Warkworth Lilac Festival 2025

 I grew up in downtown Whitby, Ontario. There were many old homes, and many had lilac bushes. I always loved the scent and flowers. We would also drive down to the end of our street where there was an empty lot, and cut from the bushes left there after the home was demolished. 

About 13 years ago, we went to the Lindsay Lilac Festival and it was lovely! I had been hearing about the Warkworth Lilac Festival and decided it was the year to go. It was a long, cold, wet spring and some lovely flowers would help us feel like summer would eventually come.

Our first question, was where exactly is Warkworth? 

North of Colborne, which is home to two great attractions--the Big Apple, and Triple O's. Stop for a burger, then go get a pie! We didn't go for the pie, but even though it was a bit early, we did go to Triple O's for an incredible double bacon burger! 

The park it's held at is called the Millenium Trail. It starts at the green pine tree towards the lower left, on Main St, just north of Concession St East, and then follows along the creek, makes a loop just before Church St at the upper right, and then you backtrack to the start. There is also an entrance on Church St, but it's roadside parking.  The trail is not paved and was very, very muddy.

Shortly along the trail, we came across an interesting vendor, Feathered Friends. The artist, Kathleen Reid, take old crystal and glass pieces and makes bird baths, bird feeders and other garden art. Rob wanted to buy this orange one for my Mom's 80th birthday because HE likes orange. I honestly can't remember if I picked out the purple and clear one, or one with turquoise. It's boxed up and I'm not unwrapping. They held it at their spot until we returned from walking the trail. Kathleen can be reached on Facebook at Feathered Friends Studio, or Instagram at Feathered Friends Studio

I did not take a lot of photos.  It started to drizzle, and I only had my phone camera. On our trip to Thunder Bay, I went to use my actual camera and discovered that the battery was dead and when we got home, I could not find the charger! I'm pretty upset by it. However, I found I can charge it directly to a USB outlet with the right cord.  One less thing to take on our Calgary trip I guess.

Not all lilacs were labelled, unfortunately. The festival started in 2010, so many of the bushes are mature, and many are Preston lilacs, which are Canadian. I admit, I don't know much about lilac history!

This is a Shagbark Hickory. I don't think I had ever seen one before, but when we drove around the area, I think I saw a lot of them. It sounds like an interesting tree, native to Ontario.

After we left the trail, we took the birdbath to the truck and walked around the village. There was this display in one store that explained about Preston Lilacs. My inlaws are from Preston, England and Lancaster, where Isabella Preston is from, is about a 30 min drive north. Fun connections!

We went into a vintage thrift shop and had fun seeing all our childhood memories for sale

I have quite a few of these pattern booklets!  The best part was there was a jellybean candy machine, and I actually had a quarter. I even got several black jellybeans, and they weren't stale!

We also went into the chocolate store. It was very busy and the sample was delightful. However, it was outside of our budget so we didn't get anything.

I decided since we were close, we'd go up to Campbellford and the World's Finest Chocolate company and Empire Cheese. I was having trouble with cell reception and couldn't find solid answers but it seems the chocolate company shut down!  That's so sad. We used to go to Hershey's in Smith Falls, and that's been gone for a while now. Small scale chocolate is wonderful but sometimes you want nostalgia. I loved World's Finest chocolate mint and caramel squares!

Empire Cheese...wasn't what I expected. I mean, it makes sense they only sell their cheese, LOL, but I thought there'd be more unusual ones, or better prices than grocery store. We did get some cheese curds and Hawkins Cheezies. They're so good, but so salty! And we were out of water.

We headed back down to the 401 and home. We stopped at Triple O's for a blueberry milkshake. It's a limited time flavour and last time they were out of it, so it was great to get one this time. And the real whipped cream on top is awesome. It's worth the extra wait for these milkshakes!

I think we'll definitely go to this festival again, but make sure it's nice weather. Although I just bought some new boots that would have been useful.