Plenty of activities on offer over festival weekend

Festival day is the first big outing of the spring, a chance for many to shake off the winter’s cabin fever, get out and take in some entertainment. For many, it’s a sure sign of spring, and a very good reason to mix with the crowd and enjoy being out simply for the sake of it – because we can.

The day offers up a leisurely way to get some fresh air while taking in the sights and sounds of Elmira’s transformation into the world’s largest one-day maple syrup festival. Two other senses – smell and taste – are also front and center: what’s a visit without a savoury treat? There are pancakes and a host of other mapleladen goodies, of course, but the vendors on the mall and over at the arena offer up a wide assortment, with many people returning year after year in search of their favourites.

The big draw, of course, and the whole raison d’être of the festival is to enjoy some of that sweet, sticky liquid, which will be dispensed throughout the pedestrian mall running the length of Arthur Street from Church Street to the cenotaph. The main area to enjoy it though will be at the pancake booth, available at Lions Hall.

Volunteers will ladle out some 900 kilograms of pancake mix – using a secret festival recipe – onto their griddles, and then invite you to smother them with more than 500 litres of Waterloo Region’s finest maple syrup. In that vein, Snyder Acres was named 2023 Producer of the Year following a tasting competition in February.

There’s a Pancake Flipping Contest (11 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the WMC) that features a rather wacky assortment of implements beyond the typical spatula.

The WMC is also the place to be for a stack of activities, including free concerts and a kids’ zone running from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. There’s also the Craft and Collectible Show at Elmira District Secondary School, Friday 7-9 p.m. and Saturday 8:30 a.m. – 4 p.m.

At Lions Hall you’ll find the Toy Show and Sale, which runs on the Friday night before the festival – Mar. 31, 4:30-9:30 – and features a new collectible: a 1957 Chevy Belair hardtop.

If you want to see real animals in the flesh, move on over to the horse barn off of Walker Street near the corner of Church and Arthur streets, where Old MacDonald’s Farm features your typical animals as well as a straw bale maze for those willing to take a roll. Pony rides are also on offer.

If seeing Old Order Mennonites in person is more your style, hourly tours of rural Woolwich Township will be offered throughout the day, as will tours of sugar bushes – home to the sweet liquid that brought you here in the first place.