61st Annual Maple Festival kicks off next weekend

Festival has brought 40,000-70,000 visitors into Highland County before.

The 61st annual Maple Festival is set to kick off on March 9 in Highland County, with everything from maple doughnuts to sugar orchard camps, along with entertainment and more food. 

Dorothy Stephenson with the Highland County Chamber of Commerce tells 10 News, “The Maple Festival, many would say, is the life blood of our county.”

As far as the producers, Stephenson relays that, “[They’ve said] it’s been a really good winter and that the sap is flowing, so we hope for a lot of maple syrup.”

We've also been told that while the Puffenbarger's from Blue Grass won't have maple doughnuts this year, there will be others available. If you can't make it on the 9th or 10th, the fun continues on the 16th and 17th. 

The festival runs each Saturday from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. and each Sunday 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.

You can find a lot more info on the festival, places to stay, events, etc. right here.

Later this week on 10 News, we speak with Doug Puffenbarger to see how this winter and the past few winters have impacted his production.

We'll also talk with Sean Sublette of Climate Central, to see if warmer winters have any long-lasting impact on the syrup industry in the U.S.


About the Author:

Meteorologist Chris Michaels is an American Meteorological Society (AMS) Certified Broadcaster, forecasting weather conditions in southwest Virginia on WSLS 10 News from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m. weekdays on Virginia Today.