Yesterday and Today

On April 10, 1965, Elmira celebrated its first Maple Syrup Festival. It was a warm and inviting day and all roads led to Elmira; the ladies were ready at their camp stoves and electric griddles, ready to serve pancakes and maple syrup to a crowd of hopefully 2,500. To everyone’s great surprise, 10,000 people made their way to Elmira that first year to savour the sweet taste of spring! And so, our Festival grew… and grew… and grew.

Thanks to our visitors from all over the world – Australia, Europe, Mexico, the USA, Canada, and even the North Pole – the Elmira Maple Syrup Festival has been recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as the world’s largest maple syrup festival with 66,529 people. This recognition came after the 2000 Festival when volunteers from Canadian Automobile Association counted people entering Elmira by car on Festival day. We are now proud to welcome visitors to the biggest – and we feel the best – Maple Syrup Festival.

We have come a long way from those early beginnings. A well organized volunteer committee meets monthly throughout the entire year to arrange the event. On festival day a fine tuned team of 2,000 volunteers rises long before dawn to ensure the smooth running of the Festival throughout the entire day. In 2000, we served the 500,000th pancake and the mall grew from featuring 14 booths to one offering products of more than 100 vendors. Then, in 2001, the Festival’s volunteers were one of 19 groups across the province recognized by the Ontario Ministry of Citizenship, Culture and Recreation for their outstanding achievement.

Elmira’s Maple Syrup Festival is considered a true sign of spring; visitors are drawn by spring fever and a nostalgia for a rural way of life. Come join the fun—there is something for everyone young and old.