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The 2024 Pakenham Maple Run Tour returns for its 20th time on April 6 and 7, with 8 tour stops and the art and fine craft of a select group of Ottawa Valley artists. A tour like no other, Maple Run is a unique blend of art, heritage buildings and spectacular spring scenery, all set within a 40km tour route that runs right through maple syrup country. Maple Run is a self-guided free tour with stops open from 10am to 5pm both days. Check mapleruntour.com for more information on the tour stops and artists.
“Our Maple Run visitors tell us the tour is like a breath of fresh air after a long winter There’s art, fine and traditional craft, food, craft beverages – and the venues are a tour all by themselves. You can visit all the tour stops in a day, and that also leaves time to plan a visit to Fulton’s sugar bush,” comments Maple Run artisan and organizer Kat Stevens.
Maple Run’s long list of artistic expressions is impressive. In fact, there’s so much to be found on the tour that a big breath is needed before reading the list out loud! There will be ceramics, pottery, wood carving and turning, jewelry, baking, leatherworking, landscape painting, watercolours, photography, weaving, felting, handmade soaps, miniature quilts, mosaics, garden sculpture, paper art, children’s literature, basketry, honey products, clothing design, natural skin care, animal portraiture, textile designs, art glass, fibre art, and artistic blacksmithing.
The pretty heritage village of Pakenham, with its unique stone bridge spanning the Mississippi River, is the heart of the Maple Run Tour, with a cluster of 4 tour stops to welcome you. Visit the charming Keepers Coffee Bar, located in a charming yellow Victorian building and offering upcycled tea cozies and hats from a local artisan, as well as coffee, pastries and snacks, vintage items and plants.
Paddye Mann’s clothing design studio, in a heritage stone building, will give you a whole new look, with custom designed clothing from this award-winning designer. The sunny and welcoming Pakenham branch of the Mississippi Mills Library hosts an Ottawa Valley landscape painter, a mosaic artist, a paper artist, and a children’s book author. St. Andrew’s United Church is a perfect spot for a light lunch after visiting the 5 artists who will present miniature quilts, weaving and felting, handmade soaps, artglass jewelry, and fibre art.
Head east from Pakenham to visit Farmgate Cider, a family-owned and operated cidery with its beautifully reconstructed heritage post and beam cider barn. Farmgate hosts the tour’s largest group of artists. Here you will find basketmaking, pottery, animal portraiture and barn quilts, natural skin care, watercolours, woodturning, garden sculptures, artistic blacksmithing – and cider tasting (cold or hot) and sales. For visitors from the Ottawa or Arnprior and the Ottawa Valley, this location can be accessed via the 417.
Heading west from Pakenham, make a short drive to Cartwright Springs Brewery at the base of the Pakenham “Mountain” and visit a ceramic artist and a vibrant tie-dye artist. While there, you can of course enjoy a tasting – the brewery is known for offering fine craft brews and even bottled maple sap! - as well as pulled pork on a bun and wood-fired pizza. Then take in the warm and entertaining Chris van Zanten studio where you can see demonstrations of the fiery art of glass making – an experience of colour and drama.
South of Pakenham, Maple Run’s 8th tour stop is the heritage Cedar Hill Schoolhouse, which is on the way to Almonte or Fulton’s Sugar Bush. Step back in time and visit this one-room schoolhouse which still retains its school maps, blackboards, and bell. The Schoolhouse will host artists presenting leatherworking, hand painted pottery, gemstone jewelry, baking, honey products and wildlife photography.
Information on the Maple Run Tour can be found at mapleruntour.com, and follow our Facebook page for news, updates, and more.
