Festival season for the Nipissing District kicks off this Saturday April 28th, in the community of Powassan, just south of North Bay.
The town population is expected to swell to nearly six times its actual size, as people gather for the 21st Annual Powassan Maple Syrup Festival.
See: Syrup lovers pack Powassan's party
Bev Martin, owner of Country Preserves, is a first time vendor at this festival.
"I'm looking forward to seeing all the people walk up and down Main Street in Powassan, and experience all the excitement.. The kids just love it. It's really a wonderful thing to have going on. People come from all over the place."
An estimated crowd of 20,000 attended last year's 20th anniversary celebrations.
"If we can have some sunlight and plus 10 degrees, we should be anywhere between 19,000 and 23,000 this year," said festival chair Roger Glabb.
"They come from all over. We get people from all over Canada, and last year we got people from Brussels. The family from Brussels came here because they were going to be in Canada and they saw it advertised on a website, They said they had a phenomenal time.They said it was the most fun they'd had in a long, long time. The crowds were friendly, and the vendors were out of this world. They'd never seen anything like it."
The day begins bright and early at 7 am, with pancake breakfasts served up at St. Joseph's and St. Mary's parishes, and the curling club.
After that it's a full day of family fun, with events like lumberjack competitions, antique cars and tractors, sheep shearing demonstrations, and plenty of activities for the children.
People can wander among the nearly 200 craft, food and maple syrup vendors, including those at the trade show at the arena..
Opening ceremonies begin at ten o'clock, followed by the ever popular pancake flipping contest.
And of course, what would a festival be like without music?
"This year we've gone with less quantity and more quality. One of the things that people came to us and said was they were so good, but they only played for half an hour. So this year we've limited the amount of acts and they've agreed to play longer which is going to be fabulous for the people. Our headlining act this year is the Bluez Brotherz from Sudbury," said the festival chair.
Matthews Sugar Bush is one of seven local maple syrup producers participating.
"We have two buses that run from town up here to Matthews. We'll have two teams of horses here doing either sleigh rides or wagon rides, and then they can see how syrup is made, and by the looks of the weather we'll still be making syrup on the weekend," said Dave Matthews.
"The good news is there is lots of syrup for the festival. Right now we're making a lot of golden syrup. Most people like the amber so we have made some amber, and before the festival we'll probably be into the dark. It doesn't just stop at syrup, we make maple butter, granulated sugar, maple candy, maple bbq sauce, dry meat rub, maple jelly, and so on."
The festival chair says it is an important day for the community.
"Our businesses are front and centre. Our towns people are front and centre. They've given people memories to go back home with. You can't put a price on that," said Glabb.
"It's definitely our biggest sales day of the year for sure. There's no doubt about it, and I'm sure all the other producers are the same way,"said Matthews.
Glabb has been a committee member for 16 years. This year he celebrates his 11th and final year as festival chair.
"For me the highlight has been watching it steadily grow. When I first came on, the average attendance was between 5,000 and 10,000 people, and I've watched it now grow to 20,000 people. The fact that we've been able to maintain a family first event and making it free for families to come, I think has been the greatest achievement. The committee is phenomenal."
