Soup Crawl returns to St. Marys

Dan Troyer, owner of Troyer’s Spices, participating in a previous Soup Crawl. Contributed photo

By Alex Hunt

The Soup Crawl is once again inviting residents to sample soups made by local businesses and vote for their favourite.

On Feb. 25 from 6-7:30 p.m., The St. Mary Downtown BIA is hosting the second annual community Soup Crawl. Participating businesses will make a soup of their choice, allowing locals to sample a variety of recipes along the downtown core, and ballots will be available at each location for residents to vote on their favourite.

The next day, the BIA will tally the ballots and announce the winner. Eighty-one ballots were counted after last year’s event.

The idea originated in February 2024 with Betty’s Bookshelf owner Jan Scott. Staff at the bookstore made different soup recipes from a cookbook and hosted a tasting, inviting locals to try out a variety of flavours and vote on their favourites.

The idea expanded into a community event with the BIA’s involvement the following year.

“We do a lot of things that cost money. I like the idea of doing something for the community where there’s no entry barrier and anybody can participate,” Scott said.

Scott hopes 15 businesses will take part this year. Last year’s crawl featured 10 contestants serving favourites such as Mexican tortilla, spicy chicken, corn chowder, roasted tomato and bean soups. Businesses will provide dietary information on each soup.

Scott said she enjoys the idea of the event running to its 10th anniversary and beyond.

“I never thought it would get this popular or expand the way it has,” Scott said. “In a small town, people are always looking for something fun and different to do, and it’s worked out really well.”

A form was emailed to the BIA membership for businesses interested in signing up to participate in the crawl.