The 59th annual Elmira Syrup festival is back and in person. This April people from all over will flock to Elmira to enjoy the great event. The event like many others had to shut down during the pandemic. That is where the journey back to being in person began.
Community support became a big part of keeping the festival alive during the online era of the pandemic. Matt Jessop, chair of the Elmira Syrup Festival, said: “The online festivities showed the support from the community for the Elmira Maple Syrup Festival. As much as an in-person event was missed the past 3 years, we have received incredible support from the community as we tried to host online festivities instead”.
Activities like pancake pick-ups and other virtual events are still a success with the community. The Syrup Festival was able to continue and bring as close to the normal event as they could. “It has been a longer journey than ever anticipated to return to our traditional in-person festival,” Jessop said.
But finally, after a long three years, the festival will return to its roots of being in person. After such a long time away, it is easy to forget what that might entail.
“We have tried to retain the core traditions of the Maple Syrup Festival such as, our traditional mall in the downtown core, sugar bush tours, pancakes and maple syrup, etc,” said Jessop. Some venue changes have been made and can be found on their website.
“The Elmira festival is an ear mark of spring” and a big part of the community. They have donated $1.7 million dollars to date from past festivities.
The event will be taking place on April 1, go to www.elmiramaplesyrupfestival.com for more details.
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