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Maple Syrup Festival set for March 29, 30

March 17, 2014   ·   2 Comments

By Tabitha Wells

With spring just a week away (on the calendar, at least), it’s almost time for the event maple syrup addicts of all ages look forward to – the Orangeville Optimist Club’s annual Maple Syrup Festival.

The 21st annual event is to be held Saturday and Sunday March 29 and 30, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days at Island Lake Conservation Area, and boasts to be a fun, full-day event for family and friends.

Last year, the Optimist Club made some changes to the event, bringing in more activities, a vendor’s market and entertainment to help increase both the value and the capability to spend more time at the festival. This year, they intend to follow suit, with lots to keep people occupied throughout the day.

“A lot of the feedback we got back from social media last year was just really well received and positive,” said Optimist Derrick Bennett.

“People really like the changes and things we added to the event. We made it a little more interactive so that people could stay longer and do more. It’s an affordable event where families can go out for the whole day and not blow the family fortune.”

Included in admission (which is free for children 12 and under, and $10 per person 13 and up) is a horse-drawn wagon ride, face-painting, a balloon artist, magician, sugar-shack tour as well as the tour of the maple bush. Weather permitting, there will also be a hot-air balloon ride from ReMax.

“We have musicians performing, dancers dancing, all kinds of entertainment acts, martial arts demonstrations, birds of prey demonstrations on Sunday, and much more,” said Mr. Bennett. “We have a full lineup on our website and will be posting dynamic content there and on our Facebook event page to keep people up-to-date on all the exciting things that are happening.”

Although a couple of years ago, the weather was too nice, putting a damper on the ‘feel’ of the festival and making it difficult to run some of the favourite activities (such as making fresh maple toffee in the snow), last year’s weather was much more cooperative, with a fresh snow fall, no wind, and a bright, sunny day.

“Last year, we had a phenomenal turnout. We had lots of snow, but it wasn’t coming down, so everybody was able to get out and enjoy,” Mr. Bennett said.

“We had a great response from the community who came out as guests. Right now our biggest hope is that the weather will agree with us. We want snow on the ground, that gives that authentic feel and we need snow to make that winter maple syrup toffee. Without snow, that whole aspect is affected and we really have to improvise.”

The festival functions as a fundraiser for the Optimist Club, to help them run other community events throughout the year, such as Christmas in the Park.

“It is a two-day outdoor community event,” said Mr. Bennett. “We put on an all-day sausage and pancake breakfast, as well as barbecuing hot dogs and sausage throughout the day. We’ll have Maple Syrup, maple candies and all kinds of maple treats for sale as well as the local vendors market.”

He added that Melody Greenley and Everett Lusk, the co-chairs of the committee, deserve a lot of praise for the work they do to ensure things run smoothly.

“Because we’re non-profit, we don’t get paid for any of the work we do, and this job has really become a full time job for everybody on the committee,” he said. “Those two have especially worked hard for a number of years, and we really want to recognize their efforts in bringing this together – not just for our club but for the whole community of Orangeville, and for the County of Dufferin for that matter.”

One thing Mr. Bennett said people will need to be considerate of is the limited amount of parking available. While parking is provided and is free, there is not a lot of space at the Conservation area, so people should plan on coming early if they want to park onsite.

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