Vancouver Island Maple Syrup
The BC Forest Discovery Centre has partnered with the Vancouver Island Sapsuckers once again to put on their popular Bigleaf Maple Syrup Festival. The Sapsuckers are a group of local maple syrup producers who began the festival 13 years ago to share the maple syrup-making process with the community.
This is an event for the whole family, with live tree-tapping demos, syrup tastings and mini workshops to educate you on all facets of Bigleaf syrup production. You might even feel inspired enough to purchase a start-up kit or other supplies to tap your own trees. The entire event is graced with the smell of maple syrup, especially with the evaporator outside working hard to convert sap to syrup.
From syrups infused with other flavours to different kinds of maple products, the Sapsucker group and other local syrup makers will be happy to fill you in on what it means to produce syrup on the West Coast (and how it differs from Canada’s East Coast production).
What used to be a hobby for West Coast syrup farmers became legitimized a few years ago, with the government recognizing native maple syrup production as an official farm crop for ALR and other tax status purposes. So pop in to this festival on February 1st and 2nd from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to support your local syrup maker, and you might find yourself emerging with the inspiration to make your own—or at least, with a few sweet treats in hand.
