Popular Sunflower Festival returning to Caledon East farm

July 21, 2022 · 0 Comments

Davis Family Farm has been hosting festival for six years

By Zachary Roman

Sunflowers in bloom are a beautiful sight.

They’re a sight so beautiful that thousands of people are expected to attend Davis Family Farms’ annual Sunflower Festival this year.

Beginning July 23, the farm at 15770 Mountainview Rd. in Caledon East will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. for visitors, and 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. for commercial photographers.

General admission tickets to the festival are $13.50 for adults, $5 for children ages 6-12, and free for children age 5 and under.

Sean Davis is part of the Davis Family, and he shared the unique story of how the Sunflower Festival came to be.

About six years ago, Davis reported a wild boar sighting in Caledon East. The news media ended up coming to interview him at the family farm, and when they saw his large field of sunflowers, asked to do a follow up story about the flowers later. As soon as that follow up story aired on TV the crowds started coming, explained Davis.

“It all got started from, ‘okay, well this could be something that we can do and host every year and turn it into a festival.’ We’ve been doing it ever since,” said Davis. “We absolutely love it. So, we’ve been bringing the community to be involved — we have local vendors here and our own marketplace, and then on weekends, we host separate marketplaces that host 40 to 50 different vendors at the farm each weekend… usually that comes with live music and kind of gets that festival feel going.”

Over the years, the festival has grown. At first, there were a few little trails around the sunflowers, said Davis, and people loved taking photos amongst the flowers. The family has since added signature props such as their pink couches and a functional baby grand piano. This year, there’s going to be a swing out in the field, further adding to the photo (and fun) opportunities.

Davis said the piano in the field has created a really cool atmosphere, and that some really amazing players have come and played music on it. He said people enjoy standing around it and listening, and that there’s usually a lineup of people waiting to give it a go when it’s their turn.

The Davis family has been growing sunflowers for around 15 years, and originally their main use was for the bird feed they sell. Now, one of their main uses is as a colourful and unique photo backdrop.

“If it wasn’t for social media, it wouldn’t be nearly as busy,” said Davis of the festival. “Social media basically runs the festival, and the photography, the love for photography.”

Professional and commercial photographers can email photography@davisfamilyfarm.ca to book a time for a photo shoot. However, that’s not to say that amateurs, hobbyists, and social media savants aren’t encouraged to take as many photos as they’d like during general admission hours — in fact, it’s encouraged.

“This year, our field is actually a full kilometre long, so basically, whoever goes out into our field, it’s going to look like they’re all by themselves,” said Davis.

In total, there’s four kilometres of sunflower field trails this year.

Earlier this year, Davis said the lack of rain had him a bit nervous. But his family’s sunflowers have grown well and are ready to be enjoyed by festival attendees come July 23. Still, he said some rain couldn’t hurt as it actually helps the sunflowers stay in bloom longer.

In addition to exploring the sunflower fields and taking photos, there’s a plethora of other activities scheduled to take place during the festival. There’s sunflower yoga, exotic animal presentations for kids, luxury picnics, paint nights, and even a mini sunflower maze. For more information about these events, interested parties can check the Sunflower Festival website at torontosunflowerfields.ca.

Make no mistake: while the website address says Toronto, the Davis Family Farm has been in Caledon East for a long time.

Davis explained being so close to Toronto is an asset, and that one of the greatest parts of hosting the festival is welcoming people from the city who have never visited a farm before.

He said people are often surprised how close Caledon is to Toronto, and that the website name was chosen to welcome people from all around. Davis said even tourists who are visiting Toronto from places like South America or China have come to see his family’s sunflower fields, and that it’s been amazing to meet them and share conversation.

“(Tourists are) arriving to Canada not specifically for sunflowers, but it was definitely on their bucket list. So that always was pretty special to us, that this world is such a small world now with social media, that somebody across the planet can follow you and want to come see you. I would say that’s probably my favourite part of the whole thing.”

The Sunflower Festival also serves as a fundraiser for the Canadian Celiac Association. Davis and his son both have Celiac Disease, and the festival is a way for them to give back, as one dollar from every ticket sold goes to the association.

“That’s… one of the other things that we enjoy most, is that we can also put it towards a good cause as well,” said Davis.

The Sunflower Festival is running until August 7 this year.