Numbers up and down for maple syrup fest
Production numbers grow, attendance numbers drop for 2016 edition of Purple Woods Maple Syrup Festival
Oshawa MPP Jennifer French had the honour of putting in the ceremonial first tap for this year’s Purple Woods Maple Syrup Festival. CLOCA says this year’s festival saw a drop in attendance over last year, but more maple syrup was produced, with approximately 1,200 litres of the sweet stuff made.
By Graeme McNaughton/The Oshawa Express
Some things were on the upswing and others on the downswing for this year’s Purple Woods Maple Syrup Festival.
While thousands of people made their way to the Purple Woods Conservation Area for the some sweet offerings, it was still lower than last year’s festival, bringing in a little under 10,000. The 2015 edition of the event saw just over 10,000 people.
“We had some rainy days during the March Break, and people find another activity to do, which is fine. They’re going somewhere else, they’re not coming to our festival but maybe doing an indoor activity somewhere,” says Patricia Lowe, the director of community engagement for the Central Lake Ontario Conservation Authority.
One thing that did see high numbers, however, was the amount of maple syrup produced at the site.
“We had one of our best years for the production of syrup. We generally tap about 1,000 trees, and some of those trees get two taps, and most trees produce about one litre of syrup. We produced 1,200 litres of syrup, which made for a very good year,” Lowe says.
“And the season just kept going. It started in February, and kept going almost until April.”
Lowe adds that the typical season for syrup only lasts through March.