It happened. It was live. We had a ball! #tacofest2021 went virtual, and what a virtual event it was! We have the messy, taco-stained shirts to prove it, no matter which pairing you ordered! We loved hearing straight from our Restauranteurs (Taco Farm, Proof Kitchen, The Bruce, Bingemans@Home, and Graffiti) and Brewers (Short Finger, Wellington, Jackass, TWB, and Stockyards) about the passion and craft they put into their creations. It was awesome to get behind-the-scenes tours of how the magic happens at the breweries, too!

Oh, speaking of our vendors: The people spoke, the votes were tight, but there did indeed emerge two restaurants victorious: Special shoutout to Proof Kitchen for taking home the Vegetarian Victor award, and Taco Farm for winning the People’s Taco Trophy!

Of course, none of us would have been able to enjoy the evening without our array of sponsors. We have Heffner Toyota, our Virtual Platform Sponsor, to thank for allowing the virtual dream to come to be!  Our Green Sponsor, MTE Consultants, is responsible for those awesome collectable glasses included in the Tacofest at Home Kits. Of course, a huge shoutout to our Entertainment Sponsor, THEMUSEUM, for the sights and sounds of Temi the Robot, the dinosaur tour, and the delightful Maker Space craft! (Who wore their Taco Pin all week-end?) We’re grateful for friends new and old, like our Gold Sponsor, Amintro, and our Silver Sponsor, Josslin Insurance, for partnering with us to see Tacofest happen again this year. A special thanks to our Media Sponsors, The Waterloo Region Record, 91.5 The Beat, and 107.5 Dave Rocks for helping us get the word on the street! We have Westmount Signs to thank for all our beautiful printed materials, and our ever-wonderful Photography Sponsor, Sylvia Pond, for her incredible food-photo tutorial! (We saw her pro tips being put to great use!) Speaking of photos, thank-you to Bre_Creative for your adorable suite of awesome Tacofest selfie props found within our Tacofest at Home Kits! And a huge thanks to both Island Son and Ginger Goat Hot Sauce for spicing up Tacofest as our custom sponsors! (We hope you tried one or both with your Tacos – if not, you’re missing out!) Thanks go to My IT Guy for hosting our website (otherwise, you wouldn’t be reading this), and, last but certainly not least – to our incredible host, Joey from 91.5 The Beat! We had a blast working with him all evening, and we’re glad we could make his first Tacofest a great one!

But the most important thank-you of all? That needs to go to you, the people! Pat yourself on the back and give yourselves a big round of applause Tacofesters! (If we were all together, 330 people would make a big round of applause indeed.) Through your participation in Tacofest, you raised:

OVER $16,000 TOWARDS COMMUNITY SUPPORT CONNECTIONS!

To put that in perspective, that’s the equivalent of putting 3,695 Meals on Wheels on the table for local older adults and adults with different abilities, OR providing them with over 1,000 essential trips to medical appointments! That is a whole lot of good to come from a night of tacos, beer, and fun!

Hats off to another successful Tacofest! Just because we were virtual in 2021, doesn’t mean we’re still not the coolest event in town. Adios, and see you again next year: In-person!

In this heat, you should catch some waves. Radio waves, that is – from 91.5 The Beat and 107.5 Dave Rocks! These stations have been long-time supporters of Community Support Connections, and they’re back at it as Media Sponsors for Tacofest 2021! But it gets better, so listen up: On June 18, your Virtual Tacofest experience will be hosted by The Beat’s Joey Castillo, so you know your evening will have all the personality fit for fiesta like this!

If there is anything this past year has taught us, it is that we can all stand to be a little social – we need that in our lives! For those 50+, there is a platform to help you do just that: Amintro!

Amintro recognizes that, ‘regardless of our age or civil status, we all have a desire to have friendships and socialize with other like-minded individuals.’ I mean, how else does something like Tacofest happen? But with a community-minded outlook for older adults, it is no wonder that Amintro has signed on to support Community Support Connections! We’re thrilled to have them return as our Gold Sponsor for Tacofest 2021!

“You’ll find I’m full of surprises.” – Guacamule, probably

Want to know what is full of surprises? Your Tacofest at Home Kit for two (that you should order if you haven’t yet)! Among them are some special Tacofest 2021 props, courtesy of our In-Kind Sponsor, Bre Creative! Specialising in art and entertainment (like balloon twisting, face painting, and clowns), Bre Creative has been a long-time partner of Community Support Connections, applying her brush to your event experience with her face-painting chops at Tacofests past! So, what’s in the bag? What will they be? You’ll soon see, and be living your best Insta Selfie Tacofest Life!

Do you remember the days before the Interwebs, when all event hype had to be generated strictly from posters and word-of-mouth? Yeah, weird times. Fortunately, we are not living in that age, and instead have our own snazzy Tacofest web zone right up in here, up and running courtesy of My IT Guy! Community Support Connections is lucky to have them – not only are they the leading IT provider in Waterloo Region, but they are known for being the friendliest guys in the business!

Speaking of snazzy web zones… have you followed that little link at the top of the main page to go grab your Tacofest 2021 tickets off of Eventbrite yet? No? Well, what are you waiting for! Head on over and reserve some tasty tacos and delicious brews for June 18^th!

Josslin Insurance is committed to protecting you and the ones you love – it’s no wonder that they are a huge supporter of the community! Josslin has been involved a wide array of events and activities over the years, from setting up free community skating around the region, to sponsoring Community Support Connections’ Mayor’s Souper Sampler in Cambridge. Josslin is dedicated to supporting their neighbours – it’s only natural that they would come alongside Community Support Connections to help them empower older adults and adults with different abilities! We are thrilled to have them return as a Silver Sponsor for Tacofest in 2021!

Turn up the heat on your Tacofest at Home kits for two! Fun fact: When you go to order your Tacofest at Home kits today, you can add a bottle of hot sauce from Ginger Goat with 100% of the proceeds from the first hundred bottles going to Community Support Connections! Cheers to their support of Community Support Connections’ mission to empower older adults and adults with different abilities, but Ginger Goat Hot Sauce also offers you heat, flavour, and fun for your mouth, perfect for tacos like the ones you will be ordering!

Island Son joins us for the second year in a row to support Community Support Connections’ mission of helping people live with independence and dignity in their own homes. Island Son’s mission is to bring a unique, intense flavour and heat to your meals through their Bajan Tyga hot sauce, inspired by the father of Jeff, their creator, after he immigrated to Canada from Barbados.

Their sauce is handmade in micro batches using locally sourced ingredients right here in Waterloo Region.

Check out their recipes here: https://islandson.ca/bajan-tyga-recipes/.

He’s the Donkey with a Plan. He has a fistful of hot sauce, and a nose to the ground on all things Taco-related. You know him, and possibly even love him. He is Guacamule, and he is here to give you a handy guide on how you can ensure you are living your best virtual Tacofest life this year! Here’s what you need to know before tickets drop at noon on Wednesday, May 5^th (Cinco de Mayo):

1) Review and compare the Taco menus being offered by participating restaurants on tacofest.ca! Be sure you know which restaurant and brewery pairing you want to order your Tacofest at Home Kit for two from. Note that you can select a vegetarian or meat option when you purchase your tickets!

2) Order up! Get your clicking finger ready for noon on Wednesday, May 05^th, head to Tacofest.ca, and follow the posted link to the EventBrite ticket-ordering page! When you order your tickets, you will be selecting the restaurant you are ordering from, and which option from them.

3) Add a little extra flavour! While you’re placing your order, you have the option to add an exclusive Tacofest facemask, as well as the opportunity to make a donation towards Community Support Connections, which helps local older adults and people with different abilities to live in their own homes.

4) Save your ticket receipt! Your tickets will be emailed to you from Eventbrite, and you will need this to redeem your Tacofest at Home kit at the restaurant you ordered from on Friday June 18th. Your link to the virtual event will then be e-mailed to you closer to the event date.

5) Stay Tuned! While you count down the days until Tacofest commences, our blog and social channels will share more valuable info about how the event works so you can maximize your fun on June 18^th.

6) Pick ‘em up! On June 18^th, head to the restaurant you ordered your Tacofest at Home kit from. Redeem your ticket in exchange for your tasty tacos, hand selected brews, collectable glasses, and other goodies!

7) Curtain, lights! Use the login link we will email to you in June to access the virtual event, which begins at 6:00pm that evening!

8) Soak it up! Our main stage will include lots of great items, but you will also be able to visit more intimate rooms with your vendors of choice, watch brewery tours, watch a foodie photography how-to from Sylvia Pond, enjoy virtual exhibitions from THEMUSEUM, create chat groups and meeting rooms with your Tacofest besties, and more!

THEMUSEUM has been part-and-parcel with what makes Tacofest such a special event: What better venue to capture and feed into the fun and energy of the occasion? And while this year, Tacofest has shifted to a virtual platform, that does not mean we are leaving THEMUSEUM behind. No – we’re bringing them right along with us!

Yes indeed – THEMUSEUM, Community Support Connections’ longtime venue for Tacofest, has come on board as the Entertainment Sponsor for Tacofest 2021! But what does that mean? Well, let’s just say they have some very special surprises for you, that have been a long time in the making. Guacamule put together this image, which will give you a hint on one of them: