Elmira Maple Syrup Festival returns to huge success after three years of pandemic pivoting

Celebrating its 59th year the Elmira Maple Syrup Festival returned in style on Saturday.

“We’re feeling overwhelmed by the attendance,” said Quentin Mayer, the vice chairman of the Elmira Maple Syrup Festival.

In an interview with CityNews 570, Mayer said the event was widely popular – with attendance reaching the tens of thousands.

“We hit around the 70,000 mark usually when our cell reception bogs down and that happened this past Saturday so I’d say we we’re between the 70 to 75 thousand attendee mark.”

Traditionally in years past the pancake tent has been one of the most popular attractions – and Mayer said this year was no different.

“Definitely, our pancake tent was a large hit. We’ve seen huge line ups there [before] but, I don’t know if we’ve seen line ups that are an hour long wait, like we saw on Saturday.”

He said there was some tricky early morning weather woes on Saturday that made it difficult for organizers to get ready but once the event kicked off, everything fell into place.

“Getting all of our vendors setup downtown was a little bit more challenging this year with the pouring rain but, around that 7 o’clock mark the skies cleared, the sun came out, the people showed up.”

On the financial side, Quentin said the totals are still be added but he expects it will be a profitable year.

In the past, a large percentage of the proceeds have been donated to local charities including youth programs, hockey teams, Woolwich community services and other organizations.

On the festivals website it’s noted traditionally, 40 per cent of profits have been allocated to the Elmira District Association for Community Living.

Mayer said the focus for organizers now is looking to the future for the festivals 60th anniversary in 2024.