Fare is a very cool concept in that it introduces Queens as being a borough for foodies,” Fuchs said. “Everybody talks about Brooklyn and Manhattan and how all the good stuff is there, but I say no: there’s a lot of the innovation going on here in this borough and we need to be recognized for it.”
Vendors from Eons, Tea and Milk and Joey Bats Café also previewed their food at the event.
Restaurants and vendors were carefully curated by a team of culinary experts, led by journalist and culinary historian Jessica Harris, Singaporean food expert KF Seetoh and renowned Danish chef Claus Meyer. Tickets to the event, which will run from noon to 8 p.m. on both days, can be purchased at theworldsfare.nyc.
Beers from over 500 countries will also be on tap at the festival’s International Beer Garden, which offers a collection of 80 brews from 45 breweries. Each International Beer Garden ticket allows the attendee access to a two-hour tasting period with unlimited tastings.
Live cultural music and dancers on two stages, a 4-dimensional art installation, and a visit from Yama, the largest sumo wrestler in the northern hemisphere, are also part of The World’s Fare.
“We are thrilled that this weekend is finally coming. We’ve been working on this for a couple of years,” World’s Fare president and organizer Joshua Schneps said. “We put together a group of culinary leaders to help us find these great restaurant and chefs. It’s been highly curated.” (Schneps is also co-publisher of QNS).
Queens Borough President Melinda Katz called the festival “a great tribute to our World’s Fair.”
“We are an amazing borough here in Queens. We are 190 languages, 200 countries,” Katz said. “With all of the different countries folks are coming from, they’re bringing their own foods and tradition and traditions and language and dress.”
For a full list of vendors and tickets for The World’s Fare, visit theworldsfare.nyc.
