Partying like it's 1864

Does Canada owe it all to champagne?

When toasting the country's 150 th anniversary, be sure to celebrate like John A. Macdonald by filling your glass with bubbles. Unbeknown to many, the fine French cuvée has significant historical importance to our country's diplomatic beginnings. It was also the inspiration for the Bearfoot Bistro's Fathers of Confederation Tribute Dinner, the most opulent of many Canada Day feasts happening across British Columbia this weekend.

"I knew they must have had a huge party after they signed the agreement," says André Saint-Jacques, the Whistler, B.C. restaurant founder who began planning Saturday's outdoor dinner five months ago.

Over the years, Mr. Saint-Jacques has thrown numerous elaborate food-and-wine spectacles, some of which will likely be commemorated in local history books – Masquerave, the 2010 Winter Olympic dinners, Skyhigh on the Peak 2 Peak Gondola.

But champagne has always been the bon vivant's celebratory tipple of choice – he built an ice bar dedicated to the wine, sabres Dom Pérignon by the caseload in his underground wine cellar and once held the Guinness World Record for the most bottles sabred in a minute (31).

Naturally, he nearly bubbled over in delight after contacting Timothy Foran, curator of British North America at the Canadian Museum of History in Ottawa, and discovering that the "strategic" use of a "prodigious" quantity of champagne was what "sealed the deal" at the Charlottetown Conference in September of 1864, the first of three lavish conferences leading to Confederation.

"That's perfect!" the irascible host recalls exclaiming when he received a reply by e-mail.

As Mr. Foran explained, the Charlottetown Conference originally was intended to discuss the possibility of a Maritime Union. But at the last possible minute, those wily Canucks from the United Province of Canada (George Brown, John A. Macdonald, George-Étienne Cartier and Thomas D'Arcy McGee) wrangled an invitation and commandeered the festivities in order to sell the idea of a larger British North American union.

"Their mission was one of political seduction – and their secret weapon was champagne," Mr. Foran said.

The Canadian delegation apparently pulled out all the stops. In the hull of the steamship SS Queen Victoria, which conveyed them to Charlottetown from Quebec City, they packed $13,000 worth of champagne. Yes, $13,000 – in 19 th-century dollars.

The sparkling elixir was uncorked over a series of extravagant luncheons and dinners at the private estate of William Henry Pope, the colonial secretary of Prince Edward Island, one of which was described by a local newspaper: "Champagne cooled in tubs of ice; jellies (flanked with Charlotte Russe and fragile meringues) quivered on the long serving tables. Lobster boiled and chilled and piled on great platters. The gleam of freshly polished glasses, flowers and fruit, welcomed 33 hungry and elated men at 3 o'clock in the afternoon."

Interestingly (for foodies, at least), lobster was still considered a delicacy in European high society, even though the common crustacean had gone out of fashion in New England and the Maritime colonies.

In a letter to his wife, George Brown commented on the country's champagne-lubricated nuptials: "Whether as a result of our eloquence or of the goodness of our champagne, the ice became completely broken, the tongues of the delegates wagged merrily. And the banns of matrimony between all the provinces of British North America having been formally proclaimed and all manner of persons duly warned then and there to speak or forever after hold their tongues – no man appeared to forbid the banns. And the union was thereupon formally completed and proclaimed."

Fast-forward 153 years. After a champagne reception sponsored by Moët & Chandon, Mr. Saint-Jacques and his staff (dressed in period-style top hats and overcoats provided by Vancouver's Bard on the Beach) will lead 150 guests to a long-table dinner on the Whistler Golf Club's driving range, a fundraiser for the Whistler Blackcomb Foundation. Tickets for the sumptuous spread of chilled seafood, roasted Canadian prime rib and hay-smoked porchetta prepared by executive chef Melissa Craig unfortunately sold out on Friday. But those so inclined can still party like it's 1864 at an after-party (tickets, $30) in the restaurant, which will feature a Cacao Barry chocolate dessert bar and, of course, more champagne.

Cheers to 150 years. Raise your glass to Canada while filling your face at one of the many foodapaloozas held across the Lower Mainland this weekend.

YVR Food Fest

Olympic Village
yvrfoodfest.com

Arrival Agency's summer food festival keeps getting bigger and better. What began as a small gathering of food trucks in the Waldorf Hotel parking lot has now swelled into a six-day event that kicked off on Tuesday, but continues throughout the weekend. On Saturday, the feasting gets off to a smoky start with The Canada Day Cookout (11 a.m. to 7 p.m., all weekend tickets are $10 to $60) a giant southern-style BBQ doused with beer and live bands. On Sunday, more than 80 food carts, restaurants, wineries and breweries will likely ignite a feeding frenzy at the flagship Street Food Showdown (11 a.m. to 7 p.m.). On Monday, it all winds down with the Big Brunch (11 a.m. to 3 p.m.), which will include a Caesar competition, mimosa bar, cold-brew coffee kegger, dulce de leche pancakes, breakfast tacos, smoothie bowls, smoked bacon and more.

Steveston Salmon Festival

Steveston Community Park, Richmond
stevestonsalmonfest.ca

B.C.'s largest salmon bake – with more than 1,200 pounds of fresh, wild sockeye salmon grilled over open fire pits – has been going strong since 1945. Expect long lineups for the $16 cookout (starting at 10 a.m. on July 1), which will be supplemented by an all-day food fair, food-truck festival and outdoor ice-cream parlour.

Ribfest

Outside Mamie Taylor's, 251 E. Georgia St., Vancouver
mamietaylors.ca

Now in its eighth year, the outdoor barbecue contest in Chinatown has become one of the most competitive cook-offs among Vancouver restaurant grillers and smokers. Grab a $15 rib plate while watching the contestants duke it out, starting on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Dinner in the Sky

415 Esplanade West, North Vancouver
skydine.ca

While not technically a Canada Day event, this extreme-dinner series – for which patrons are strapped into rollercoaster-style seats on a platform restaurant lifted by crane 32 metres above ground – launches on Saturday, continuing until the end of the month. Four-course meal packages start at $399 a person.

Canada Day at Grouse Mountain

Grouse Mountain, 6400 Nancy Greene Way, North Vancouver
grousemountain.com

A Canada Day celebration that hits every possible cliché. After hiking up the Grouse Grind (to avoid the $44 Skyride ticket), doing sun salutations in a free yoga class, shooting a few pucks in the street hockey shootout challenges, tossing axes lumberjack-style and taking selfies with a grizzly bear, you can chow down on salmon burgers, poutine, smoked-meat sandwiches and BeaverTail pastries.

Granville Island

granvilleisland.com

The busiest day on Granville Island (which also coincides with the final leg of the TD Vancouver International Jazz Festival, with free performances on four stages) includes a Lobster Man cookout, a new foodie fair at Anderson Square, a smorgasbord of world cuisine at the Mela Festival in the Johnston Street outdoor parking lot and free cake for kids after the official ceremonies in Ron Basford Park at 2 p.m.