March has arrived and I am welcoming her with a great big hug. This has been a long and cruel winter. This month there is plenty to look forward to with the thaw immanent, warmer weather in the horizon, March break just around the corner and Easter at the end of the month. If you live in Ontario, Maple Syrup festivals are yet another sweet event to look forward to (pun intended).

Traditional maple syrup festivals have been held across North America for years. It is an event held in the  “sugar bush” that celebrates the spring season and maple sugaring. Depending on the festival you can expect activities like horse drawn carriage rides, games, logging competitions, maple candy making, pancake breakfasts and of course plenty of maple sugaring! Demonstrations are usually provided showing how the tree’s sap gets collected from the maple trees, filtered and then boiled down into the syrup we all know and love.

Whether you live in Southern or Northern Ontario, there are festivals going on just about everywhere. I’ve rounded up details and contact information for all of the locations that I could find. If you have another to add, please feel free to let me know in a comment below and I would be happy to update the list!

Greater Toronto Area/Southwestern Ontario

• Sugarbush Maple Syrup Festival When: March 2 to April 7, 2013  Where: (2 locations Kortright in Woodbridge and Bruce Mills in Stouffville.)
• Bronte Creek Maple Syrup Festival – When: Every weekend in March and the week of March break Where: Halfway between Burlington and Oakville
• Purple Woods Maple Syrup Festival – When: March 2, 3/March 9 to 17/March 23, 24  Where: Oshawa
• Mapletowne - When: March 3 until April 9, 2012  Where: Mountsberg and Crawford Lake in Campbellville
• Maple Magic - When: March 3 & 9 – 17, weekdays 12 to 4 p.m. & weekends 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Where: Mississauga
• Crinklaw Maple Festival – When: March 9th and 11th Where: London
• Optimist Club Maple Festival - When: March 23rd and 25th Where: Orangeville
• Elmira Maple Syrup Festival – When: April 6, 2013 Where: Elmira (Guinness Book of World Records recognized this as the World’s Largest Single Day Maple Syrup Festival!)
• Elmvale Maple Syrup Festival - When: April 20, 2013 Where: Elmvale
• Springtonic – When: April 6th and 8th Where: Nottawasaga Valley (Barrie)
• Mclean’s Maplefest- When: March 16, 17/March 23, 24/March 29, 30, 31 Where: Lakefield/Buckhorn Area
• Sunderland Maple Festival – When: April 6th and 8th Where: Sunderland
• Warkworth Maple Festival – When: March 9th and 10th Where: Warkworth

Eastern Ontario: 

• 11^th Annual Maple in the County Festival - When: March 31 – April 1 Where: Prince Edward County
• Festival of the Maples – When: April 27, 2013 Where: Perth
• Delta Maple Syrup Festival – When: April 20-22 Where: Delta

Ottawa Region:

• Maple Sugar Festival – When: March 17-24 Where: Ottawa
• Tapping Festival – When: March 1-April 14 Where: 30 minutes East of downtown Ottawa

Near North:

• Killbear Provincial Park’s 7th Annual Maple Syrup Festival - When: April 6, 2013 Where: North of Parry Sound
• Powassan Maple Syrup Festival – When: April 27, 2013 Where: Near North Bay