Honey Harvest Festival 2026: A Sweet Day in the Fall Forest

Bees, beekeepers, and a taste of the season at Kortright Centre for Conservation

📍 Get Directions Ticket Info

A single day of hands-on bee education, fresh local honey tastings, and a tractor-drawn wagon ride through fall colour, held on the 325-hectare forested grounds of Kortright Centre for Conservation.

🐝 Interactive Bee Space 🍯 Local honey tastings 🚜 Tractor-drawn wagon ride 👨‍👩‍👧 Family-friendly

💡 Advance tickets are required — this event isn’t a walk-up affair, so book before you go. Ticket demand tends to climb as the date gets closer.

Why Go Activities Essentials Getting There Tips FAQ

✨ Why This Festival Is Worth the Drive

Kortright Centre for Conservation is already one of the best-kept secrets in the GTA for a proper walk in the woods — 325 hectares of hardwood forest, meadow, and wetland tucked into Vaughan. The Honey Harvest Festival gives you a genuinely good reason to make the trip: a single fall day built entirely around bees, beekeeping, and the sweetness they produce.

Run by the Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, the festival leans into hands-on learning rather than passive browsing. The Bee Space lets visitors get up close with the mechanics of a working hive, and beekeepers on-site are there to answer the questions a honey jar label never explains — how bees actually make the stuff, what a healthy hive looks like, and why pollinators matter well beyond the honey aisle.

It’s also just a lovely way to spend a September Saturday. A tractor-drawn wagon ride through the property means you get the fall colours without doing all the walking yourself, and fresh, local honey tastings are exactly the kind of small pleasure that makes a family outing feel special. It’s a modest, well-run event rather than a sprawling festival — which, for a lot of visitors, is precisely the appeal.

Timing matters here too. Mid-to-late September is right around when many Ontario beekeepers pull their final honey harvest of the season before the hives settle in for winter, so the festival lands at a genuinely meaningful point in the beekeeping calendar rather than an arbitrary date. It’s part of a small but well-loved lineup of seasonal events Kortright runs throughout the year — the Maple Syrup Festival in spring, the Honey Harvest Festival each fall — and both share the same appeal: a real conservation property doing hands-on environmental education in a way that doesn’t feel like a lecture.

🐝 What to Expect

The Bee Space: An interactive area where visitors can explore how bees live and work, geared toward curious kids and adults alike.

Meet a Beekeeper: On-site beekeepers walk visitors through the fascinating art of honey production, from hive to jar.

Honey Tastings: Sample fresh, local honey — a highlight for first-time visitors and festival regulars alike.

Tractor-Drawn Wagon Ride: A scenic, low-effort way to take in Kortright’s forest and meadows at peak early-fall colour.

Programming details for individual years are typically finalized closer to the date, so expect some variation in exact activity times and any special guests. Checking the official Kortright events page in the weeks before your visit is the best way to see the finalized day-of schedule.

📋 Essentials

🚗 Getting There & Parking

Kortright Centre for Conservation sits on Pine Valley Drive in Vaughan, easily reached from Highway 400 and a comfortable drive from most of the GTA.

Road access note: Pine Valley Drive between Rutherford Road and Major Mackenzie Drive West has seen periodic closures for construction. Check TRCA’s current visitor notices before you go, and use Rutherford or Davos Road as alternate approaches to the main entrance if needed.

Parking membership: TRCA Parks members enjoy free admission and parking at Kortright and other TRCA properties — worth considering if you visit conservation parks regularly.

💡 A Few Things Worth Knowing Before You Go

🎟️ Buy tickets ahead of time. This isn’t a drop-in event — advance booking is required and sales are final, so lock in your spot before the date.

👟 Wear shoes for a forest setting. Kortright is a working conservation property with trails and open ground — comfortable, closed-toe footwear makes the day easier.

🚜 Don’t skip the wagon ride. It’s a relaxed, low-effort way to see more of the property, especially nice with younger kids or if walking a lot isn’t your thing.

🍯 Bring cash or card for the gift shop. Local honey and maple syrup products sell well at events like this — a nice souvenir if you want to take a taste of the day home.

Run by Toronto and Region Conservation Authority 🌲

Kortright Centre is one of TRCA’s flagship conservation properties, hosting seasonal family events year-round — from the Maple Syrup Festival in spring to the Honey Harvest Festival each fall.

❓ Common Questions