Hundreds of local residents enjoyed the sunshine and celebrated their love of spring and maple syrup at this year's annual Sweetwater Harvest Festival held at the Wye Marsh and Sainte-Marie among the Hurons over the weekend in the Midland area.
Residents were encouraged to start at Sainte-Marie’s where every festivity came with a back story of the history of the site along and the Wendat peoples as well as the French settlers who built it.
“It’s an opportunity to celebrate spring, maple syrup and to kick off the season with some fun. People are outside in the snow and sunshine and enjoying this time of year,” said Sainte-Marie spokeswoman Mikaela Lefaive. “I love seeing the forest come to life and the start of the new tourism season.”
Sainte-Marie held a market consisting of 25 vendors sporting handmade local items.
Festivities spread across the site, included fire starting, Make and Take historical games, pottery making, a canoe building demonstration, storytelling in the long house with raspberry tea, three-sisters planting of corn, beans, and squash, cornbread tasting, and a blacksmith demonstration where they taught locals how to create the same nails that held together the buildings surrounding them.
The scavenger hunt to find Canadian creatures and icons in exchange for cookies and bracelet-making prizes leads families towards the Wye Marsh where they held Indigenous storytelling, face painting, Make and Take crafts and encouraged locals to shop more local vendors.
“I love seeing the families and the parents who came to the festival as children,” said Kim Hacker, executive director at the Wye Marsh, “It’s the multi-generational aspect and the fact the festival has been going for 30 years. Grandparents and parents bring their kids and rediscover the wonder through them.”
Families could take a walk on the Canadian wild side to visit the birds of prey presentation where Ziibi swooped in and stole the hearts of locals with her soaring personality.
Residents stepped into the sugar shack to taste a bit of Canadian history and hear the different ways that it’s created.
“I love learning about the details and three stages of making maple syrup,” said Paul Naish, accompanied by his son Robert Naish, “and how the seasons and different methods affected the flavour.”
Following the trail, locals could take a step towards reconnecting with nature through the soles of our feet by joining "Barefoot Sue" Regan Kenny in the making of a painted barefoot banner.
“I want to help guide people back into Mother Nature through a barefoot lifestyle. I am building a whole ecosystem around it,” said Barefoot Sue.
Residents could warm their feet and bellies afterwards with cinnamon maple bannock roasting by the fire.
