Article content
It’s a fitting return after two years of pandemic restrictions: The John R. Park Homestead welcomed plenty of families this weekend for Maple Syrup Days, a favorite local spring activity.
Article content
“Maple Days is sort of a start back into maple festival activities we used to have in a big way pre-COVID,” said Kris Ives, curator education coordinator.
The homestead’s annual maple festival was a huge family event every year, and actually the last event the homestead hosted before the world shut down in March 2020.
With pandemic conditions improving, the homestead decided to bring back a version of the festival this spring with timed and ticketed tours to ensure groups could remain small – but with all the costumed guides, blacksmithing, Maple Market full of delicious goodies and maple-making demonstrations people have come to love.
Tickets for this weekend’s event completely sold out, with about 500 people expected on each Saturday and Sunday.
Article content
“It’s a nice anniversary for us to reopen in this way with maple,” Ives said.
But if you missed out this weekend, not to worry: the homestead is running smaller maple tours again next weekend, March 26 and 27, so families can still get in on some of the fun.
Staff at the homestead are excited to bring people back to celebrate maple season because of its symbolism in Canadian culture and history at the homestead – not to mention, it’s pretty tasty.
“Our job is to combine human and natural history and maple syrup does that perfectly,” Ives said. “We talk about the Indigenous discovery, that innovation with maple-making and how that was shared with early settlers and how that continues to be a Canadian tradition and icon today.
“It’s a time-honored tradition at the homestead. The Park family would have made maple syrup 180 years ago and we’re still excited to still be making it here today … that’s what maple season is all about: We do all this hard work to enjoy the sweet reward at the end.”