Maple Syrup Festival downtown next weekend!

Lions Club of Paris has prepared 200 pounds of pancake mix in anticipation of large crowd for this popular one-day event

By Casandra Turnbull

There will be entertainment from local musicians, dozens of vendors, the smell of homemade pancakes and sizzling sausages in the airand a lot of sticky Canadian maple syrup in downtown Paris next weekend. It’s the signature event of Spring and it has all the small-town feels.

The 12th Annual Maple Syrup Festival, hosted by the Paris Lions Club, will fill the downtown core Grand River Street North between William Street and Mechanic Street is closed to traffic as thousands of guests flock to the town’s main strip for some fresh pancakes grilled by the Lions Club volunteers – and it’s all for a fantastic cause with the proceeds of the event going back into community. Last year’s festival raised more than $10,000 confirmed Rod Laframboise. That money was distributed among the many community-based projects the Lion’s Club supports

It takes every single Lion volunteering with all hands-on deck to host this successful event that sees anywhere between 5,000 to

Pictured far left are Paris Lions members whipping up pancake orders during last year’s Maple Syrup Festival. Also pictured, and returning this year, is Doug the Great. Don’t worry, you can’t miss him! The 2024 Maple Syrup Festival will be held next Saturday, April 13th from 7 am to 3 pm. Visit downtown to check it out!

6,000 visitors annually It takes a lot of volunteers to serve all those hungry guests, many who show up ready for breakfast! Last year a total of 1,300 pancakes, 2,000 sausages and 60 litres of Maple Syrup (imported from Ayr, Ontario!) were sold.

Organizers anticipate this year might break attendance records. They’ve already pre-mixed and measured over 200 pounds of their secret Lions pancake mix, ready to be turned into batter just before it’s cooked fresh in their famous Lions Club food trailer.