Nothing compares to a freshly baked butter tart — and this weekend, you can chow down as many as your stomach can stand at a huge festival just outside Toronto. The annual Caledon Butter Tart Festival is back on Saturday for a celebration of everyone’s favourite buttery pastry (and a bunch of other baked goods, too).
Hosted by none other than a local organization named Gotta Luv Butter Tarts, the event will feature 50 incredible vendors offering their best iteration of the ooey, gooey treat.
If you’re only into the classics, you’ll have plenty to choose from — but festival-goers looking for some creative interpretations can anticipate fun twists like Skor butter tarts, raspberry and coconut options, chocolate peanut butter and apparently even maple bacon. There will also be some dietary restriction-friendly options; multiple vendors including Molly B’s Gluten-Free Kitchen, The Maids’ Cottage and Bruno’s Bakery offer gluten-free tarts. Buttertart Shack will even have keto-approved options.
There will of course be plenty of other treats to satisfy that sweet tooth: options include freshly baked strudels (that happen to be vegan), gourmet cinnamon buns topped with everything from apple pie filling to funfetti frosting, cannoli, pies, carrot cakes and more.
Once you’ve had your fill of dessert, you can shop around at some other local vendors; booths there will be selling homemade candles and hand lotions, wood accessories, small-batch hot sauce, jewelry and hand-crocheted accessories and toys.
Ontario is clearly obsessed with this super sweet treat, because this actually marks the sixth butter tart festival of the summer — starting with the iconic Ontario’s Best Butter Tart Festival, which took place in June. Caledon’s festival will be the last one in the province before school starts up again, so take advantage of the timing and make a little road trip out of it. If you miss this one, Niagara Shrine Club will be hosting its inaugural Butter Tart and Craft Vendor Show from Sept. 20–21, and Gotta Luv Tarts will be back with the Burlington Butter Tarts & Sweet Treats Market on Oct. 4. And the small town of Georgina hosts the annual Tarts4Hearts festival this Oct. 18.
The Caledon Butter Tart Festival runs from 10–4 p.m. at the Albion Bolton Community Centre, and donations for the Caledon Food Bank through Caledon Community Services will be accepted in lieu of admission.
