St. Agatha Strawberry Festival

Foodies will be happy to know that Waterloo and its surrounding region hosts a wealth of food festivals all year round. Among them are the famous Maple Syrup Festival in March, Wellesley Apple Butter Festival in September, Oktoberfest in…October, and this 18^th of June, the 10^th Annual St. Agatha Strawberry Festival. Never heard of St. Agatha? It’s a small town about 5 km west of Waterloo on Erb’s Rd. and Highway 12. Their claim to fame is the Strawberry Festival, which is a gathering of family, friends, and food that benefits various organizations in the local community. It is put on every year by a volunteer committee with support from the St. Agatha Lions Club and strawberries provided by the local farm market Herrle’s.

Typically, food festivals offer local vendors, contests and shows, and lots of opportunities to stuff your face. The St. Agatha Strawberry Festival was no exception with a charity breakfast and lunch, colouring contest, live music, charity auction, crafts, and more. However, if you were planning on entering the colouring contest next year, I’m sorry, but you may be discouraged by its limited age categories. The petting zoo was not quite as diverse as the one in Waterloo Park, but the whirling strawberry amusement ride made up for it, as did the free samples of pie and baked goods. New this year was a Quilt Block Challenge in which entrants create their best quilt squares to be sewn into a giant quilt to commemorate this year’s festival.  The Unique Wheels show was a chance for motor enthusiasts to show off their rides with a mix of old school jalopies and souped-up vintage sports cars. The highlight of the day was meeting Aggie Berry in person, the official mascot of the festival. She was happy that the weather was so sunny and was all smiles on her big day.

Normally, mid to late June is the time when strawberries come into season, so this year’s supply had to come from Simcoe County. Fortunately, strawberries from this region will appear in stores and farmers markets in a matter of weeks. Although delicious on their own, the festival offered strawberry pies, milkshakes, jams, and lots of desserts that were entered in a dessert competition. In total, volunteers made 125 pies the night before. Being less than a half hour bike ride out of the city, it made for a nice morning trip that was sweet and rewarding.

If you can’t wait any longer to bite into a juicy, ripe, red strawberry, then head out to one of the farmers’ markets or pick-your-own farms like Herrle’s in St. Agatha and go nuts. There will also be weekly farmers’ markets on-campus in the ENV1 courtyard starting in June 23^rd. Expect to see Ontario strawberries in stores by the end of the month, and have yourself a berry delicious summer!