Essex – The John R. Park Homestead’s sweet slate of spring events kicks off on Saturday, March 2 with the region’s premier Maple Syrup Festival, happening from 11am to 4pm. Due to popular demand, the event has been expanded to cover the entire weekend, with two full days of programming planned for both March 2, and March 3.
For the first time, the festival will have unique themes each day. On Saturday, Festival-goers are encouraged to don their best ‘lumberjack look’ complete with plaid jackets and fuzzy toques, as well as participate in the beard and moustache competition. Day 1 also includes pioneer maple making, woodcarving and blacksmithing demonstrations, hands-on activities for children, taffy making in the snow, and more! Mike Houston and the Woodchoppers will be on-hand offering up some toe-tapping fiddle music, a perfect way to work up an appetite for a maple themed lunch, served up by the popular food truck “Butchers on the Block”.
Sunday will feature all of the old-fashioned favourites, plus some brand new activities, including The Backyard Maple Maker’s competition. Visitors will have the chance to have their homemade syrup judged by expert, award winning maple producer Jean Giffin. Guests can also browse the Maple Market, which will have plenty of sweets for sale, as well as learn about the science behind maple.
“The taste of maple is just the start at this event,” says Kris Ives, the Homestead’s Curator. “Our demonstrators will give our visitors unique insight into nineteenth century living, told through the long history of maple making in our region.”
The Maple Syrup Festival is a pay-at-the-door event. Admission is $4 per child, $6 per adult, and a $20 family maximum (2 adults, 3 children).
For more information, contact the Homestead: 519-738-2029, email: jrph@erca.org
For more than four decades, Essex Region Conservation has been sustaining and enriching the environment of the Windsor-Essex-Pelee Island region to ensure it is the Place for Life.
