What we saw and ate at the CNE in 2025

The Canadian National Exhibition runs from August 15 to September 1, 2025 this year.  How fast the days fly to bring us to our most anticipated end-of-summer event before school starts again and the cooler weather rushes in!

This year, we had three kids under the age of four attending CNE (so the last year of the eldest one getting free admission).  My husband bought our tickets online ahead of time and my friend was gracious enough to lend me a parking pass (we parked on the CNE grounds for free), saving us $40 in parking fees.  🙌

(For reference, we bought the adult pass for $28.37 per person this year.  The advance admission pass was $22.12, service fee was $2.99, and then tax.  [One regular adult pass would have been $26.55 + $2.99 fees + tax = $33.38.])

Parking lot 852 at the CNE

We arrived much later to CNE than we desired this year, around 11:40 a.m., on the Monday the 18th (as we weren’t able to find the exact parking lot needed to use the parking pass and many road closures in the vicinity led us around and around).

There were plenty of parking spots available in lot 852 once we got there.  We actually parked here three years ago when we first decided to drive down to the CNE (easiest mode of transportation for us as a family with strollers and wagons).

CNE grounds 2025

Kid-friendly activities at the Farm (best for kids under 10, imo)

Our first stop was the CNE Farm where the kids could play and see the farm animals.  But first, we passed by the CNE Fire Hall where we were able to get some free merchandise like stickers, colouring pages, activity books, and reusable utensils!

There were way more people than when we arrived around 10:30 a.m. last year.  We did the carnival games, corn maze, and Kids’ AgVenture farm experience before we had to trek over to the Cola-Cola Coliseum for the 2 p.m. ice skating and acrobatics show.  I saw the cute baby goats sleeping too and some alpacas.

Ice skating and acrobatics show at the CNE featuring Elvis Stojko

We arrived around 1:30 p.m. to get a good seat.  My 4.5 year and 6 month olds watched the entire thing in its entirety while my 2.5 year old got spooked by the loud sounds and strobe lights that she fell asleep in my mom’s arms.

Best hack is for the kid to eat while waiting for and watching the show so they are quiet and in their seats.

The Food Building was next.  Both the husband and I didn’t have a huge list of carnival foods we wanted to try this year; the selections just weren’t very enticing.

Regardless of that, we still on the whole tried a number of solid eats this year.

Granny Smith Apple Fries

First up was the Apple Fries from the Granny Smith Apple Fries store.  I was influenced by a food IGer to try these.  For $9.50 plus tax, they are actually a bit pricey for fried apples but what can I say?  Where else can you buy and try these during the rest of the year? 🤷🏻‍♀️

I liked them.  They were cut-up apples, fried, and then dusted with cinnamon and topped with vanilla ice cream (that melted so quickly and basically vanished).  They were sweet and slightly tart and it felt “healthy” to eat.

Apple Fries $9.50 plus tax = $10.74

Pizza Nova

We tried the “noodle pizza” from Pizza Nova.  This was in fact Bolognese pasta on a slice of pizza.  It cost $8, flat.  The staff heated it up briefly for us which made all the difference because it was warm and had a very crispy bottom!  The combination of rich tomato sauce with rigatoni pasta on the crispy pizza was so tasty.  The kids didn’t like it though because of the fresh basil on top (they are not a fan of herbs).

(I always noticed people buying from Pizza Nova at the CNE and would never think to buy pizza usually, haha.  This year was an exception certainly.)

Bolognese Pizza. $8 (no tax)

I originally wanted to try the Meatball Mozza Stick from the Deep Fried Mars Bars, corn dogs, and more booth, but the price of $14.99 for just a stick of cheesy meat did not seem worth it to me so I skipped it.

Meatball Mozza Stick $14.99

Super Noodle Company

Instead, I returned back to the Super Noodle Company (where we tried their “flying noodles” last year) to get their new Poutine Dumps offering this year.  This dish had dumplings (you could choose between chicken or vegetable dumplings) slathered in American cheese (torched), coconut curry gravy, shallots, garlic, green onions, and chilly oil.  It was really yummy.  The dumplings were big and meaty (there were five of them) and the sauce was very umami.  The only downside was that this cost a hefty $15.

Poutine Dumps $15 (no tax)

Chicken dumplings

Egg Club

I finally tried an Egg Club sandwich!  These types of oversized toasted egg sandwiches had been all the rage a few years ago and it was my first time trying it now.  I chose the Chipotle Lobster ($12.49).

It had lobster, corn, lettuce, chipotle sauce, and Egg Club Sauce.  It was made fresh to order so there was a tiny bit of waiting time (5 minutes but felt like a long time).

It was tasty!  The toast was toasting (very crunchy and light).  There weren’t big chunks of lobster in it but more like a lobster salad mixture.

Chipotle Lobster $12.49 plus tax = $14.11

Mac & Cheesery

Before we left the Food Building, we had two items from Mac & Cheesery:  Taco Mac ($14.15) and the Bacon Tots ($10.17).  The Taco Mac was cheesy macaroni topped with taco toppings (diced tomatoes, ground beef, green onions, sour cream).  Decent!  And a large portion.  It would be so heavy for one person to finish by themselves.

I really liked the Bacon Tots.  How can you say no to crunchy salty tater tots with bacon pieces and cheese on top?  So yummy 😋.

Bacon Tots $10.17 plus tax = $11.49

Taco Mac $14.15 plus tax= $16

CNE Hot Ice Cream Waffle

As we crossed the midway, we had a CNE classic, the hot ice cream waffle sandwich.  I was dismayed to see they raised the price by a dollar this year.  It was a great steal at $5 in 2024.  $6 for it was still tasty.  The block of vanilla ice cream is so cold but it also melts quickly.  Creamy vanilla ice cream sandwiched between two warm waffles is still a great treat to get at the CNE 👍.

Hot ice cream waffle $6

Blue Claw Lobster Shack

Blue Claw Lobster Shack offered a Lobster Gelato that I was curious about this year.  For $7.95 a cup, it wasn’t terribly overpriced considered you do get a giant lobster claw on top and various lobster meat chunks inside the gelato.  The gelato itself smelled like “seafood” to me and didn’t taste of much.  The lobster meats throughout it were frozen.  It was nice to try and a unique “gimmick” food this year.

Menu

Lobster Gelato $7.95

We had the free samples of King’s Hawaiian sweet rolls (topped with garlic or maple) from their pop-up store in front of Enercare Centre building.

Free samples of sweet rolls from King’s Hawaiian

We saw the Dinner in the Sky — new this year in 2025.

Spotting the Dinner in the Sky at the CNE

Ice cream

We finished our CNE eats this year with a Vanilla and chocolate swirl cone from one of the ubiquitous ice cream stalls scattered throughout the grounds and buildings.  I thought they had kept the ice cream prices the same for the past 3 years now but I was wrong when I checked last year’s blog post lol..  They raised it by a dollar this year :(.  For $7, the man operating this ice cream stand gave us a very generous portion of ice cream.  Yum!  My two older kids enjoyed their ice cream treat (shared!).

Vanilla and chocolate swirl cone $7 (no tax)

And that wraps up what we ate and experienced this year at the CNE in 2025.

Here are the rest of the more interesting food options this year that I saw:  Dubai Pistachio Chocolate Bar, Ube Manila Chocolate Funnel Cake, Butter Tart Funnel Cake, Deep Fried Maple Cream Cookies (so Canadian lol), Galaxy Teas from Yogen Fruz, Deep Fried Chicken Skins Doritos Salad from Farm to Fryer, Blackpink donuts and drinks from Marry Me Mochi, and giant Samosas from Bombay Spice Street.

Dubai Pistachio Chocolate Bar

Legendairy ice creamery – funnel cakes and fried maple cookies

Farm to Fryer – chicken skins doritos salad

Marry Me Mochi – Blackpink donuts and drinks

Bombay Spice Street – giant samosa

Deep Fried Frozen Watermelon, Two Foot Monster Hot Dog, and Matcha Funnel Cake in the Midway.

Deep Fried Frozen Watermelon

Two Foot Monster Hot Dog

Matcha Funnel Cake

Butter Burgers.  This, I would have liked to try but too bad it was hidden near the Enercare Centre building which we didn’t pass by until the end of the night.

Butter Burgers

Captivated by the giant duck

I have to say that we didn’t do as much this year as compared with last year.  First of all, we arrived later than we wanted which cut into how much time we were able to spend at the CNE (we didn’t leave the grounds until past 9 p.m. — the latest we have stayed).  Secondly, now with two walking and opinioned older kids, it took longer to travel between venues (I also realized that lot 852 is farthest away from the things we want to see and do).  The eldest child is also potty trained too so it takes her time to use the toilet.  We didn’t go to the Kids’ World at all unlike last year where the child went on rides in the Kiddie Midway too.

If it we did arrive earlier and had more time, I would have liked to check out the Emma Memma live show and what they had to offer in the kids’ area this year.

The best thing this year was bringing snacks and fruits for the kids.  They weren’t interested in most of the foods we purchased at the CNE, so it was convenient and easy for them to eat the food we packed.  The hack is to buy TGTG surprise bags the day prior from a Chinese bakery and/or Tim Hortons so that they have filling carbs and sweet treats to eat from.  Best idea ever!!  (Fruits were from Flashfood — cherries, grapes, strawberries, honeydew, cantaloupe.)  I feel like we were more money conscious this year too because of how expensive the foods are so we didn’t splurge as much as we used to in years past.