Hub Staff

There will be plenty of sugary goodness ahead as the Port Elgin BIA brings the Canadian outdoors to Coulter Parkette on March 24 for the inaugural Maplefest Maple Syrup Festival from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Breakfast is often referred to as the most important meal of the day and, with help from the Port Elgin Lions Club, attendees will be able to slather maple syrup over pancakes as the club will host a pancake breakfast with gluten free options.

Organizers for the Maplefest have extended an invitation to Farmers’ Market vendors who specialize in the sticky stuff.

If the latest blessing of snow does not “stick” around, clean snow is expected to be brought in to help create the crowd favourite, maple floss.

Event Coordinator, Port Elgin BIA’s Laura McInnes, said that when they learned the Saugeen Valley Conservation Authority would not be continuing with their long standing Maple Syrup Festival at Saugeen Bluffs, they hoped to keep the yearly ritual alive.

“As a downtown location we know we would never be able to recreate the outdoorsy feel of the Bluffs, but we are happy to keep the tradition going and come together as a community,” said McInnes.

See: A passing of the sweet torch as long standing festival moves to downtown Port Elgin

There will be activities for the whole family to enjoy including carriage rides and a petting zoo with lots of cute animals, as well as a scavenger hunt, McInnes said.

“CanCarve will be at Maplefest and creating neat things out of wood and the Bowling Alley Owen Sound will be bringing their axes so people can pay to do Battle Axe Throwing,” she added.

The Port Elgin BIA is still looking for volunteers for the event. Anyone interested is asked to contact portelginbia@gmail.com.