THE POTATO AND THE MANTRA
- Bhaktimarga Swami
- Aug 7
- 2 min read
Friday, August 7th, 2026
Alliston, Ontario
In less than 100 kilometres north of Toronto you have this town of 25,000 residents in the heart of potato country. Alliston happens to be the “spud” capital of the province of Ontario. With its rich sandy loam soil it easily becomes a hub for agricultural activities and this is what gets celebrated.
This very green area became obvious to Nityananda, Aaryan and I as we coasted along the flat-to-slight rolling terrain. Thank God we got out of the Friday night jammed traffic on Highway 400. We were not exactly going for a sight seeing adventure, but rather readying ourselves for the town’s annual potato festival. We were met by members of ISKCON’s Bhakti Yoga Circle for nearby Angus. Other kirtan enthusiasts from Toronto followed and joined in the most blissful parade one could imagine. The parade is the kick-start event for a weekend of potato partying.
There were plenty of entries in the form of floats and moving exhibits to honour the potato which our guru, Srila Prabhupada referred to as the “king of vegetables.”
Yes, indeed, who doesn’t like scalloped potatoes, French fries (or English chips), mashed or boiled preps? Very versatile is this starchy tuber of the nightshade family. It is extremely earthy in taste with its brownish skin and white or yellow inside.
I know that in my travels around the world Krishna gets offered this veg at temples globally. God likes it!
What about our exhibit, a van with musicians in the back, and more of the same on the street level? Were we liked? I would say so. City block after city block of onlookers were loving it. The approval rate was high. Very partially I would say we were the liveliest. We definitely were the only group putting out mantra power.
MAY THE SOURCE BE WITH YOU
13,683 FOOTSTEP
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