The Shepherd Maple Syrup Festival
Shepherd's volunteer-run Maple Syrup Festival is a long-running spring tradition built around pancakes, local syrup, and community giving.
The little village of Shepherd, in the southern part of the county, calls itself “the sweetest little town anywhere around.” It has earned the name. Shepherd has hosted the Shepherd Maple Syrup Festival every spring since 1958. It began as a simple community pancake breakfast with locally tapped syrup. Now it’s a long-weekend event that draws tens of thousands of visitors.
The festival lands on the last full weekend in April. It’s a true small-town lineup: all-you-can-eat pancake-and-sausage meals, a parade, a carnival, a 5K, helicopter rides, and a royalty pageant. Volunteers run the whole thing. The proceeds, through the nonprofit Shepherd Sugar Bush, go right back into the village’s parks and community.
If you’re moving to the Shepherd area, this is the weekend the whole town turns out.