Maple Harvest Festival and Pancake Breakfast

2023 Maple Harvest Festival

When: March 25–26, 10:30 a.m.–3:30 p.m.

Tickets are sold out! You must have a ticket to attend the festival and/or tour Shaver’s Creek facilities on March 25 and 26.

The event will be held rain or shine. Tickets are nonrefundable.

We welcome you to join us to celebrate the first harvest of the new year with Shaver’s Creek! Since 1984 we have hosted our Maple Harvest Festival and Pancake Breakfast to help people learn about the maple sugaring process — both in colonial times and the present day. At the festival you can:

learn how to identify and tap sugar maple trees and visit the Sugar Shack to see sap transformed into syrup
watch costumed interpreters demonstrate sugaring techniques used by Native Americans, pioneers, and modern-day farmers
enjoy live music
see live animal programs to learn about our resident birds of prey, reptiles, and amphibians
scale the climbing wall — open from 10:30 a.m to 2:30 p.m.
savor all-you-can-eat pancakes and maple syrup!

Schedule of Events

No matter which day you attend, there’s plenty to see and hear at Shaver’s Creek during the Maple Harvest Festival.

Note: Events will be added to the schedule as they are finalized over the coming weeks. Check back for updates.

Day	Events
Saturday, March 25, 2023	11:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.: Meet Our Wildlife Ambassadors Meet the resident ambassador wildlife of Shaver’s Creek and learn about impactful conservation actions you can take in your local community; explore our pop-up nature museum in the airy classroom (access through the aviary). 11:00–11:45 a.m.: Meet the Farmers! See how the cornmeal produced from Heirloom Bloody Butcher corn from Plowshare Produce is shelled and used in your pancakes! 11:00 a.m.: Migration Morning Meet at the Passenger Pigeon sculpture at the entrance of the Klingsberg Aviary to learn about migratory raptor ecology and behavior while watching engaging training sessions with Tea, resident Broad-winged Hawk, and Tussey, resident Golden Eagle. 11:30 a.m.: Springtime with Herps Join us in the Silvi Classroom to meet our resident snakes, turtles, and invertebrates while learning about what seasonal activities these animals are doing. 12:30 p.m.: Farmland Raptor Conservation Meet at the Passenger Pigeon sculpture at the entrance of the Klingsberg Aviary to learn how raptors support farmland operations, and how we can help conserve them, while enjoying an engaging program with our resident farmland wildlife. 12:45–1:30 p.m.: Folk Music with The Stone Valley Pickers Enjoy music with Matt Marsden, Micah Spicher Schonberg, Jen Breimhurst, Tony Buda, and Renee Buda. 1:00 p.m.: Springtime with Herps Join us in the Silvi Classroom to meet our resident snakes, turtles, and invertebrates while learning about what seasonal activities these animals are doing. 1:30 p.m.: Nesting Birds of Prey Meet at the Passenger Pigeon sculpture at the entrance of the Klingsberg Aviary to learn about nest building and behavior with resident avian ambassadors. 2:00 p.m.: Springtime with Herps Join us in the Silvi Classroom to meet our resident snakes, turtles, and invertebrates while learning about what seasonal activities these animals are doing. 2:30–3:15 p.m.: Acoustic Music by Group Therapy Group Therapy is an acoustic band that plays a wide range of cover and original songs that cut across many genres, including blues, contemporary country and folk, easy listening, and indie rock.
Sunday, March 26, 2023	11:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.: Meet Our Wildlife Ambassadors Meet the resident ambassador wildlife of Shaver’s Creek and learn about impactful conservation actions you can take in your local community; explore our pop-up nature museum in the airy classroom (access through the aviary). 11:00–11:45 a.m.: Classic Folk with Brendan Locke on Guitar 11:00 a.m.: Migration Morning Meet at the Passenger Pigeon sculpture at the entrance of the Klingsberg Aviary to learn about migratory raptor ecology and behavior while watching engaging training sessions with Tea, resident Broad-winged Hawk, and Tussey, resident Golden Eagle. 11:30 a.m.: Springtime with Herps Join us in the Silvi Classroom to meet our resident snakes, turtles, and invertebrates while learning about what seasonal activities these animals are doing. 12:30 p.m.: Farmland Raptor Conservation Meet at the Passenger Pigeon sculpture at the entrance of the Klingsberg Aviary to learn how raptors support farmland operations, and how we can help conserve them, while enjoying an engaging program with our resident farmland wildlife. 12:45–1:30 p.m.: Cowboy Songs and Folk Music Enjoy cowboy songs and folk music with stories from times past, played by Nate Cutshall and Autumn Graham. 1:00 p.m.: Springtime with Herps Join us in the Silvi Classroom to meet our resident snakes, turtles, and invertebrates while learning about what seasonal activities these animals are doing. 1:30 p.m.: Nesting Birds of Prey Meet at the Passenger Pigeon sculpture at the entrance of the Klingsberg Aviary to learn about nest building and behavior with resident avian ambassadors. 2:00 p.m.: Springtime with Herps Join us in the Silvi Classroom to meet our resident snakes, turtles, and invertebrates while learning about what seasonal activities these animals are doing. 2:30–3:15 p.m.: Acoustic Folk with Singer/Guitarist/Songwriter Stacy Tibbetts

Day

Events

Saturday, March 25, 2023

11:00 a.m.–2:00 p.m.: Meet Our Wildlife Ambassadors
Meet the resident ambassador wildlife of Shaver’s Creek and learn about impactful conservation actions you can take in your local community; explore our pop-up nature museum in the airy classroom (access through the aviary).

11:00–11:45 a.m.: Meet the Farmers!
See how the cornmeal produced from Heirloom Bloody Butcher corn from Plowshare Produce is shelled and used in your pancakes!

11:00 a.m.: Migration Morning
Meet at the Passenger Pigeon sculpture at the entrance of the Klingsberg Aviary to learn about migratory raptor ecology and behavior while watching engaging training sessions with Tea, resident Broad-winged Hawk, and Tussey, resident Golden Eagle.

11:30 a.m.: Springtime with Herps
Join us in the Silvi Classroom to meet our resident snakes, turtles, and invertebrates while learning about what seasonal activities these animals are doing.

12:30 p.m.: Farmland Raptor Conservation
Meet at the Passenger Pigeon sculpture at the entrance of the Klingsberg Aviary to learn how raptors support farmland operations, and how we can help conserve them, while enjoying an engaging program with our resident farmland wildlife.

12:45–1:30 p.m.: Folk Music with The Stone Valley Pickers
Enjoy music with Matt Marsden, Micah Spicher Schonberg, Jen Breimhurst, Tony Buda, and Renee Buda.

1:00 p.m.: Springtime with Herps
Join us in the Silvi Classroom to meet our resident snakes, turtles, and invertebrates while learning about what seasonal activities these animals are doing.

1:30 p.m.: Nesting Birds of Prey
Meet at the Passenger Pigeon sculpture at the entrance of the Klingsberg Aviary to learn about nest building and behavior with resident avian ambassadors.

2:00 p.m.: Springtime with Herps
Join us in the Silvi Classroom to meet our resident snakes, turtles, and invertebrates while learning about what seasonal activities these animals are doing.

2:30–3:15 p.m.: Acoustic Music by Group Therapy
Group Therapy is an acoustic band that plays a wide range of cover and original songs that cut across many genres, including blues, contemporary country and folk, easy listening, and indie rock.

Sunday, March 26, 2023

11:00–11:45 a.m.: Classic Folk with Brendan Locke on Guitar

11:30 a.m.: Springtime with Herps
Join us in the Silvi Classroom to meet our resident snakes, turtles, and invertebrates while learning about what seasonal activities these animals are doing.

12:45–1:30 p.m.: Cowboy Songs and Folk Music
Enjoy cowboy songs and folk music with stories from times past, played by Nate Cutshall and Autumn Graham.

1:00 p.m.: Springtime with Herps
Join us in the Silvi Classroom to meet our resident snakes, turtles, and invertebrates while learning about what seasonal activities these animals are doing.

1:30 p.m.: Nesting Birds of Prey
Meet at the Passenger Pigeon sculpture at the entrance of the Klingsberg Aviary to learn about nest building and behavior with resident avian ambassadors.

2:00 p.m.: Springtime with Herps
Join us in the Silvi Classroom to meet our resident snakes, turtles, and invertebrates while learning about what seasonal activities these animals are doing.

2:30–3:15 p.m.: Acoustic Folk with Singer/Guitarist/Songwriter Stacy Tibbetts

Breakfast Menu

Pancakes, real maple syrup, two local pork sausage patties (per person), applesauce, and beverages (juice, coffee, tea, hot chocolate)

Visitor Information

Refer to the Visit Shaver’s Creek page for information on parking, accessibility, groups, prohibited items, and more.

Volunteering

Thank you to everyone who has volunteered to help with this year’s Maple Harvest Festival!

All volunteer positions are currently full. If you are interested in volunteering, please check back closer to the event as positions may become available.

Earn Penn State Credit

Penn State students can earn 2-credits by helping to lead and interpret maple sugaring content at our educational stations during the festival. This is a great opportunity to engage with other students and the Shaver’s Creek community. For more information, please see the flyer for 2023 (PDF) or view information about our Credit Courses.