Annual Maple Festival in Columbia & Greene Counties
The annual Maple Festival is taking place today across Columbia and Greene Counties. Organized by Cornell Cooperative Extension, the event showcases local maple syrup production with demonstrations and tastings.
New York State is the second-largest maple syrup producer in the United States, behind only Vermont. In 2025, the state's producers generated 829,000 gallons of maple syrup, contributing significantly to the state's agricultural economy. New York is also home to the largest number of tappable maple trees in the country, with over 2,000 sugar makers. The annual Maple Festival is hosted at the Cornell Cooperative Extension's Agroforestry Resource Center in Acra. The event offers a firsthand look at both historical and modern maple tapping techniques. Attendees can sample sap directly from the trees, watch boiling demonstrations, and purchase products from local vendors and the Taste NY Market. A highlight of the festival is the 4-H pancake breakfast fundraiser, where visitors can enjoy pancakes with local maple syrup. The event is designed to appeal to a wide audience, from families looking for a day trip to individuals interested in starting their own backyard sugaring operations, according to Tracey Testo, CCE's Agroforestry and Natural Resources Program Manager. The tradition of maple sugaring has deep roots in North America, with Native Americans being the first to harvest sap and create maple sugar. Early methods involved heating sap in hollowed-out logs with hot rocks. European settlers learned the practice from Indigenous peoples and introduced iron kettles, which significantly improved the efficiency of the boiling process. Modern maple production has evolved to include technologies like vacuum systems to increase sap yield, a contrast to the traditional method of hanging buckets on trees. Events like Maple Weekends, which take place across the state in March, allow the public to tour sugarhouses and see these different production methods in action. The economic value of New York's maple industry is substantial, with the 2022 value of production totaling $30.6 million. The average price per gallon in 2022 was $37.50. Recognizing the industry's importance, New York's budget has included funding for marketing and research to support its continued growth.
