Brochures
Enquiries
Flights
Holidays
Car hire
Hotels
2017 marks 150 years of Canadian Confederation, and what better way to celebrate than looking at a piece of Canadian culture. As far as Canada goes, there is little more prominent than its link with maple syrup. With the maple leaf as the national symbol and the country producing around 85% of the world’s syrup supply, it is intertwined with its cultural fabric. There are few better celebrations in Canada than their maple syrup festivals, so we are here to fill you in on the highlights of this years’ festivals! Plus, we’ve found the best places to taste the finest of syrups!
Elmira Maple Syrup Festival in Elmira
Head to Elmira in Ontario for their notorious Maple Syrup Festival! A fixture in the Guinness Book of World Records, hold tight for the “World’s Largest Single Day Maple Syrup Festival”! Drawing in over seventy thousand syrup lovers, 2017 marked their 53rd year of the annual event. Held each year at Woolwich Memorial centre there is plenty to see and do, with activities spanning two separate areas: the main drag and the arena. Syrup fans can taste all kinds of sweet goodies, as well as enjoying food and drinks that are served throughout the day. The whole event is topped off wagon rides, live music and local performers! Get booking for next years’ festival held on 7th April 2018.
Visiting Ontario? Make sure you take a trip to the Sandy Flat Sugar Bush and Pancake House where you can taste the purest of maple syrups, the perfect breakfast treat! Made exclusively from the sap of the majestic sugar maple tree grown only in eastern Canada, this maple syrup is like no other. The sweet sap is boiled down to pure maple syrup, forming two kinds of syrup – the sugar or rock maple and the black maple. There are also copious amounts of activities to do here: Watch maple syrup-making demonstrations using both new and old techniques, join a sugar bush tour, ride a horse drawn sleigh, visit the museum of artefacts related to maple syrup production, explore nature walking trails… The list is endless! Our absolute favourite are the pancakes breakfasts. Warning: you may turn into a maple syrup monster!
Great Canadian Maple Festival in Ottawa
We can’t ignore the new up-and-comers in the maple syrup festival season! So, we bring to you the Great Canadian Maple Festival in Ottawa, which this year celebrated its very first event. Feasting on a variety of maple delights, syrup fans could pick out their favourite types of the syrup while being entertained by live music and chainsaw carvings. Sounds like a pretty perfect combination.
If you’re in the neighbourhood, Fulton’s Pancake House & Sugar Bush is awesome. Nestled between the picturesque communities of Almonte and Pakenham in Ontario, it is less than one hour’s drive from Ottawa. As one of the best-loved and well-known sugar camps in Lanark County, the camp is nurtured by the Fulton family, where they have played the role as stewards of the forest for over 150 years. The friendly family invite you to begin your visit in their 120-seat seasonal restaurant. Here, you can order your food cafeteria-style and sit down to savour fluffy pancakes, maple baked beans, sausages, and maple desserts. Munch your way through these deliciously syrupy bites and your sweet tooth will be forever satisfied.
From small, up-and-coming events to record-winning extravaganzas, Canada has something in store for anyone celebrating the sugaring season. With events across the country, and activities to accommodate all ages and interests, 2018’s maple festivals will be the perfect answer to anyone with a sweet tooth. Whether it is breakfast, lunch or dinner, there is always a reason to indulge in Canada’s sweetest and most delicious syrup. Go on, treat yourself; you’re in Canada!
