The Paris Lions Club will be hosting its 12th annual Maple Syrup Festival at the Paris Fairgrounds on Saturday, April 12, 2025.
While the event has been held on the streets of downtown Paris since its inception, the Lions Club decided to relocate its signature event to the fairgrounds as Grand River Street North will be undergoing major reconstruction starting this spring.
Rod Laframboise, a Lions Club member and past president, said that while it’s certainly a change for himself and the team, they’ve chosen to adapt and change the location rather than cancel the event all together.
“We’ve held this event downtown since the very beginning and obviously, with the planned construction happening this spring, we can’t be downtown this year. It’s a change for us but we’ve decided to embrace it,” he said. “We have a good relationship with the Paris Agricultural Society and so we’re thankful that they were able to help us out because there’s really only so many spots that are available to hold an event like this and we didn’t want to have to push it back either.”
Laframboise said that as it turns out, there’s several benefits to hosting the Maple Syrup Festival at the fairgrounds, a couple which are utilizing both the indoor and outdoor spaces, and having plenty of parking.
“We have about 50 vendors or so this year, which is more than we’ve ever been able to have before so we’re going to have a lot of them set up inside selling their maple syrup treats, the artisan goods and their homemade crafts; that will be nice because we don’t have to be concerned about inclement weather or anything like that, “ said Lafromboise. “Then all of the food vendors and our live entertainment will be outside. It’s nice because we’ve still got the feeling of the outdoor Maple Syrup Festival that people know and love, but it’s also great for the vendors because they can be comfortable inside without worrying about their tents or goods getting blown away.”
As far as what visitors can expect on the day? An assortment of maple treats, opportunities to support local businesses, plenty of entertainment and of course, the Paris Lions Club’s pancake breakfast.
“We’ve got a pretty good lineup of entertainment this year. We’ve got Joan Minnery and the Voices of SiNG iT performing on stage, as well as the Thompson Road Band playing a mix of rock and country a bit later,” said Laframboise. “ We’ll also be having a line dancing session at noon with Joan’s STOMPtastic line dancing group; That’s always a lot of fun for the kids and families so we’re happy to bring that back again. And obviously, the Paris Lions Club will be selling our famous pancake breakfast with sausages and locally sourced maple syrup… that’s a must have for everybody that’s attending.”
He added that funds from the pancake breakfast, as well as sponsorship opportunities all go towards supporting the Lions Club and ultimately, the community.
“We’ve got a large number of causes that we contribute to in the community,” said Laframboise. “From high school scholarships to supporting both diabetes and childhood cancer awareness and research, environmental initiatives, the Christmas hamper program and donating to the Salvation Army, the list just goes on. Everything we do, we do to give back.”
For those who are interested in attending the family friendly festival, the event will run from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. and admission is completely free.
As well, with the capacity to hold around 70 vendors, there’s still time to submit an application to get involved.
Overall, Laframboise said himself and the rest of the Lions are looking forward to this year’s Maple Syrup Festival, and reminded residents to mark their calendars.
“We really pride ourselves in putting this on for everyone. This is truly our signature event and even though we’ve had to make some changes this year, we’re expecting that it’s going to be one of our biggest turnouts yet,” he said. “It’s all really quite exciting so be sure to mark the date on your calendar to come out to support the Lions Club and have a great day with your loved ones at the same time.”
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.
