Elmira Maple Syrup Festival celebrates 60th anniversary
Saturday marked a major milestone for the Elmira Maple Syrup Festival.
The event celebrated its 60th anniversary with the same great flavours and fun that made it the largest single-day maple syrup festival in the world.
David Bock says he’s been to every installment since the festival opened in 1965. He says the syrup has always been the main attraction.
“It’s always that golden, sweet taste,” Bock said.
More than 120 vendors flooded Arthur Street with food, treats, and merchandise. The event included live music, collectible shows, and family areas for all ages to enjoy.
For Richard Sauder, the festival has grown by leaps and bounds since it first opened.
“My mother was one of the first vendors in the first year that the Elmira Maple Syrup Festival was held,” Sauder said. “There was only several hundred people that attended, compared to nowadays there’s [at least] 80,000.”
The event was first recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s largest one-day maple syrup festival in 2000, and continues to grow.
Michel Proskurovskyy travelled from Belgium to see the event for himself, and said the combination of syrup with the pancakes did not disappoint.
“I much prefer it. It’s much more dense and it tastes like syrup not condensated milk,” Proskurovskyy told CTV News. “Always my friends tell me about how it’s great in Canada.”
Along with the tasty syrup the festival has given millions of dollars back to the community. More than $1.7 million has gone back to charities and non-profits over the past 60 years.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Serial sexual offender linked to unsolved 1970s homicides of four Calgary girls, women
An investigation into unsolved historical homicides from the 1970s has linked the deaths of two girls and two young women in and around Calgary to a now-deceased serial offender.
Woman with liver failure rejected for a transplant after medical review highlights alcohol use
For nearly three months, Amanda Huska has been in an Ontario hospital, part of it on life support, because of severe liver failure. Her history of alcohol use is getting in the way of her only potential treatment: a liver transplant.
$500K-worth of elvers seized at Toronto airport
Fishery and border service officers seized more than 100 kilograms of unauthorized elvers at the Toronto Pearson International Airport on Wednesday.
Toronto eliminated from PWHL playoffs
Toronto has been eliminated from the PWHL playoffs.
Information commissioner faces $700K funding shortfall, says system is 'overwhelmed'
Canada's information commissioner says her office is facing a $700,000 funding shortfall that could impact its ability to investigate complaints about government transparency and accountability.
B.C. man 'attacked suddenly' by adult grizzly near Alberta boundary: RCMP
A B.C. man is recovering from multiple injuries after he was "attacked suddenly" by an adult grizzly bear near Elkford Thursday afternoon.
Backlash over NFL player Harrison Butker's commencement speech has reached a new level
The NFL is distancing itself from controversial comments by Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker during a recent commencement address.
Dabney Coleman, actor who specialized in curmudgeons, dies at 92
Dabney Coleman, the mustachioed character actor who specialized in smarmy villains like the chauvinist boss in '9 to 5' and the nasty TV director in 'Tootsie,' has died. He was 92.
Craig Berube named as next head coach of Toronto Maple Leafs
The Toronto Maple Leafs have named Craig Berube as their new head coach.