Sunderland Maple Syrup Festival
See you April 10-11, 2027
Beside the Arena
Smiling Frog Wood Studio will be demonstrating how to carve a spoon starting with a log using only hand tools but can still make the chips fly.ย ย ๐
Smiling Frog Wood Studio (www.woodgifts.ca)ย 416 402-6746
I would like to start this post with the Winners of the People’s Choice selection for the 2026 Paint a Leaf Contest at the Sunderland Maple Syrup Festival.
Lore Grant
Hometown Heart Store in Cannington โ Grant House Bed & Breakfast are donating the design and materials for 2026.
It is that time of year again to get creative with our 2026 Maple Leaf Challenge at the Sunderland MapleSyrup Festival and this year, we also have a limited quantity of little leaves for the 12 and under Artist in your home.
Attention Local Artists!!!
This event was such an overwhelming success last year with the creativity and materials that went into each entry, we look forward to seeing what the artists have in store for us.
As the leafs come back to us, we will number them and apply UV preservant to them for display purposes and the public will have the opportunity to vote for their favourite as was done last year.
We already have 7 participants and if you are interested in designing a leaf for the challenge, just private message me and we will take your information so we can deliver yours to your door.
We may even have a “Kid’s Maple Leaf Challenge” for children 12 and under depending on the interest, with the few little leaves we have left over from last year so let us know as there is a limited supply.
Please email leaf@maplesyrupfestival.ca to register and to request your Leaf ย to enter the Challenge this year while quantities last.
We thank you for your interest in this exciting event at the Sunderland Maple Syrup Festival and we wish you luck and look forward to exhibiting your work of Art!
The leaves will be displayed in the front window of The Haven Beauty Studio.
The 2025 Leafs that were sold to support the festival.
Welcome to Soper Creek Wildlife Rescue, Durham Region’s ONLY Wildlife Rehabilitation Hospital; we are licensed by the Ministry of Natural Resources & Forestry and Canadian Wildlife Services to rescue and rehabilitate sick, injured, abandoned, and orphaned wildlife. Our goal is to release our patients back into the wild.
Events:
Schedule:
Warming Centre, Baby Change Station, coffee, tea, mac n cheese, church ladies egg salad sandwiches, chips, and cookies.
We have people that have their food handlers course and our kitchen is inspected and passed annually by the Durham Region Health Department. We will open the Sanctuary to the public on both days of the SMSF and have many items on display from the 1925’s and provide a tour of the Sanctuary. There will be music played on the Pipe Organ and Grand Piano and hymns through the ages will be streamed over the sound system. When the Organ is being played, the music from the pipes of the organ will be heard on the street. The accessible lower hall with tables and chairs will be available as a warming station. An accessible washroom and baby changing area will also be provided.
an Exciting Annual Event
The 4-H Clubโs Lawn Tractor Pull is one of the favourite annual events at the Sunderland Maple Syrup Festival.
This year the action gets underway at 11:30 on Sunday, ย at the corner of Albert St. near River St.
The lawn tractors are modified by the 4-H members themselves, and designed to pull weighted sleds. The SMSF event will be a demonstration only, but itโs good practice for the 4-H kids who will be entering competitions later in the year.
This attraction is lots of fun for visitors to watch, and even more fun for the competitors!
Jeff Taylor
j-k.taylor@sympatico.ca
We do things a bit different in the north. This is the 4H tractor pull from the Sunderland Maple Syrup Festival on April 7, 2013.
Welcome to the new age in Petting Zoos, where the world’s animals come together in an interactive and educational environment. The young and the young at heart will enjoy petting, feeding & learning about the animals that most have only read about or seen on TV.
Watch the children’s faces light up as they ride a live pony for the first time. Don’t forget your camera as you will want to keep this proud moment for all to see.
The Tiger Paw Exotics petting zooย and pony rides are located beside the arena. While the petting zoo is free, pony rides are $5 per ride.
Centre of town at High Noon Brock Rugby has decided this year to have bath tub races so Clean up your Act and join in the fun. Make that bath tub real pretty, dress up with a wild imagination and win BEST DRESSED
David Croxall davidcroxall@yahoo.ca
2026 marks the 29th year that Harlaine Maple Products has welcomed visitors to its sugar shack as part of the Sunderland Maple Syrup Festival. Hundreds of people have visited their farm on Concession 1 south of Sunderland to see how an old-fashioned product is made using the latest in modern technology.
Douglas and Gloria Harder purchased the farm in 1954 from Vince Beaton (sons Jack and Jim) who had previously boiled sap at this maple bush, since 1933. Douglas started boiling at his parents maple bush when he was in his early teens, and continued on after purchasing the property. At age 87, Douglas passed away in 2004.
Paul and his Dad tapped around 500 to 600 taps in the 1970โs, all with buckets. In 1984, they put in the first pipeline with approximately 150 taps. The next year, the whole bush was on pipeline. They always had a used evaporator, approximately, 4ร8, and boiled in the bush with no hydro until 1991, when a new building was built near the house. Now there is water and hydro for late night boiling. The building includes an evaporation room, a store, a kitchen and a small bottling room. Once this building was erected, we were able to expand and now have approximately 2,500 taps.
In 2011, we finally purchased a new Lapierre Force 5 evaporator. Itโs all stainless steel and very efficient. We still fire it with wood, and it can process approximately 250 gallons of sap an hour. On a good year, with many cold nights and warm sunny days, we can make approximately 1700 liters of maple syrup. We also make maple butter and maple sugar candy, for sale along with the popular maple syrup. During the festival years, we have seen over 4,000 people come out to the bush to watch the syrup being made. We have had people involved for the last 18 years of the festival, hosting bush tours, demonstrating maple syrup production, boiling sap in a large kettle as the pioneers did, and showing how the native people boiled sap using a hollowed out log and hot stones from the fire.
Harlaine Maple Products store is open during the festival, plus we have a booth on the main street of Sunderland.ย In 2012, we hosted the first tapping for the Kawartha Haliburton Maple Syrup Association. We are also members of the Ontario Maple Syrup Producers Association.
Harlaine Maple Products have toured the world and we are proud to be able to produce pure maple syrup: A Canadian tradition. As for recipes, we always enjoy fresh maple syrup on Old Fashioned Johnny Cake, maple syrup pie, maple butter tarts and maple apple crisp. Maple Syrup is also excellent on fruit and with carrots, squash and turnip.
REMINDER: Get your bus tickets for a tour of Harlaine Maple Products at Sunderland Public School during the Sunderland Maple Syrup Festival!
Maple syrup season is in full swing here at Harlaine Farms. Here is the process of how we make maple candy. Starting with bowling down the syrup, then running it through a machine to create the candy texture. The moulds are filled, cooled and then ready for snacking. All of this is done hands on at our family farm in Sunderland.
video credit Katie Harder
Saturday: 10:00 am – 3:00 pm
Sunderland Branch Public Library
41 Albert Street (Sunderland Public School)
Sunderland, ON
705-357-3109
Through his Friendly Fables Rap-A-Long books, songs & videos ‘Lexy the Rap Dad’ is igniting childrenโs imaginations and exploring the world around us with fun-filled adventures
Lexy the Rap Dad is a childrenโs author and rapping dad from Ontario, Canada. The creator of Friendly Fables, a collection of 14 stories and Rap-A-Long songs, is making a name for himself by combining rapping with storytime and itโs fun for the whole family!
It all began when Lexy left the corporate world unexpectedly to care for his infant son who required surgery at The Hospital For Sick Children in Toronto. He created the book series to entertain his own family and found his calling in rapping the stories for others.
Fast forward to today and Lexy is generating buzz among kids and parents for his wildly popular book, songs and YouTube channel. So much so that his 1st and 2nd albums have each reached #1 on the iTunes Children’s Music charts in Canada!
Garbage Truck Rap – Kids Song About Saving The Environment
DAD DANCE Rap Song For Kids
