Shepherd Maple Syrup Festival – April 24-27, 2025
Join us in the Sweetest Little Town Anywhere Around!
Meet the Village of Shepherd annually on the last full weekend in April during the Shepherd Maple Syrup Festival! A great family weekend filled with parades, a classic car display, tractor and horse pulls, bingo, arts, and crafts, and of course, pancake meals with Maple Syrup all weekend long. For a full schedule of events, click here.
Sweet Festival History
In 1958, the Shepherd Maple Syrup Festival first started. Trees were tapped, sap was gathered by volunteers and the public was invited to a community wide pancake dinner. 65 years later, the tradition lives on thanks to the Sugar Bush which produces the syrup and partnerships with Shepherd Public Schools, the Village of Shepherd, and most of all the residents of Shepherd who dedicate their time and energy towards helping to make the festival happen.
Volunteers are a big part of this event. Mostly all the work involving the syrup, food, candy or rides is executed by volunteers. Children work with adults carrying sap buckets during the sap run in late February or early March and many retirees are sausage makers. Would you believe that two-and-one half tons of sausage is made on the Saturday before the festival? If it had not been for many volunteers and visitors from locations all over Michigan and neighboring states, the festival never could have accomplished all that it has. Proceeds from the festival go to support recreational activities and facilities in the community.
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