Canadians know spring is coming when the sweet smells of maple syrup are in the air. One of the best ways to celebrate spring in Canada is to attend a maple syrup festival. These events are filled with fun activities for all ages. I’d dare to say that everyone should travel to Ontario for maple season! There are a long list of Ontario maple syrup festivals but I’ve got you covered.
Get your sweet tooth ready as I share all the best maple syrup festivals in Ontario that are worth getting sticky for. In this guide you’ll learn where each festival is and when it takes place. Plus, you’ll discover all the fun activities taking place at each. In addition, I’m sharing the best sugar bushes and other maple syrup experiences to check out.
Maple Syrup Festivals in Ontario at a Glance
If you don’t have time to read the whole post right now. Check out our quick list of my top picks for the best maple syrup festivals in Ontario to attend this year!
- Elmira Maple Syrup Festival in Elmira
- Sugarbush Maple Syrup Festival across the GTA
- Muskoka Maple Festival in Huntsville
History of Maple Syrup
Maple syrup has been boiling in the northeastern forests of
North America for hundreds of years. Aboriginal tribes celebrated the Sugar
Moon, the first full moon of spring, with rituals around sugar making.
Europeans learned the art of making maple syrup from them. Now Canada produces
80% of the World’s maple syrup.
What is maple syrup and how is maple syrup made?
Real maple syrup is made from the sap of maple trees. The starch that is stored in the trees becomes sugar. And it begins to rise in the sap when the temperatures rise in the late winter and early spring. It’s now that trees are tapped and the collection of the sap begins. The sap is then put through a heating process. This process evaporates most of the water and leaves a concentrated syrup.
Fun Maple Syrup Fact – It takes 40 gallons of sap to create 1 gallon of syrup
14 Best Ontario Maple Syrup Festivals NOT to Miss
You’ll find dozens of Ontario maple syrup festivals and events taking place across the province. There’s even a weekend dedicated to many maple syrup events and sugar bush tours. It’s the first weekend of April! However, these are the top maple syrup festivals in Ontario!
1. Elmira Maple Syrup Festival
The maple syrup festival Elmira puts on is the largest one-day maple syrup festival in the World! Plus, it’s right here in the heart of Ontario.
As one of the most charming Ontario small towns, Elmira goes big when it comes to the Elmira Maple Syrup Festival. Plus, 2024 marks the 60th year! So, be prepared for it to be better than ever.
Located 1.5 hours west of Toronto, the Elmira Maple Syrup Festival will keep you busy all day. Elmira’s main street, Arthur Street, becomes pedestrian only and hosts over 150 vendors.
You’ll find everything from clothing to artisans and a WIDE array of food options. Oh, and of course ALL the local maple syrup vendors. There’s also a pancake breakfast, buskers, live music, a midway, sugar bush tours, and more!
When: April 5, 2025
Where: 52 Arthur St S, Elmira, ON
Price: Free
2. Paris Maple Syrup Festival
One of the top things to do in Paris in the spring is to attend their maple syrup festival. The Paris Maple Syrup Festival may be small but it makes up for it in spirit.
A portion of Paris’ downtown is closed to traffic and the street is lined with all sorts of goodies. You’ll find everything from tasty maple treats to clothing and accessories. And don’t forget to grab the mouth-watering pancake breakfast.
There’s also live entertainment and family fun. In 2019, they set the record for the largest outdoor line dancing class in Southern Ontario!
Don’t forget to check out the many great shops in downtown Paris, most of which offer their own take on maple treats. You’ll find maple tea, maple popcorn, and maple donuts to name a few.
When: Second Saturday in April
Where: Downtown Paris
Price: Free
3. Sweetwater Harvest Festival
The Sweetwater Harvest Festival is not your average Ontario maple syrup festival. The Festival is held at the Wye Marsh Wildlife Centre in Midland.
The Wye Marsh is a conservation centre set over 3,000 acres of wetlands and forests. It’s home to an array of wildlife, including trumpeter swans, and hiking trails. Plus, a visit to the Wye Marsh is one of the top things to do in Midland.
The Sweetwater Harvest Festival celebrates the history of maple syrup and the role it played in our culture and heritage. There’s so much going on at the festival, from live music, woodcarving demos, and vendors selling everything from local crafts to baked goods.
You can also enjoy a sugar shack tour, horse drawn carriage rides, chickadee feeding, maple taffy tasting, Bannock roasting and so much more.
When: March 22 & 23, 2025
Where: 16160 Highway 12 East, Midland
Price: Adults: $17
Related Post: Top Things to do in Ontario
4. Perth’s Festival of Maples
One of the best places to visit near Ottawa is the small town of Perth. This adorable town is known for it’s European feel, due in part to the historic stone buildings and picturesque river running through it.
Every spring Perth hosts one of the best maple syrup festivals near Ottawa. The event is called Perth’s Festival of Maples. It has the perfect location in the heart of Lanark County, which is known as ‘The Maple Syrup Capital of Ontario.’
Perth’s Festival of Maples is considered the grand finale of the maple syrup season in Ontario, since the event takes place on the last weekend of April.
The festival takes over downtown Perth, specifically on Gore and Foster streets. For over 40 years, its been a top attraction in Lanark County.
You’ll find over 100 vendors lining the streets. Each selling a variety of products, including artisan goods, food, and of course pure maple syrup.
Kicking off with a pancake breakfast, the festival is full of fun and tasty things to do and see. There’s live entertainment, an antique car show, and plenty of children’s activities.
I love all the fun competitions that the festival runs. The main one is the annual syrup competition where the local maple syrup producers battle for the best.
When: End of April (TBA)
Where: Downtown Perth Ontario
5. Muskoka Maple Festival
The Muskoka Maple Festival is held in picturesque Huntsville. Main Street is closed to traffic and filled with vendors selling everything from arts & crafts to interesting maple items.
There’s live music, street performers, an all-day pancake breakfast, a beer garden (even maple ale), and of course, all things maple-flavoured.
Looking for a little adventure? Pick up a map and enjoy the Muskoka Maple Trail. This culinary trail offers over 25 stops to check out. The stops take you to local shops, cafes, and restaurants across Muskoka that offer a tasty maple treat.
Some selections include maple drizzled waffles, maple gelato, and maple craft beer. The Trail runs from the beginning of March through to the beginning of April
When: April 26, 2025
Where: Downtown Huntsville
Related Post: Discovering Huntsville Murals
6. Maple Madness
If you’re looking for maple syrup festivals in southeastern Ontario you’ll find one just north of Kingston. Every year, Little Cataraqui Creek Conservation Area celebrates the sweet stuff with Maple Madness.
Located 15 minutes north of Kingston, this conservation area covers nearly 400 hectares and is a great place to visit all year long. Little Cataraqui Creek is home to a wealth of trails, an outdoor centre, snack bar, observation tower, and more! Plus, they also offer equipment rentals like snowshoes and cross country skis.
Maple Madness at Little Cataraqui Creek Conservation Area is held on weekends throughout March. This Ontario maple syrup festival is full of fun activities that are family friendly.
Along with a shop to purchase some real maple syrup, there are guest speakers, scavenger hunts, and guided sugar bush tours. Guided tours take you along the sugar bush trail and you’ll learn about maple syrup production in both the past and modern times.
When: Running through March Break and Weekends throughout March
Where: 1641 Perth Rd, Glenburnie, ON
7. Elmvale Maple Syrup Festival
The town of Elmvale, located just north of Barrie, is home to one of the biggest one day Ontario maple syrup festivals! Held on the last Saturday of April every year, the Elmvale Maple Syrup Festival is one of the top festivals in Simcoe County.
For over 50 years this maple syrup festival has brought visitors and locals together to celebrate all things maple!
During the festival, you’ll find a ton of things to do and eat! The streets are lined with vendors selling an assortment of goods including collectibles, crafts, food, and maple syrup.
At the community hall, you’ll find the festival’s all-day pancake breakfast along with live music. Plus, there’s also a bus to take you to local farms for sugar bush tours. Other festival events not to be missed are the huge book sale at the library, log sawing competition, and the pancake eating contest!
When: April 5, 2025
Where: Throughout Elmvale
8. Sugar Bush Maple Syrup Festival
For those looking for maple syrup festivals near Toronto you’ll love Sugar Bush Maple Syrup Festival! Taking place a various conservation areas within an hour’s drive of Toronto, this festival is a must!
The best part, for those with families, many of the festival events take place over March Break. The Sugar Bush Maple Syrup Festival takes place at Terra Cotta Conservation Area, Kortright Centre for Conservation, Bruce’s Mill Conservation Area, and Island Lake Conservation Area.
Island Lake Conservation Area
Island Lake Conservation Area is located in the town of Orangeville. If you’re looking for things to do in Orangeville during the spring, then attending the Maple Syrup Festival at Island Lake is a must!
The Festival is full of a ton of fun things to do for families and adults. You can enjoy fresh maple taffy, a pancake breakfast, blacksmith demos, sugarbush tours, and more. Plus, for adults, they have Maple Syrup by Lamplight! This guided tour includes campfire treats, a refreshing alcoholic beverage, and more.
Bruce’s Mill Conservation Area
At Bruce’s Mill Conservation Area, in Whitchurch-Stouffville, there are a wide array of fun activities taking place during their Maple Syrup Festival. Along with the park’s famous Treewalk Village, there are wood carving demonstrations, wagon rides, a maze, axe throwing, and so much more!
Kortright Centre for Conservation
The Kortright Centre for Conservation, located in Vaughn, has similar festival events as the other parks. However, they also run a Maple Syrup by Lamplight tour and Maple Syrup Guided Hikes. This hour and a half long hike includes learning about the production of maple syrup, getting a chance to try using an old hand drill, and maple syrup tasting.
Terra Cotta Conservation Area
One of the best parks to visit for the Sugar Bush Maple Syrup Festival is Terra Cotta! Located in Halton Hills, this conservation area also puts on extra tours during the Maple Syrup festival. The festival is one of the top things to do in Caledon in the spring!
The Guided Sugarbush Tour is great and also includes, a pancake breakfast, Sweetwater Indigenous demonstration, a souvenir, and more! They also run a workshop, Sap to Syrup, where you can learn about and take part in the full production of maple syrup.
When: March – April (Dates TBA)
Where: Terra Cotta Conservation Area, Kortright Centre for Conservation, Bruce’s Mill Conservation Area, and Island Lake Conservation Area
Price: $9.55 + HST or Free if you’re a Parks Member (Special tours are offered at an additional charge)
9. Sunderland Maple Syrup Festival
One of the longest Ontario maple syrup festivals takes place in Sunderland. This quaint small town is located in the Durham Region, 20 minutes north of Port Perry. The Sunderland Maple Syrup Festival is celebrating 25 years in 2022!
The festival takes place throughout the town with an outdoor vendors market taking over the main street. Vendors vary and include baked goods, ciders from local cideries, as well as artisans selling their creations. You’ll find soap, kettle corn, and so much more!
This is a great family-friendly event with lots of things to do with kids. There are pony rides, a petting zoo, entertainers, and face painting. However, adults will love the Historic Bus Tour, the market, and horse & wagon rides.
Other goings-on includes a book sale, eating contests, as well as a stage with a variety of performers that cater to both adults and children. Plus, it wouldn’t be a maple event without a pancake breakfast and so much more food to be eaten!
When: April 5, 2025
Where: 1 River St, Sunderland
Price: Free to attend with costs for extra activities.
10. Purple Woods Maple Syrup Festival
Another maple syrup event takes place at Purple Woods Conservation Area. Located in Oshawa, 10 minutes south of Port Perry, the conservation area hosts the Purple Woods Maple Syrup Festival. The park is set on just over 40 acres and is home to a few different trails, including the Oak Ridges Moraine Trail.
Purple Woods Conservation Area is home to 1200 taps on 800 trees. You can see the buckets and tap lines throughout the park.
The multi-day event is usually a big attraction every spring with thousands enjoying pancake breakfasts and learning from storytellers. However, this year they scaled back to a self-guided trail through the park with a variety of signage. You’ll learn all about the history of maple syrup, its production, and more cool info!
There are a variety of fun activities for children and adults alike! You can watch the sap boiling at their sugar shack and try drilling a tree. Plus, there are a bunch of cute photo ops! Be sure to pop by their heritage store before you leave. They sell a wide variety of maple goods like maple lip balm, maple fudge, maple syrup from Purple Woods, and more!
When: weekends in March, through March Break and ending first weekend in April
Where: 38 Coates Rd E, Oshawa
Price: Free
11. Maple Syrup Experience
Best known as one of the top Ontario tree farms to pick your own Christmas tree, Elliott Tree Farm is a must visit in the spring too! In the spring you can attend their awesome Maple Syrup Experience. The event begins on Family Day and runs on weekends for 7 weeks.
Visiting the farm is one of the top things to do in Erin Ontario! Elliott Tree Farms is located just 10 minutes outside of Erin.
There is so much to do at Elliot Tree Farms during their Maple Syrup Experience! I highly recommend starting off with their famous pancake breakfast. They serve up pancakes, bacon, sausage and topped with their own syrup!
Other fun activities include sugar bush tours and maple taffy tasting. Plus, the farm is home to lovely trails that are great to burn off the sweet goodies you’ll be eating during the maple syrup season. And don’t forget to pop into their Heritage barn to buy a bottle of Elliott Tree Farm maple syrup to bring home.
When: Weekends starting from Family Day long weekend through April 6, 2025
Where: 9467 Erin East Garafraxa Townline, Hillsburgh
Price: $34.50 + HST (includes breakfast, activities, and tour)
12. Spring Tonic Maple Syrup Festival
For those looking for maple syrup festivals near Barrie then head over to the Tiffin Conservation Area. This large park is located 15 minutes west of the city.
Every year the Tiffin Conservation Area hosts the Spring Tonic Maple Syrup Festival. The event is generally held the first weekend in April, to coincide with Maple Weekend across Simcoe County.
At the Spring Tonic Maple Syrup Festival visitors can enjoy plenty of maple themed activities. Hop on a tour that shares how Indigenous people to early pioneers made maple syrup. There’s also horse drawn wagon rides, and other fun kid-friendly things to do. Plus, you can enjoy a fabulous breakfast that includes pancakes, sausage and fresh maple syrup.
When: Typically first weekend in April (Dates TBA)
Where: 8195 8th Line, Utopia
Price: TBA
13. Maple Syrup Fest
Cold Creek Conservation Area hosts an annual maple syrup festival every March, Maple Syrup Fest. Located in King Township, the conservation area is 10 mins northeast of Bolton.
The conservation area is a special place for diverse environments and a variety of species of flora and fauna. Home to over 7km of trails, it’s a popular park to visit all year round.
Maple Syrup Fest at Cold Creek Conservation Area is a family-friendly event. Start the day with a pancake breakfast. Then head off to explore the variety of maple activities going on throughout the park.
Festival activities include guided sugar bush hikes, tree tapping demonstrations and hot chocolate to keep you warm. It makes for a fun day outdoors while learning about maple syrup.
When: TBA
Where: Cold Creek Conservation Area (14125 11th Concession, Nobleton, ON L0G 1N0)
Price: $10per person or $35 for a family of four
14. Maple Magic
Maple Magic is an Ontario maple syrup festival located in Wiarton and held at Regal Point Elk Farm. This is a very family friendly event where you’ll learn all about the production of maple syrup.
Enjoy pancakes drizzled with local maple syrup, a sugar bush tour, and maple taffy on snow. There’s also a log sawing contest, elk tour, and a Willie Bush Walk Hiking Trail.
When: Cancelled for 2024
Where: 462081, Concession Rd 24, Georgian Bluffs, ON
More Maple Syrup Festivals in Ontario
Can’t get enough of the sweet life? There are more awesome maple syrup festivals in Ontario that you’ll want to tap into!
Holstein Maple Syrup Festival
At Love’s Sweetness Maple in Holstein you’ll find Maplefest. This 40-acre sugar bush is a lovely spot to enjoy some real maple syrup fun! They have all-day pancake breakfasts, craft vendors, over 30 demonstrations, and more! You can also take a wagon ride into the sugar bush. Holstein’s Maple Syrup Festival takes during the second weekend in April.
Buckhorn MapleFest
In the sweet small town of Buckhorn, a 20-minute drive north of Peterborough, you’ll find McLean Berry Farm. During their Maple Syrup festival, you’ll find a bunch of family-friendly activities. At the festival, you can try toffee on snow, try tapping maple trees, wander the sugar bush, and so much more. There’s also live music, pancakes, farm animals, and pioneer displays.
Maple Mayhem
One of the top things to do in Muskoka is to visit the Muskoka Lakes Farm & Winery in Bala! While there are always a ton of fun things to do on the farm, they are most known for their fall cranberry plunge. However, they also have a maple syrup festival too, Maple Mayhem! Enjoy their maple harvest by hopping on a wagon tour, try cranberry pancakes, or enjoy live music and maple taffy.
Maple Fest
Among the many things to do in Haliburton, a must is visiting the Haliburton Highlands Museum. It’s here you can also find the area’s maple syrup festival. The museum runs a variety of fun activities for visitors including tastings, crafts, and more. You can also watch as they prepare maple syrup in their 115-year-old sap kettle. This maple syrup festival in Haliburton generally takes place the last Saturday in April.
Powassan Maple Syrup Festival
The small town of Powassan is located 25 minutes south of North Bay. Here, every spring they put on the Powassan Maple Syrup Festival. The downtown is full of things to do during the festival including a lumberjack show, live entertainment, craft vendors, cooking demos, and more. Of course, there’s also pancake breakfasts, tours of Matthews Sugar Bush, a maple-baked bean lunch, and more. The festival takes place the last Saturday in April.
Ontario Maple Syrup Experiences
Are you looking for great places to enjoy maple syrup in Ontario? Try one of the many tours and tasting trails that take place across the province. Many communities offer self-guided tours that take you to various restaurants, farms, and shops where you can try maple-flavoured food or purchase maple-inspired products.
Ontario Maple Weekend – Takes place the first weekend in April at various sugar bushes across many communities in south-central Ontario.
Tap into Maple – Takes place from the beginning of March through to the beginning of April in Ontario’s Lake Country. Tap into Maple in Orillia stops include farms, shops and restaurants.
Muskoka Maple Trail – A self-guided maple-inspired trail across Muskoka and take place from mid-March through to the end of April
Maple Slurp – A tour that takes place within the Haliburton Forest and includes a visit to a sugar shack, tastings, and more.
Maple Syrup Harvest & Experience – One of the top things to do in Erin is visiting Elliott Farm. In the spring you can enjoy pancake breakfasts, maple tastings, and presentations.
Maple in the County – Celebrated at farms and sugarbushes across Prince Edward County. This event takes place on Saturdays and Sundays in March.
Sugarbush Maple Syrup Shacks in Ontario
If you’re looking for a maple syrup farm near me, you’re in luck! There are a ton of great maple syrup producers in Ontario. Many of these farms are open to the public during maple syrup season and offer sugarbush tours, wagon rides, pancake breakfasts, and more. Below is a few great maple syrup Ontario farms to check out.
- Heartwood Farm & Cidery, Erin
- Wheeler’s Maple Syrup Pancake House, Lanark Highlands
- Stanley’s Olde Maple Lane Farm, Edwards
- Sugarbush Hill Maple Farm, Huntsville
- Fulton’s Maple Farm, Pakenham
- Lalonde’s Maple Bush Tours, Elmvale
- Maple Bluff Farm, Huntsville
- Curle’s Sugar Shack & Maple Museum, Campbellford
With so many great maple syrup festivals in Ontario, be sure to start planning your visit today! And don’t forget to buy some maple syrup from each maple syrup event to bring home!
LIKE IT? PIN IT FOR LATER!
