Vanier Museopark weekend tree-tapping cancelled

The Vanier Sugar Festival will continue as scheduled March 27-April 2

By Wes Smiderle February 1, 2023

As in the above 2021 image, the trees at the Vanier Museopark are ready but the equipment isn't. A tree-tapping event this weekend has been cancelled. Photo: Marie-Frédérique Caro — The Vanier Museopark tree-tapping event planned for Feb. 18 has been cancelled. Typically, community volunteers help tap about 500 trees in the local sugarbush, as seen in the 2021 photo above. Photo: Marie-Frédérique Caro

The planned for treet-tapping at the Vanier Museopark sugarbush for Saturday February 18 has been cancelled.

The traditional tree-tapping event, in which the Vanier Museopark seeks volunteers from the community to tap trees in the sugar bush in preparation for the March 27 festival, was supposed to take place from 9 a.m. until noon. The event would also have marked the debut of the park’s new sugar shack, rebuilt after a fire in 2020.

According to Museopark spokesperson Annick Normand, the shack’s evaporator will not be operational in time for the tapping.

In an email message, she stated, “We are concerned about an early flow of the maple water this year and, as we do not want to hurt the trees unnecessarily or be forced to throw away the collected maple water, we have made the difficult decision to cancel the tapping at this time.”

However, she said the festival will continue unaffected from March 27 until April 2.

Alternate plans for tapping the trees still need to be worked out.