Thousands of pancakes await at Shaver’s Creek’s Maple Harvest Fest. Get your tickets now
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Shaver’s Creek sells timed, nonrefundable tickets online for March 21–22 festival.
- Festival showcases maple sugaring, demonstrations, live animals, music and climbing.
- Event draws large community turnout; 1,780 attendees and 7,272 pancakes in 2025.
Tickets for the popular Maple Harvest Festival at Shaver’s Creek Environmental Center will be on sale Wednesday. The mid-March event will give people the opportunity to learn about the maple sugaring process — and enjoy some all-you-can-eat pancakes and real maple syrup.
The maple sugaring process will be showcased during the Maple Harvest Festival at Shaver’s Creek, 3400 Discovery Road, Petersburg, an annual event that brings the local and Penn State communities together, a press release from the center said. The Maple Harvest Festival has been held since 1984. This year’s Maple Harvest Festival is scheduled for 10:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. March 21 and 22.
Tickets are available online beginning noon Wednesday. The timed entry tickets are required for the event and must be bought online before the event. Tickets are nonrefundable, and the festival will be held rain or shine.
Several activities are listed on its website, including learning how to identify and tap sugar maple trees, visiting the Sugar Shack to see sap made into syrup, watching interpreters demonstrate sugaring techniques used by Native Americans, pioneers and modern-day farmers, enjoying live music, seeing live animal programs to learn about the birds, reptiles and amphibians at Shaver’s Creek, scaling a climbing wall (open from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.) and, of course, eating all the pancakes and maple syrup you possibly can.
The festival gives former Shaver’s Creek students and staff the opportunity to come back each year and celebrate the environmental center’s roots and future, Laurie McLaughlin, the Shaver’s Creek program director who oversees the festival, said in a press release.
“Maple Harvest Festival is one of our signature programs for the community. All the hard work and preparation is so worth it when we see the community enjoying the event; connecting with each other and the natural world,” McLaughlin said. “We have always been a place for students to learn and grow and a place for them to try out their craft of teaching and working with others. It brings such joy to see this in action and celebrate with those who have been a part of this special place through the years.”
Last year more than 1,780 people attended the festival, which was supported by 219 volunteers and staff, plus 16 Penn State students. Visitors ate 7,272 pancakes during the two-day event, according to Shaver’s Creek.
