Get ready to satisfy your sweet tooth! The popular Maple Syrup Festival is back this year and expanding from one weekend to three and at two locations.

March is Maple Month, and the Essex Region Conservation Authority is celebrating with an expanded Maple Syrup Festival that spans over the first three weekends in March, with a Maple Trail connecting the two sites at the John R. Park Homestead and Holiday Beach Conservation Areas.

Each weekend has a special theme filled with sweet tasting experiences and activities to celebrate the natural and cultural heritage in our community.

 

Lumberjack Weekend

March 4-5, 11am-4pm

Lumber jacks & jills – get your flannel ready for #YQG’s first Lumber Games, a Moustache contest and Axe throwing! Chainsaw and woodcarving demonstrations, Pioneer and Modern Maple Making, and so much more at the Maple Fest’s first weekend.

Lumberjack demonstrations at the Maple Syrup Festival in Colchester, Ontario.
Lumberjack demonstrations at the Maple Syrup Festival in Colchester, Ontario.

Tasters’ Weekend

March 11-12, 11am-4pm

It’s a Tasters’ paradise for all things Maple! Sample baked goods, maple butter, maple sugar and more. Taste various syrups and learn how they make the grade. Butter tart contest, winter hikes, crafters’ market, and the Maple Markets at both locations. Horse and carriage rides and much more.

Butter Tart Competition

Do you think your maple butter tart has what it takes to win best maple butter tart in the county? If so, be sure to enter the Best Butter Tart competition happening March 11 during the Tasters’ Weekend. Review the rules, regulations and details on how to enter your butter tart. The contest is open to bakers of all ages.

 

The Maple Syrup Festival in Colchester, Ontario, is a family fun activity.
The Maple Syrup Festival in Colchester, Ontario, is a family fun activity.

 

Makers’ Weekend

March 18-19, 11am-4pm

Did you know maple making is an Indigenous innovation? Learn more about its origins this weekend. Learn to tap YOUR trees at home and make maple in the snow. Awarding of the Lumber Games ‘Crown’ and the Backyard Makers Award. Meet the Makers, Winter Bird Hike and much more on this final festival weekend.

Satisfy your sweet tooth at the Maple Syrup Festival in Colchester, Ontario.
Satisfy your sweet tooth at the Maple Syrup Festival in Colchester, Ontario.

 

Maple Trail

A new Maple Trail connecting the two sites has also been created, featuring nine local businesses with unique maple offerings during the Festival’s three weekends.

“Families can find unique maple baked goods, family-friendly maple food pairings, decadent food and wine specials and much more along the Maple Trail,” Breault Stuebing adds. “If you download the free MapleTail pass and check in at two locations or more, you will be entered for the chance to win one of three sweet maple prize packages.”

Sign up for a free Maple Trail pass or download the Maple Trail Map.

You can get tickets in advance for the Maple Syrup Festival. Admission to the event ranges from $6 – $8 for a single person/single day/single site. Weekend passes for the entire family for both locations are $50, and an all-access pass for the entire family for all three weekends can be purchased for just $80. The Seasonal Pass provides admission to all conservation areas and special events for the entire year. Advance ticket purchases are encouraged so you can skip the line.