Located in the Artisan Cheese Region and home to the first milking water buffalo herd in Eastern Canada, Stirling-Rawdon is in a position to share this unique agricultural product. Water buffalo milk from the Ontario Water Buffalo Co. is shipped to Quality Cheese located in Vaughn, ON. Ticket sales have reflected the tasty recipes being highlighted at this years event – Pasta Tavola is serving their signature fresh pasta, Smokehouse Blues will be creating a smoked brisket slider served with a beverage from Amazing Coffee, Loyalist College is leading culinary students to put their skills to the test, chocolate ricotta truffles will be hand crafted by both the Village Chocolatier of Stirling and Queen of the Kitchen, and a variety of delicious recipes will be served by Harvest Hastings, as well as Farmers Market vendors.

These recipes feature local ingredients and vendors anticipate the chance to test their passion and put their creative skills to use for a celebration of local food, innovation and culture. “I think this is a really great event,” says a local vendor. “It’s the whole ‘from the farm to the fork’ concept. You have to support the community- eat local, think local, be local!”  Chef Lynn Crawford, star of The Food Network’s “Pitchin’ In”, and her team were in Stirling this past spring recording a show to be broadcast this fall featuring the water buffalo mozzarella!  Cheese and meat will be for sale at the event and can be purchased ongoing at Stirling Foodland, now the local supplier of Mozzarella di Bufala cheese and fresh ricotta! Visitors to the festival will be able to sample each of the recipes with limited tickets available for $20. The third annual Water Buffalo Food Festival will run from 11:00 am-4:00 pm on Saturday, August 27.