Fun times on tap at Maple Syrup Festival
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- Published on Friday, March 31, 2017
By Kate Jackman-Atkinson
The Neepawa Banner/Neepawa Press
Sweet times are coming to McCreary, as the community prepares to host this year’s Manitoba Maple Syrup Festival on April 7 and 8. In addition to celebrating all things maple syrup, the annual event has also become a celebration of local culture, featuring music and dance.
The festival will start off Friday night, with a maple themed dinner and concert with alt-country entertainer Kevin Roy. The show is being organized by the Burrows Trail Arts Council, who chose to host one of their concert series events in conjunction with the festival. There will also be a silent auction fundraised for the festival.
The festival really gets underway Saturday, with most of the maple events events taking place at the golf course. There, people can learn how to tap trees, take a horse and wagon out to the sugar bush for a tour and eat maple taffy and bannock on a stick. There will also the scavenger and treasure hunts. The maple events will be little changed from previous years, “That’s the key of the festival,” explained Pam Little, one of the event’s founders and organizers.
The event is also a family affair, with multi generations attending, as well as hosting. For example, the sugar bush tours take place at Bob Gass’ farm. Little explains that Gass learned about maple syrup from his grandparents and has now passed on some of the operation to his daughter and son in law.
This year’s festival will also include information about traditional tapping techniques. Little explained that in addition to a presentation and demonstrations about traditional techniques, they will also be showing the 1980 NFB documentary Nonoonse Anishinable Ishinchekewin KA Kanawentank. Nonoonse was filmed near Ebb and Flow Reserve and the 10 minute movie follows a woman as she goes to Sugar Island to tap trees.
For those ready for a break, the Highway #5 Band and the young musician Caleb Rudkewich will also be performing at the golf course. Food and snacks will also be available from local groups raising money.
In the late afternoon, events at the Community Centre get underway, with performances from Mago the Magician, as well as dancing. The evening’s entertainment will have a strong focus on old time dance, starting with a workshop with Barb and Bev. Attendees can use the skills they learn in the workshop to keep dancing the night away with the Kinesota-based Campbell Band. Little explains that the band is passionate about bringing back old time dance and playing the old Metis tunes they learned in homes around the area. Also on hand will be the Winnipeg-based Traditional Metis Dancers, one of whom was born in McCreary. Little said that they are excited to showcase local talent and traditions. “It’ll be like a kitchen party,” she said.
New for this year will be the inclusion of the former Agassiz ski hill location. Little said that Parks Canada will have someone on hand in the ski patrol lounge, which has been gutted and fixed up for use as warming spot for people using the area. Little said that the Park has kept the road cleared all winter, giving people access to the area for either winter sports or wildlife viewing.
Now in its fifth year, Little says that the festival has grown each year and while they’ve added events, maple syrup remains the festival’s primary focus. “People love the maple syrup story… We don’t want to take away from the natural wonder,” said Little, adding that people are so excited to see the simple acts, like tapping trees, associated with maple syrup production.
Little adds that one of the festival’s goals is to encourage families to be active and she’s happy to see families walking to the sugar bush and enjoying the outdoors.
For a small community to put on an event like this, Little says it couldn’t happen without the volunteers. Last year’s event drew about 400 attendees and had approximately 75 volunteers. Many of the hosts and entertainers volunteer their time to the festival as well.
