Ontario’s Best Butter Tart Festival is Canada’s original and largest butter tart festival.
On June 8, 2024 from 9am-5pm our downtown core and our waterfront parks hosted 200+ vendors and food trucks for Ontario's Best Butter Tart Festival, voted by Festivals and Events Ontario as one of the Top 100 Festivals and Events in the province!
Our vendors sell everything from butter tarts to unique, hand-made items. And the variety of butter tarts you’ll find at our festival include plain, raisin, pecan, walnut, skor, maple, bacon, coconut, chocolate covered, PB&J, s’mores, gluten-free, vegan, nut-free, cheesecake, pumpkin... and so many more.
At the inaugural Butter Tart Festival in June 2013, the festival sold out of the 10,000 butter tarts available for sale by 11 a.m. The number of butter tarts available for sale increases each year. In 2023 we were up to 200,000 butter tarts available for sale. Attendance has also increased to approximately 60,000 visitors each year.
The Egg Farmers of Ontario Butter Tart Contest awarded the prize for BEST Butter Tart in Ontario to The Pie Commission. The contest is open to both professional and amateur/home bakers. The contest features both Traditional and Wild Style categories. Our judges include celebrities, chefs, food and travel bloggers, local dignitaries all with one thing in common – a love of butter tarts!
The Toronto Regional Real Estate Board Stage featured family-friendly musical performances all day. And kids loved the Kids Zone in Harbourside Park. Visitors enjoyed the free shuttle service, free bike valet service, and free transit.
And while you were here, we hope you visited our downtown merchants and their unique shops. Some were offering butter tart festival sales, deals and sweet treats. Mark your calendar to join us for the sweetest day of the year, June 14, 2025!
Schedule for 2024 Festival:
9:00 AM – Official opening of Ontario’s Best Butter Tart Festival including the Piping of the Tart with Midland Pipes and Drums
All day – 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM
- 200+ vendors – King Street, David Onley, and Harbourside Parks
- Downtown merchants and their unique shops are open for business
- Food Truck vendors
- Buskers and entertainers
- Kids Zone
- Free bike valet service, and free transit
- Complimentary shuttle will be running concurrently during the festival
- And watch for more to be announced as we get closer to the festival!
Live Music at the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board Stage from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM, 509 Bay Street
Egg Farmers of Ontario Butter Tart Contest from 10:00 AM to 3:30 PM - Rotary Hall, Midland Cultural Centre, 333 King Street
10:00 AM to 12:00 PM – Judging of Traditional category for Professional and Amateur/Home Bakers
1:00 PM to 3:00 PM – Judging of Wild Style category for Professional and Amateur/Home Bakers
3:15 PM – Judging of Best in Show
3:30 PM – Announcement of Best in Show Best and all Butter Tart Contest winners
Join us in the Town of Midland, on the shores of Georgian Bay,
for all the sweet fun.
Voted Top 100 Festivals!
Festivals and Events Ontario has once again named Ontario’s Best Butter Tart Festival one of the Top 100 Festivals and Events in the province for 2024.
Notice of photography and video:
Please be aware that Ontario’s Best Butter Tart Festival is capturing photos/video at our festival. By entering the festival premises, you consent to such recording of media and its releases, publications, exhibition, or reproduction to be used for news, web, and promotional purposes. Photos and videos will only be used for promotion of the event by the event itself and through Tourism Partners the County of Simcoe, North Simcoe Tourism, and the Town of Midland.
History of Ontario's Best Butter Tart Festival
Watch the TVO Today Docs short YouTube video showcasing Midland's beautiful downtown, and featuring our iconic Ontario's Best Butter Tart Festival.