Destination Stratford has received unanimous approval to extend the popular local Al Fresco year-round.
Zac Gribble, the Executive Director of Destination Stratford, says they established the program during COVID to help local restaurants who couldn't host people indoors.
It allows for the sale of alcohol and food in designated areas in the city, and Gribble says council allowed them to do a test pilot last winter during the Lights On Stratford Festival, which went really well.
"We saw all kinds of creativity with different wines being supplied, or fancy hot chocolates from a multitude of local restaurants with patrons really enjoying being outdoors, even in the cold winter," Gribble enthused.
Gribble says this expansion will allow for even more great opportunities for local businesses.
"It gives more tools to our local restaurants to do more interesting things in our public spaces. It also supports, indirectly, events, so when events are happening in these spaces, patrons can go to participating restaurants and bring in all kinds of different culinary offerings," said Gribble.
The expansion of the Al Fresco program will also, as Gribble points out, give more unique options for residents and tourists all year to enjoy the city in new ways.
"Restaurants get very creative with wine-paired picnic baskets that can be taken to Tom Patterson Island and enjoyed riverside. We've seen really interesting implementations even with our own Lights On Stratford event, right in Market Square and along the light trail that goes along the river," Gribble added.
Stratford Al Fresco includes 17 tables (5 accessible) and umbrellas in Market Square, 15 tables (3 accessible) and umbrellas on Tom Patterson Island, 15 tables (2 accessible) within Memorial Gardens, and has expanded throughout the south shore of the park system from the Huron Street Bridge right through to Upper Queens Park.
For more information on the Al Fresco program, visit: visitstratford.ca/al-fresco-dining