TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The fourth annual Canada Bubble Tea Festival opened Saturday at Burnaby’s Swangard Stadium, marking the largest event of its kind in the country.
The two-day festival celebrates the popular Taiwanese beverage — a blend of flavored tea and chewy tapioca pearls. Featuring more than 100 booths, it showcases bubble tea vendors offering drinks with unique flavors and the signature pearls, per CNA and the Canada Bubble Tea Festival.
Festival Chair Yang Sheng-fan (楊晟帆) highlighted bubble tea’s role in strengthening ties between Taiwan and Canada. “We hope more people can discover Taiwan through bubble tea and be inspired to visit,” Yang said.
Beyond bubble tea, attendees can sample street foods and international dishes from food trucks. Entertainment includes outdoor movies, live performances, talent shows, and interactive workshops for visitors of all ages.
Canadian Senator Yonah Martin praised bubble tea’s cultural significance, calling it a symbol of exchange, creativity, and connection that brings together people from diverse backgrounds.
The origin of bubble tea remains debated in Taiwan. Chun Shui Tang in Taichung and Hanlin Tea House in Tainan both claim to have invented it. Chun Shui Tang founder Liu Han-chieh (劉漢介) recalls store manager Lin Hsiu-hui (林秀慧) adding tapioca pearls to milk tea in 1987, creating the first bubble tea. Hanlin Tea House founder Tu Tsung-ho (涂宗和) says he was inspired by translucent tapioca at a Tainan market in 1986, adding it to milk tea and naming the drink “bubble tea” for the pearl-like appearance of the cooked tapioca.
