Cranberry Harvest + Bala Cranberry Festival

We all know how delicious cranberries are, but did you know that cranberries are grown and harvested like no other crop in the world? We explain everything here! 

The seeds are usually planted in bogs during the month of April. The plants will then grow during Spring and Summer until they are ready to be harvested during Fall, from mid-September to early November. The fruit is native only to North America and harvested in such a unique way. 

Because cranberries have pockets of air inside the fruit, they will float on water, allowing bogs to be flooded to help remove the fruit from the vines. The flooded field is then arranged in circles, creating huge cranberry pits.  

In Muskoka, you can visit the cranberry farms starting two weeks before Canadian Thanksgiving until October 31st. The Muskoka Lakes Farm & Winery  is the most famous destination for cranberry harvesting, and their  Bog to Bottle Discovery Tour became so renowned that Canada Tourism Commission named it a Canadian Signature Experience. 

It all leads to the weekend after thanksgiving when the Bala Cranberry Festival takes place. From October 14th to 16th, you can visit the festival grounds and experience live music, performers, food vendors, local shops, activities for kids and, of course, cranberry-everything. Tickets can be found on the  festival's website  and don't usually last long. 

If that sounds like a lot of fun, you should start planning your next visit. Make sure you stop by The Muskoka Store on your way there and find everything you might need for a weekend full of adventures.