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Volunteers are always needed to produce an event like this. If you would like to volunteer your time to this event please contact Markus Wand at 724-2314 or chair@powassansyrupfestival.ca |
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April 24th, 2010 marked the 13th Annual Powassan Maple Syrup Festival (PMSF) and what a fantastic day it was! As in years previous, the festival started with our pancake breakfasts at 7am and most other Festival activities commenced shortly after seeing overwhelming crowds forming. Without a doubt, the 2010 Festival had a new attendance record with an estimated 8000 people visiting our increasingly popular one-day festival! A big thanks to all those that came to visit the festival and all it has to offer.
In the past 12 years, we have generally seen the attendance at the our one day festival around 5000 people – 2009 was our previous record year with approximately 6000 attendees over the day. And while the weather was nothing short of fantastic and helped the Festival reach new heights, the 2010 PMSF program was once again excellent and was made possible by the core group of volunteers that run the Festival, but also those that sponsored events and donated to the festival. A special thank you to the PMSF supporters. (For a full listing of those that supported the 2010 Festival, please click here The official opening of the Powassan Maple Syrup Festival took place at 10 am and was officially opened by the Mayor of Powassan, Bob Young. The pancake flipping contest – a perennial crowd favourite – brought the opening ceremonies to a fun filled close, with East Ferris Mayor Bill Vrebosch narrowly winning the contest over past champions MP Anthony Rota and North Bay Deputy Mayor Peter Chirico. |
Other events and attractions at the 2010 Festival included sheep shearing, Scottish heavy events, horse-drawn wagon rides, sugar bush tours, a full-day of musical entertainment, craft and food vendors on Main Street and the PMSF's local business exhibition at the Powassan Sportsplex.All of these events saw a tremendous number of visitors throughout the day with some vendors being sold-out before day's end. A new and exciting addition for the 2010 Festival was the Mini-Science North Experience exhibit, which was a real hit with the younger crowd, but also with the curious adults that were in attendance! Backed by popular demand and through generous donations and sponsorships, the PMSF was able to showcase the West Coast Lumberjack Show and as expected, the crowds at the 3 demonstrations for this main event were bigger than ever. This has been a terrific event for the festival each year and the 2011 Festival Committee is working to have the West Coast Lumberjack show back again for next year.
Looking ahead to the 2011 Powassan Maple Syrup Festival, the organizing committee is committed to providing another high quality festival experience that previous visitors have become accustomed to. For those marking their calendar for the 2011 festival, be sure to mark the 3rd Saturday of April as the day for the Festival. In the past, the festival has always been held on the 4th Saturday, but as to not conflict with the 2011 Easter weekend, the festival will be held one week earlier. Please stay tuned to this website for 2011 Festival events and updates. See you next year! |
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Volunteers are always needed to produce an event like this. If you would like to volunteer your time to this event please contact Markus Wand at 724-2314 or chair@powassansyrupfestival.ca |