Thousands of local residents and out-of-town visitors attended the Paris Lions Club’s 13th annual Maple Syrup Festival on Saturday, April 11, 2026.
Over the course of the nine-hour event, guests had plenty of opportunities to not only enjoy the sunny weather, but several family-friendly activities too.
From dancing with Joan Minnery’s STOMPtastic line dancers, to listening to live music from the Voices of SiNG iT, Danielle Beaudin and the Thompson Road Band, shopping local artisan vendors, or snapping a photo with Doug “the Great” Hunt and several Disney-inspired characters, there was plenty of fun available for the whole family.
“It’s a great day here at the 13th annual Maple Syrup Festival. The skies are sunny and it’s cool, but not too cool with the sun warming things up,” said Rod Laframboise, a Lions Club member and past president. “Everybody seems to be out today, which is great. We’ve got people sitting outside enjoying the entertainment; the music’s been playing since 8 a.m. and we’ve got some great acts coming on this afternoon, with Danielle Beaudin and the Thompson Road Band.”
The Lions Club members had a busy morning handing out hundreds of servings of breakfast, which included light, fluffy pancakes with a soft centre and golden exterior, Strodes sausages and maple syrup for dipping (or pouring). Noting that the club prepared to make 1,800 pancakes for the event, Laframboise said their estimate of how much to serve was accurate.
“We’ve got enough to get us through, but we’re getting close to our projections. We’ve been serving up a lot of pancakes,” he said with a chuckle. “We’ve got the four griddles going and we’ve been mixing our batter up since before eight this morning.”
Lamframboise said that funds from the pancake breakfast, as well as sponsorships all go towards supporting the Lions Club, which in turn helps benefit the local community.
“This event really helps us with all of the activities that we do, and all the funds the Lions Club makes go back into the community. Some of it is for provincial type projects too; for instance, we do things with childhood cancer and guide dogs–things like that,” he said. “But as far as the local community, we support all sports, youth groups, the Paris community Christmas Hampers, Salvation Army and a lot of other different causes in the community.”
While many guests were sure to line up early for their pancakes, some took the opportunity to stop by one of the other seven food trucks on-site to indulge in grilled cheese, smash burgers, poutine, sausages and other classic festival treats.
“The line up for breakfast was quite busy this morning, a lot of people come out first thing for breakfast, but we’ve got other food options as well,” said Laframboise. “This is our second time having the event at the fairgrounds and it’s kind of nice being here because some people like to sit outside and enjoy the nice sunny weather, but if you want to get out of the breeze a little bit, there are tables inside that you can eat at, as well as other vendors to shop from. It’s been a really good day for us and we’re quite happy because this is the 13th annual so it’s become a real tradition for a lot of people.”
Inside, vendors lined the two exhibit halls selling their wares. From cooking spices to jams and chutney, crochet creations, jewellery, dog treats, candles, custom t-shirts, buttertarts and more, there were plenty of ways to support the small businesses on-site.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a maple syrup festival without a variety of sticky, sweet amber goodies. Both Blake’s Maple Syrup and Cranston Farms Maple Syrup had shoppers lined up to buy a jug, or two, of the seasonal favourite.
Meghan Graham, her two sons and her mother April, were just a few visitors attending the big event. Noting it was their fifth time attending the festival, Graham said she always enjoys stopping by.
“It’s family-friendly, there’s always a lot of great vendors, food and yummy treats to take home,” she said. “There’s also always great entertainment and I think it’s just a nice way to spend the afternoon. I think one of the last times we came to the event was when it was still downtown and it was really windy. This is our first time coming to this location and I like it. I know part of the reason they have it here is because of all the construction, but I almost think it’s a bit better here because it can be indoors and outdoors.
Overall, Laframboise said he was glad to see so many people show up and show their support for the Lions Club.
“It feels great to be putting this on again. This is a signature event for the Lions and everybody comes together for this. It takes a lot of planning and it’s a lot of work to get all the vendors in, line everybody up and to organize it, but then it all comes together on the big day. Everybody feels really good about participating in this event because you get to see all the different members of the community that come out for it, so it’s satisfying,” he said. “We’ve also got some, what we call, ‘Friends of Lions’ that are out today. We have a couple high school students helping us today which is great, it’s really nice to see them participating. The Scouts are also here, they look after keeping the tables clean and picking up garbage, and it’s a real big help for us. Having all those different groups involved really just goes to show how much a community affair this is.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
