Prince Edward County is certainly a glass-half-full kind of place. Known for its rustic wineries growing cabernet franc, riesling and chardonnay, and tasting rooms tucked inside rustic barns, it has long been a destination in its own right. Picton and the County's other picturesque main streets are filled with charming locally owned boutiques and nationally acclaimed restaurants that have inspired chefs from Toronto and beyond to make the move. It certainly didn't need another feather in its cap. And yet, Base31 has added one.
The former Second World War air training base reopened to the public as Base31 in 2022 and is now home to a 1,500-person concert venue, art galleries, an Exhibition Hall and The Commissary, where a gaggle of food vendors gathers around a central bar. And it’s still growing: Base Living will eventually bring a mix of homes and rental residences to the wider site, beginning with its first residential village, Hilltop.
This summer, chef Charlotte Langley has joined The Commissary lineup with Chef Char’s Snack Shack, while oyster pop-ups, local beer, Sunday brunch and live music are helping turn Base31 into as much a dining destination as a concert one. We sit down with Liz Kohn, VP of marketing and communications, to find out how the historic site became one of the County’s most ambitious new places to eat, drink and catch a show.
For anyone who hasn’t been before, can you give us a sense of what Base31 is?
"The historic district is a former World War II air training base. During the war, about 200 of these were built across Canada to help with the war effort. The young soldiers who came to be trained here didn't just come from Canada; they came from all over the Commonwealth countries. Of the 50 original buildings, we have 40 that remain on site.
"The idea was, could we take this beautiful historic site and breathe life into it through the kind of characteristics that it once served? When the soldiers were here, food was a part of the social grounding ... and music and theatre were performed. What we discovered about the community that they created is that it was often referred to as a town within a town and had very close connections with the local community.
"You may come to go to the Exhibition Hall, which is like a museum celebrating the history of the site ... and then you can pop into The Commissary for a bite and a drink, or listen to live music, or then go to an art gallery, and then take one of the electric bikes from [on-site tenant] Pedego PEC and roam the site or move your way through the county. You come for one thing, but it’s the other things that help you feel like you can have an entire experience."
How do you approach the music programming?
"We have our Drill Hall stage, which is the old Drill Hall building where [the soldiers] would practise their drills. It’s a 1,500-person concert venue. We have a gorgeous stage, platform seating, and it has this magnificent outdoor patio that, as the sun sets and you’re listening to a concert, you have those best cotton-candy sunsets that you get in Prince Edward County because we’re up on the hill.
"We’re really looking at acts that can fill a room and have a really great experience. And then we have tried-and-true staples that we bring back year after year that are so beloved, like The Glorious Sons, who are Kingston’s homegrown heroes, and they sell out every time we have them. And we bring back Dwayne Gretzky every year."
Food and drink are a big part of the Prince Edward County experience. How does that translate at Base31?
"The Commissary, an outdoor food and drink market, is set off of all of these historic buildings, but it’s new shipping containers that are this sort of pop-up style.
"Chef Charlotte Langley has been doing a pop-up this summer called Chef Char’s Snack Shack. She has incredible sandwiches. She will occasionally pop up on the Drill Hall patio to do oysters for a show, which makes that experience really fun.
"Our other food vendors include The Good Mess, which is classic smash burgers and loaded fries. Lemons & Sweets is a great food vendor as well — Paula [Rideout, the owner] makes regular lemonades and specialty versions — one has cotton candy — and incredible ice cream and gelato. And she does the most wonderful affogato."
And there’s plenty for beer drinkers, too?
"Prince Edward County is known for all of its wineries — that’s how it established and grew itself over the past 20 years — but it also has a number of incredible microbreweries, and those are a delight to go visit as part of a brewery trail. What I love is that we have the largest collection of Prince Edward County beers on tap at The Commissary."
It sounds like the Commissary is meant to be a destination in its own right, rather than somewhere you only visit before a concert?
"We have music programming that we do each week, as well as really fun events: a games night on Wednesdays; Thursdays we have open mic nights ... on Friday nights we have something called Porch Sessions, where we have worked with local musicians here who are very beloved too.
"Sundays, July through August, we’ll be having Sunday brunch. Between 11 and 2 p.m., the vendors serve brunch food, and we have live bluegrass and blues playing for free in The Commissary; then the occasional DJ will pop up.
"We want it to feel like it’s a place where locals can come any day of the week — lunch, dinner — or those visiting actually could come as part of a destination. Maybe they want to try Chef Char’s famous meatball sub (which is coveted), but end up knowing that they can do so much more, and come back again."
For someone who’s used to seeing concerts at venues in Toronto, what feels different about seeing one at Base31?
"Here, it's a whole experience. You’re experiencing the winding roads, the different pace, letting your shoulders down, the sunsets that help you actually feel like you’re part of a memory.
"You’re in it because it’s steeped in history. It’s all around you. There’s always something in that old building that is new, that's leaning into creativity and feeling like you’re just in something that’s a bit more magical."
