Whitchurch-Stouffville gets set for 35th annual Strawberry Festival

Whitchurch-Stouffville gets set for 35th annual Strawberry Festival

Yorkregion.com
June 17, 2019
Simon Martin

Whitchurch-Stouffville will be the place to be Canada Day weekend as the town gets set for the 35th annual Strawberry Festival. Festival Board Chair Harry French is prepping for the festival that sees more than 30,000 guests every year.

There are many new things to expect this year including a large VIP reception Friday night for past Citizen and Sportsperson of the years,  new vendor layout and Stouffville Main Street being open, French said.

This year, French also said the board is looking to recruit more volunteers. “We need more people,” he said.

French said the festival needs two types of volunteers. There are the volunteers need to help from October to the sale to help plan and organize the event and volunteers needed for the weekend of the festival, he said. “It’s just been hard to get people.”

In 2017, the festival moved away from Stouffville's Main Street and that will continue.

The Festival Market has over 200 crafters, food vendors and small businesses setting up shop in and around Memorial Park, Park Drive and Burkholder St. The streets will be closed to traffic allowing festival-goers to stroll the streets and browse the market while soaking up the festival atmosphere.

The festival starts Friday, June 28 with opening ceremonies at 6:30 p.m. followed by the Made-In-Canada Music Party. Saturday is full of activities starting with the Strawberry Festival Pancake Breakfast hosted MP Jane Philpott, MPP Paul Calandra and Mayor Iain Lovatt at 8 a.m. Other activities throughout include the food zone, midway, inflatables playground, a baby contest and pony rides. The evening closes with the Hometown Country BBQ featuring the Amber Jo-Bowman, Barbara Lynn-Doran and the Twangsters.

Sunday has many of the same activities and the festival runs into Monday, July 1 where the evening will be capped off by Canada Day fireworks.

In 1984 the Stouffville Strawberry Festival was the town’s Canada Day celebrations teamed with the annual baseball tournament. Today it has grown into the second largest attraction in York Region with over 30,000 people visiting the Strawberry Festival each year.