A Fresh Crop of Festivals

Fans of the fuzzy pitted fruit won’t want to miss the Winona Peach Festival, just outside of Stoney Creek. For more than 50 years, this family event has remained “fresh”, with something for all ages.

You’ll find arts and crafts from over 75 crafters, over 100 vendor booths, a midway, and a food court offering all kinds of peach favourites. Other festival favourites include the “Peach of a Car Show”, free entertainment on the main stage, and the E.D. Smith Fun Factory.

Fall is when the locals gather to celebrate all things apple with baking, crafts, entertainment and more.

The St. George Applefest makes for a great day of festival fun. Enjoy good food, fresh produce, tons of unique shopping and ongoing entertainment. The little ones will love the petting zoo, pony rides and inflatable castle. At Puddicombe Farms Apple-Lee Fun Weekends in Winona, kids will love the fall harvest train rides and juice tastings.

Combine fall fair festivities with history and heritage at Battlefield House Museum and Park’s Apple Festival in Stoney Creek, or Ireland House Museum’s Applefest Fall Fair in Burlington.

Fall for an agricultural fair! From pumpkin picking to midways, and agricultural displays to livestock shows, Hamilton Halton Brant is ripe with fall fairs and festivals. Some offer carnival rides and games, while others have craft vendors and kiddie zones.

The Rockton World’s Fair, a Thanksgiving tradition for over 160 years, is one of the largest agricultural and livestock events in Canada. This traditional fall fair attracts 50,000 people from all over the world to Flamborough, near Hamilton and Cambridge for three days packed full of fun. Traditional fall fair highlights include a pumpkin competition, pie-making contest, horse-riding shows, and livestock displays and shows.

From midway games, rides and crunchy candy apples to tractor and truck pulls, demolition derbies, and farm-animal petting areas, there’s fun for everyone at the fall fairs in Acton, Ancaster, Burford, Georgetown, and Milton.

How sweet it is to visit Hamilton Halton Brant’s to celebrate the running of the sap. Every March, visitors head to the sugar bush for events and festivals where steaming plates of pancakes covered in maple syrup are a sure sign that spring is almost here. Celebrations take place most weekends throughout March and over March Break, but be sure to check with each location for specific opening information.

The Maple Syrup Festival at Terra Cotta Conservation Area features demonstrations, pony rides, activities and of course pancakes and real maple syrup. Special family activities on weekends and March Break include a petting zoo, a chainsaw carver, taffy making, and a puppeteer. At Westfield Heritage Village’s Maple Syrup Festival in Rockton, you’ll discover one of Canada’s most time-honoured and tasty traditions. Explore the making of maple syrup from the tree to the table in three different time periods. Families can purchase and enjoy a delicious, reasonably-priced pancake breakfast.