Ontario’s Best Butter Tart Festival Charting on the Top 100 Festivals List

Media Release

Ontario’s Best Butter Tart Festival Charting on the Top 100 Festivals List

For Immediate Release

(March 14, 2024, Midland ON) Ontario’s Best Butter Tart Festival made the Top 100 Festivals and Events in Ontario list for a fourth time, learning of this prestigious honour at the Festivals and Events Ontario “IMAGINE” Conference Awards Gala in February.

“Midland has become synonymous with butter tarts, and we are very proud that our festival has been included on this list,” said Mayor Bill Gordon. “We thank staff and our community volunteers, and all of the butter tart lovers who attend each year, for the continued success of this event.”

Ontario’s Best Butter Tart Festival, which began in 2013, and is the original and largest butter tart festival in the country, has consistently been part of this Top 100 list following the 2018 festival.

“Our festival celebrates something uniquely Canadian - the butter tart,” said Karen Mealing, Manager of Culture and Community for the Town of Midland. “We expect that at least 200,000 butter tarts will be available for sale at this year’s festival, which means everyone will find a favourite tart at our festival.”

The 2024 festival will take place on Saturday, June 8 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. with more than 200 vendors participating in the downtown and waterfront marketplaces, along with local downtown shops.

Delicious butter tarts made by professional and home bakers will compete for the title of best butter tart in the Egg Farmers of Ontario Butter Tart Contest. Contest categories are Traditional Butter Tarts and Wild Style, which allows bakers to be creative with their butter tart flavours and ingredients.

Audience members will have the opportunity to sample some of the contest tarts and mixed six-packs of contest tarts will be sold to take home and enjoy. The Contest opened for registration on March 11 and closes on May 24.

The admission-free festival also includes food trucks, all-day live entertainment, free shuttle service and a free bicycle valet provided by Cycle Simcoe. There is a kids’ zone located in Harbourside Park with a fee for entry.

For more information about the festival, visit Ontario's Best Butter Tart Festival. 

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