🍁 Maple Festivals 2023 🍁
Do you remember your first Maple Fest? The first time you learned how maple syrup was made? Your first taste of maple candy and rolling maple toffee in snow? Maybe you were with your parents, or perhaps a class trip or maybe your first trip to a sugar bush was as an adult? And how about that big sugar high after sampling all the goodies?
Personally, I have never missed a Maple Fest as far back as I can remember. Every year, I’d research where to go and often my sister and I would get together with our children to enjoy Maple Fest together. Below are the three places closest to us.
Bronte Creek
This is the place I usually go to. Not only is it closer to me, but it has everything I look for in a Maple Fest experience.
- 1890’s costumes by the folks working there give a true authentic old fashioned atmosphere.
- Guided tours and demonstrations of different historical ways of collecting and making maple syrup.
- See how maple sugar candies and taffy are made.
- Visiting the various farm animals in the yard.
- Activity centre with kids’ games.
- Spruce Lane Farmhouse, a living history museum that recreates life from 1899.
- Maple products and souvenirs at the Maple Gift Shop.
- Hop on a wagon that will take you to the Pancake House, where you can enjoy fresh, hot pancakes and sausages with pure maple syrup.
The Deets:
- open to the public from 9:30am to 3:00pm every weekend in March and every day during March Break
- Wagon Rides to the Pancake House (open 9:30am – 3pm)
🥞🪣🚜 Mountsberg - Maple Town 🍁
Maple Town offers the whole gambit, including maple sugar samples, maple taffy on snow, maple-inspired food and a Sugarbush tour. But there are a few key things to note when planning either a day or evening visit:
- Pancake Pavilion is open and there is seating outside
- Wagon Rides tickets can be purchased at the gift shop and are first come, first serve. The rides are one way; you walk back. We didn’t mind this because the walk was not far. Alternatively, you could look at the Talons and Tailfeathers exhibit until the next wagon. Wagon rides are at 10:00am, 11:00am, 12:30pm, 1:30pm, 2:30pm OUT TO Maple Town and 10:30am, 11:30am, 1:00pm, 2:00pm, 3:00pm BACK FROM Maple Town.
The Deets:
- Open March 4 to April 9
- Activities are open on weekends and holidays 9am-5pm
- Reservations are 3 hours
- Tickets online
- Address: 2259 Milburough Line, Campbellville, ON
**There is also one at Crawford lake called “Sweetwater Season”. The details are on the same website as Maple Town.
🥞🎭 🦅 Mississauga Maple Magic 🍁
Maple Magic at Bradley Museum happens over two weekends and is a great place to go not only for syrup tasting but also for special events for kids. Here are some of the key things you need to know when planning your visit:
- See a puppet show at 12:30pm, 2pm, and 3pm.
- Week 2 only: Elder Mark Sault of the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, will provide storytelling and traditional Anishinaabe teachings about the maple harvest over an outdoor fire pit. Elder Sault will be by the fire for folks to drop in and chat from 12-4pm on both days.
- Pancakes! Two pancakes are included with your admission ticket!
Showtimes for special events such as puppet shows are 12:30pm, 2 pm and 3pm. Going-Places subscribers are getting inside advice to arrive 1/2 hr early in order to secure seats.
The Deets:
- 11-12 March and 18-19 March
- 12pm – 4pm
- Purchase tickets in advance or on-site but spots are limited so it’s recommended that you purchase in advance.
- Location: Bradley Museum, 1620 Orr Road, Mississauga, Ontario
🥞🍁 Terra Cotta - Maple Syrup in the Park 🍁
Terra Cotta in Halton Hills is also a good choice. At this location, you can experience a scavenger hunt, “Tales on the Trail”, a blacksmith demonstration during the day and a Maple Syrup by Lamplight in the evening.
This year, they’re offering 3 events to choose from:
- Maple Syrup in the Park (all ages),
- Maple Syrup by Lamplight (19+) and
- Sap to Syrup Maple Syrup Making Experience (18+).
Overall, activities at Maple Syrup in the Park include:
- Opening Ceremony with Elder Gary Sault, Mar 11th from 10:30am to 11:30am.
- Sweetwater Discovery Experience: enjoy pancakes with real maple syrup, maple taffy, take home maple sweets and treats available for purchase, maple syrup demonstrations and more
- Blacksmith demonstration Mar 13th to 17th from 9:30am to 5:30pm.
- Grandmother’s Voice, Mar 18, 19, 25 and 26 from 11am to 3:30pm.
- Storybook walk (Indigenous Partners)
- Maple Syrup by Lamplight for 19 yrs and older and includes a wagon ride through the forest, food and mocktail. It runs Mar 31 to April 1. Tour times: 7:30 pm to 9 pm, 8:30 pm to 10 pm and 9:30 pm to 11 pm. Cost is $65
- Sap to Syrup Experience for 18 yrs and older runs April 1 and 2 from 10am to 12pm and 2pm to 4pm. This is an intimate hand-on experience in the sugar shack. Cost is $40.
The Deets:
- Park is open March 11th to April 2nd
- Dogs on lease are allowed but not permitted in the Pancake House
- Reservations required