The Geauga County Maple Festival is a fair celebrating the production of maple syrup. Geauga County's festival is the oldest maple festival in the United States and one of the largest as well. The fair takes place in Chardon Ohio in the Chardon Courthouse Square District. Chardon is located in Northeast Ohio about 35 miles east of Cleveland. This past year was the 82nd Geauga County Maple festival.
The Maple Festival is held annually, the last full weekend in April. However, several times in the past, The Maple Festival has been postponed until the first weekend in May due to heavy snowfall in the Chardon area. The festival hours are: Thursday: 12:00 PM – 10:00 PM Friday: 10:00 AM – 11:00 PM Saturday: 10:00 AM – 11:00 PM Sunday: 11:00 AM – 7:00 PM
The festival address is: Historic Chardon Square Route 6 and Route 44 Chardon, Ohio 44024.
Maple Syrup is typically made from the sap of Maple trees such as the Sugar Maple, the red maple and the black maple. Maple Trees are plentiful in the Chardon Area and there are several trees located right on the Chardon Square where the festival takes place. The celebration of Maple Syrup begins on Tappin' Sunday which occurs on the second Sunday in March. This includes the tapping of all the maple trees on Chardon Square to have syrup for the festival. To tap a tree, you must drill a hole in the tree to start. Then you must tap the spile and hang the bucket from the tree. The sap collected from Tappin' Sunday is then taken to the Chardon Square Sugar house where it is turned into Maple syrup stirs for customers to enjoy. Tappin' Sunday 2012 is on Sunday, March 11.
Bathtub races is a competitive event that has both a men's bracket and a women's bracket. Each team may have no more than 5 people on them, one driver inside the tub and 4 pushers. Only two people are allowed to push at one time. Contestants steer and push the bathtub 250 feet down main street in Chardon Square around a turn-around point and back.
Battle of the bands started back in 1965 as a way to display local talent. The very first winners were a group of young boys calling themselves The Trolls The Battle still goes on today with several local groups showcasing their talent.
Eating Competitions are a sport that involves competing against each other to consume the most amount of food. The pancake eating contest and a pizza eating contest are the eating competitions that the Maple Festival hosts.
The Lumberjack competition includes a series of events such as axe throwing,bow sawing, block chopping,a jack and jill style cut and several others. Both men and women can participate in all of these events. The jack and jill race involves one man and one women on each team competing to see who can save through their designated piece of wood the fastest.
The Parade usually takes place on the last two days of the fair. This parade showcases many local companies, city officials and other city groups. The Chardon High School dance team and cheerleaders participate as well as the king and queen of the festival. The square is shut down during this time and most of the rides are not in operation. Spectators line the streets of the square while those participating throw candy or other goodies to the crowd. Each group has some kind of float or vehicle that is then judged and a parade winner is chosen.
The Sap Run consists of two races, a 1 mile race or a five mile race. This race begins on Chardon Square and continues through some parts of the city of Chardon.
The syrup contest is the main event of this festival. People come from all around the area to put their syrup on display. Participants tap their own trees and make the syrup in their sugar shacks to bring them to the fair to be judged. Contestants are judges on syrup clarity, color and flavor. The density of the syrup cannot be below 66 brix or it will be disqualified.
Tug-of-war is a skill competition in which two opposing teams pull on either side of a rope over a muddy area to determine which group is stronger. Each team may only have up to a 1200 pound team weight limit.
Each year a pageant is held to choose a queen, prince and princess of the festival. young girls from several different area high school participate in the competition and a queen and two runner ups are chosen. The prince and princess are young children from the area grade schools. This year's winner is a student at Chardon High School.
The Festival Sponsors include:
Chardon Area Chamber of Commerce
Geauga Park District
Good-News.com
GTV
Heinen's Fine Foods
Kinetco
Lake Health
NOF Metal Coatings
Preston Superstore
Roediger Chiropractic
Royale Insurance Agency
Staples Center
The Middlefield Bank
The Plain Dealer
Union National Mortgage Company
University Hospitals of Cleveland
Walmart
Western Reserve Farm Cooperative
WKKY
