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One of the sweetest festivals of the year kicked off Saturday with maple syrup treats and plenty of historical activities at the John R. Park Homestead.
One of the earliest events of the year, the First Taste of Spring Maple Syrup Festival is two weekends of tapping trees, cooking sap, enjoying maple taffy in the snow, plus hands-on activities for all ages.
“So especially with this sort of cold, snowy winter we’ve had, we’ve had some families say, oh, you know, we have cabin fever,” said curator Kris Ives. “We’re excited to get the kids outside.
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“And for us, you know, it’s really tied to Canadiana — both First Nations history and Francophone history.”
The festival has been a fixture for more than 42 years and Ives said generations of families have participated.
The multi-day event kicked off Saturday, continued Sunday and will also take place March 15 and 16, when Tasters’ Weekend is the theme.
Guests can enjoy samples of maple products, explore the artisans’ area and watch the best Backyard Maple Maker crowned.
Stop by the outdoor evaporation area where sap is cooked down over a wood fire.
Volunteer and retired curator Janet Cobban watched over the old-fashioned process Saturday, explaining it takes 40 units of sap to make one unit of syrup.
“After we collect the watery sap from the tree, we have to concentrate it by boiling away the water,” Cobban said. “And this big pot will make just a tiny little bit of maple, which goes into the house to be finished.”
Settlers would cook the syrup further to create long-lasting maple sugar, an inexpensive alternative to pricy sugarcane sugar that had to be imported from the Caribbean.
The festival continues Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., at 915 County Rd. 50, at Iler Road in Essex.
For ticket information, visit essexregionconservation.ca.
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