About The Festival

Maple Syrup Season is truly one of the first signs of spring, as the cold winter months slowly slip away and the forest floor comes to life. What better way to celebrate the coming of spring than to attend the first and only National Maple Syrup Festival in America.

At Burton’s Maplewood Farm, nestled in the rolling hills of Southern Indiana, you can enjoy the taste of our country made hot pancakes with 100% pure Maple Syrup all day every day. This National Festival is “Always the First and Second weekend in March” and is located near Medora, Indiana. These two weekends offer something for everyone in the family. A variety of fun-filled events, activities, Live-music & demonstrations are sure to keep you entertained and coming back for more year after year.

Maple Syrup Producers from every maple syrup producing state in America are invited to come and share their version of 100% pure Maple Syrup. With the sweet smell of Pure Maple Syrup and Toe-Tapping sounds of the Great Smokey Mountain’s bellowing through the air, there’s no better place to be than Burton’s Maplewood Farm in Southern Indiana.

Come see what “Hoosier Hospitality” is all about.
See y’all there!!!

2013 Shuttle Bracelets & Admission:

(All shuttle bracelet net proceeds go to the Heads Up!!! Foundation)

Admission into Medora Community School is FREE!

If you would like to visit Burtons Maplewood Farm, you will need to purchase a shuttle bracelet.

2013 Shuttle Bracelet Information:  (Note:  Larger crowd size mostly on Saturday’s, there may be a longer wait time for shuttles from the school to the farm.  We will do our best to keep the buses moving in a timely manner and we appreciate your understanding and patience.)

Shuttle Bracelet Prices:

Children 4 yrs old and under:  Free!
Youth (5 to 15 yrs old): $6.00
Adults (16 – 64 yrs old): $10.00
Seniors (65+):  $8.00

All proceeds from shuttle bracelet sales go to the Heads Up!!! Foundation.

Donate (1) canned good for a $2.00 discount off of (1) shuttle bracelet.  All donated food will be given to area food pantries.  Thank you for your donation!

LOCATION & DIRECTIONS

The festival is located at:

The festival begins in Medora at the Medora Community School building. Parking locations posted throughout town. Attendees will load shuttle at the school for  farm tour to Burton’s Maplewood Farm.

The ONLY parking at Burton’s Maplewood Farm is for our handicapped friends – (please purchase a shuttle bracelet at school before proceeding out to Burton Maplewood Farm.  This bracelet will allow entrance into Burton Maplewood Farm.  Make sure vehicle has handicapped plate or tag.)

ALL OTHER VEHICLES WILL NEED TO PARK IN DESIGNATED AREAS IN TOWN.

FESTIVAL MAP

If you’re planning to attend the festival, you can print out this map of the festival grounds.

The map is a PDF file, so you’ll need the free Adobe Reader to view it.

BEHIND THE SCENES – Festival Organizers & Volunteers

The 2013 Festival Committee is made up of a variety of dedicated folks all working toward putting together an interesting and fun filled event for families to come and enjoy the celebration of spring by sampling the taste of 100% of pure Maple Syrup!  The Festival Committee meets the 4th Tuesday every month beginning in May.  Shortly after the new year, meeting’s become more frequent and the committee is in full force until opening day of the festival.

The National Maple Syrup Festival is an annual fundraiser for the Heads Up!!! Foundation. The Heads Up!!! Foundation was founded by Kenny and Kelly Turner.  They are the parents of Forrest, Sean and Katelyn Turner.  Katelyn was born with a cleft lip and palate. Kenny and Kelly Turner have established the Heads Up!!! Foundation in order to help support the efforts of the health care organizations caring for children with craniofacial abnormalities and in doing so giving families hope.  All net proceeds from the National Maple Syrup Festival will be donated to the Heads Up!!! Foundation, then ”earmarked” for Camp About Face.

Camp About Face began in 1988 and is specially designed to benefit youth ages 8-18 with craniofacial anomalies. Typical camping activities are provided. Activities include swimming, nature projects, camp outs, etc., supplemented by social work, medical support and educational sessions to help build self-esteem and self-confidence. Camp provides many special opportunities for the children to develop supportive relationships and long lasting friendships with others who identify with them and can share similar life experiences. Teen campers 15-18 are offered opportunities for leadership, teambuilding, off-site camping and group challenges.

A one-week summer program, Camp About Face is promoted by the Craniofacial Program at Riley Hospital for Children, Indianapolis, Indiana.

Tim & Angie Burton are the owners of Burton’s Maplewood Farm. Tim & Angie share the same interests and beliefs when it comes to our environment and wildlife conservation. They have a passion for preserving, promoting & sharing with others one of our Nations Natural Renewable Treasures and somewhat of a forgotten past time – Maple Syrup. During the festival you are sure to be greeted by one of them welcoming you to their family farm and making you feel as though you never left home.

Just some of the “behind the scenes” people:

Cowboy Ron wears many hats! During the festival he runs the rope making demonstration where children of all ages have a blast making ropes of all sizes and textures. At the sugarbush, Ron keeps the sap flowing by watching the lines and keeping the vacuum pump running.

Olivia Delp and Ashleigh Baker are not only campers from Camp About Face, they are also the tour guides for the festival. They do a wonderful job keeping everyone interested with syrup history, trivia, and hands-on demonstrations of the tree-tapping process.

Michelle Stephens oversees Pat’s Snack Shack and the McGuire Building at the National Maple Syrup Festival. She and her crew start very early the morning of the festival preparing pancakes, sausage, pork chops, beans, rolls, etc.. and the list goes on and on.  On the first day alone, over 1,500 pancakes were served!

This is only the tip of the iceberg for all the people that have contributed to the 2013 festival. Please check back to learn more about the people and lives behind the scenes!