Sweetwater festival serves more than 30 litres of maple syrup, 450 pancakes

With maple tree tapping season in full swing, Wye Marsh Wildlife Centre and Sainte-Marie among the Hurons partnered for their annual Sweetwater Harvest Festival this weekend to celebrate all things maple.

Nearly 2,000 guests from near and far enjoyed fresh maple syrup getting served nonstop from the Wye Marsh sugar shacks after getting an up-close view of the production process.

“I think it’s just so important to educate people on this really important part of our heritage,” said Eric Walter, Wye Marsh executive director. “It’s a proud part of our Canadian heritage and we just love to see people come take part.”

Walter says the seasonal March weather has presented ideal conditions for maple tree tapping.

“This is what we want, these days where it’s dropping below freezing overnight. Everything freezes and then it gets a little warmer during the day, the sap starts flowing,” he added. “They love it in the sugar shack because that means they are producing maple syrup and really showing everybody where it comes from.”

Those in attendance also enjoyed maple taffy, maple candy, maple cotton candy, family friendly activities, and a pancake breakfast at Restaurant Sainte-Marie.

“We sold over 450 pancakes today,” confirmed Chris Grant, the restaurant’s co-owner, on Saturday.

The restaurant’s chef explained that it takes 40 litres of maple sap to produce one litre of maple syrup and estimated that 30 litres of syrup was served on Saturday.

The two-day festival wrapped up on Sunday and is one of the oldest traditions at Wye Marsh Wildlife Centre.