Toronto recently held Canada’s first macaroni and cheese festival, an opportunity to binge on everyone’s favorite comfort food.

According to the event’s website:

“Mac ‘n Cheese lovers in Toronto are about to get all ooey and gooey inside! The first of its kind in Canada, this three day Mac ‘n Cheese Festival Presented by Metro provides a gourmet twist to everyone’s favourite [sic] classic childhood dish, while giving back to the community through FoodShare Toronto, a renown nonprofit organization that delivers healthy food to our schools and low income communities; so indulge and have fun while giving back to your community.”

The chefs offering samples of their cheesiest wares were representatives from bars and pubs and catering companies, from a pizzeria, from a Brazilian-themed food truck, from an Indian restaurant, and even from a vegan eatery. Each was competing for prestigious prizes: Best of Fest, Most Unique, and/or People’s Choice.

And there was a beer and wine garden, as well as music. So, this was an invitation to eat some good food for an even better cause, and have a lot of fun at the same time.

That might even have been worth a road trip.

Who wouldn’t want to go to such a party? To quote an internet meme: Sweet dreams are made of cheese. Who am I to dis a Brie?

The festival was apparently the sort of event that didn’t require pre-purchased admission tickets, which would have limited attendance and thus permitted organizers, those on clean-up detail, and those doing the cooking to be adequately prepared with sufficient staff and — most importantly — enough food.

Well, as you can undoubtedly imagine, this plan had more proverbial holes in it than Swiss cheese.

Because, according to The Toronto Star, “On Friday alone, more than 17,000 came to sample the gourmet comfort food, 12,000 more than anticipated. By Sunday ... more than 46,000 had attended the event.”

Really? A food fest devoted to macaroni and cheese, and no one expected this to be the party of the week, or month, or year?

As they say, the early bird may get the worm, but the second mouse gets the cheese ... except at the macaroni and cheese festival. After only 90 minutes on the first evening, which was scheduled to run for four hours, many vendors had already run out of food.

The mere mention of the words “macaroni and cheese” can cause people’s eyes to light up. Whether enjoying a gourmet concoction with a fancy Italianate name — Maccheroni con Quattro Formaggi, for example — or even the dehydrated Kraft variety in the famous blue box, this dish holds a special place in people’s hearts. Institutional macaroni and cheese in a cafeteria line always sells well, never sitting for long on the steam table. And whether you make a quick stove-top version with Velveeta or bake a luxurious casserole topped with buttered crumbs and some bits of lobster, this is a legendary family favorite.

So, how to explain the pitifully poor planning for this party?

The event’s big cheese, organizer Philip Suos, was duly chastened and apologetic rather than making excuses. He acknowledged to The Star that “the system started to fail.”

Attendees and neighborhood residents alike were cheesed off by the mess, the long lines, the lack of food, and the general unruliness. If you say “cheese” to some of them, they may react with something other than a smile after all of this. They might offer the sort of response, maybe, that’s not fit for a family newspaper.

Despite all the problems, Mr. Suos is optimistic that he can reign in the chaos and learn from this year’s mistakes.

Be forewarned, Toronto: he promises that “Next year is going to be bigger and better.”

Perhaps small and sensible might be a greater goal ...?

First Published June 16, 2015, 4:00 a.m.