Sunderland Maple Syrup Festival

What Sunderland Maple Syrup Festival does

The Sunderland Maple Syrup Festival (SMSF) is a community nonprofit organization that hosts an annual two-day festival in Sunderland, Ontario, celebrating local maple syrup production and agricultural heritage. Founded in 1996 and approaching its 30th anniversary in April 2027, the festival features sugar bush tours, local vendors, musicians, dancers, bed races, tractor pulls, bath tub races, and pancake eating contests, drawing 12,500 visitors in 2024, up from 10,000 in 2023.

The organization is governed by a volunteer committee with elected positions including Festival Chair (Angela Canavan for 2025-2026), Vice Chairperson, Past Chairperson, Secretary, Treasurer, and various coordinators for vendors, entertainment, sugar bush tours, and student volunteers. Operational scale is 1-10 individuals, all functioning as committee members or volunteers rather than paid employees. Marketing and community engagement run through the official website (maplesyrupfestival.ca), a Facebook page, an email newsletter, and an annual community contest.

The festival is funded through a formalized eight-tier sponsorship program ranging from $100 (Friend of the Festival) to $2,500 (Diamond), with current Diamond sponsors including Central Counties Tourism and the Township of Brock, and Platinum sponsors including Durham Tourism, Value Propane, and CBM Aggregates. Additional revenue is generated through advertising in the SMSF Official Hand Guide, distributed as 15,000 booklets produced by THE STANDARD, and through community donations and silent auction proceeds. There are no ticket sales; attendee spending accrues to vendors rather than to the festival itself.

Name

Sunderland Maple Syrup Festival

Legal name

Sunderland Maple Syrup Festival

Website

https://maplesyrupfestival.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Sunderland Maple Syrup Festival is a volunteer-run nonprofit in Ontario, Canada, hosting an annual two-day community festival that celebrates maple syrup heritage and attracted 12,500 visitors in 2024, funded via tiered corporate sponsorships and program booklet advertising.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Festival

NAICS

Convention and Trade Show Organizers (56192)

SIC

Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Food, Drink & Culinary Community Festivals (Community-Led) (MPAGAEAF)

akta.pro secondary industry

Cultural Heritage & Traditional Festivals (Folk, Ethnic, Indigenous) (MPAGAEAB)

Keywords

• Community festival hosting
• Maple syrup events
• Sugar bush tours
• Agricultural festival events
• Festival sponsorship packages

Headquarters

HQ city

Port Perry

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Infrastructure

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Sunderland Maple Syrup Festival is an annual community event held in Sunderland, Ontario, that celebrates local maple syrup production and agricultural heritage. The two-day festival features vendor markets, live entertainment, sugar bush tours at partner farms, and signature competitions such as bed races, tractor pulls, and pancake eating contests. The organization operates as a private nonprofit funded through corporate sponsorships, advertising in the Official Hand Guide, and community donations rather than ticket sales.

Product overview

Sunderland Maple Syrup Festival is a community event held annually in Sunderland, Ontario, celebrating local maple syrup production and agricultural heritage. The festival offers events including sugar bush tours, entertainment, vendors, competitions, and activities for visitors. The organization operates a website for event information, scheduling, sponsorship, and community engagement.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Sunderland Maple Syrup Festival (Annual Two-Day Event) The flagship free, two-day community event held annually in Sunderland, Ontario, featuring vendor markets, live entertainment, sugar bush tours, and signature competitions (bed races, tractor pulls, pancake eating contests). It is funded through corporate sponsorships and donations rather than ticket sales.
• Sugar Bush Tours Educational maple syrup production tours delivered on partner farms during the festival weekend, providing visitors with hands-on insight into the maple syrup production process. Provided in partnership with Harlaine Farms (Harder family).
• SMSF Clothing Shop Festival-branded merchandise/clothing offered via the online store linked from the festival website, providing attendees and supporters a way to purchase SMSF apparel.
• SMSF Official Hand Guide Advertising

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and major.

• Central Counties TourismcoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2026Diamond-level sponsor of the festival. Central Counties Tourism provides tourism promotion support for the regional event, helping attract visitors to the Sunderland Maple Syrup Festival.
• Township of BrockcoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2026Diamond-level sponsor representing the local municipal government. Key contributor supporting the community festival as a key event for the township.
• Durham TourismmajorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2026Platinum-level sponsor providing regional tourism promotion through Durham Region tourism initiatives.
• Value PropanemajorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2026Platinum-level sponsor providing support for festival operations.
• CBM AggregatesmajorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2026Platinum-level sponsor supporting festival operations.
• Harlaine Farms (Harder family)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2026Provides Sugar Bush Tours for the festival, offering visitors educational experiences about maple syrup production at their farm operation.
• THE ST🍁ND🍁RDmajorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ Distributor · 1 January 2026Produces the Sunderland Maple Syrup Festival Official Hand Guide (15,000 booklets) for printing and distribution, supporting the festival's promotional materials.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Perth Maple Syrup Festival: Eastern Ontario maple-themed spring festival featuring vendor village, sugar bush tours, and pancake breakfasts run by a community committee. Same seasonal timing, program lineup, and sponsor-driven funding structure as SMSF.
• Elmira Maple Syrup Festival: The largest maple-syrup-themed community festival in Ontario, hosted annually in Elmira with a similar nonprofit, sponsorship-led model, sugar bush tours, pancake breakfasts, and community entertainment. Directly comparable in programming, audience, and operating model to SMSF.
• Haliburton Maple Syrup Festival: Ontario community festival celebrating maple syrup heritage, offering sugar bush tours, pancake meals, and local entertainment. Closely matches SMSF's scope, scale, and target audience of families within driving distance.
• Powassan Maple Syrup Festival: A Northern Ontario community festival built around maple syrup production, tapping demonstrations, and family entertainment. Operates on the same small-nonprofit, volunteer-committee model with sponsorships and free/cheap admission.

Others

• Harlaine Farms: The working sugar bush operation that actually delivers the sugar bush tours for SMSF (and several other festivals). Directly involved as a strategic content/partner and functionally a key ecosystem supplier of the festival's signature experience.
• Festival du Voyageur: Major Manitoba winter heritage festival. Adjacent as a Canadian regional heritage/community festival but distinct theme (fur-trade/Francophone heritage vs. maple syrup) and substantially larger scale.

Broad incumbents

• Royal Agricultural Winter Fair: A large, established Ontario agricultural exhibition in Toronto featuring livestock, food, and producer showcases. Overlaps with SMSF on agricultural-heritage community celebration, but operates at a much larger scale and indoors year-round.

Regional players

• Festival de l'érable de Saint-Quentin: A long-running New Brunswick maple-themed festival with sugar bush experiences, music, and community events. Comparable program and theme but operates in a different Canadian province and French-language market.
• Vermont Maple Festival: The largest US maple festival, held annually in St. Albans, Vermont. Same core theme (maple syrup celebration, sugar house tours, community entertainment) but U.S.-based and run at a meaningfully larger scale.

Emerging players

• Stratford Garlic Festival: Ontario food-themed community festival with similar small-nonprofit sponsorship model and free-admission structure. Comparable in scale and operating approach but focused on a different specialty crop.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/SunderlandMapleSyrupFestival
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sunderland-maple-syrup-festival

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sunderland Maple Syrup Festival