Big crowds drawn to inaugural Barrie Butter Tart Festival

Barrie Butter Tart Festival An travelling Butter Tart tour has held its inaugural run in Barrie and plans to return.

The market for butter tarts is expanding to Barrie.

Gotta Luv Butter Tarts held its inaugural Barrie festival at Georgian Mall on Saturday. The touring company sets up shop for single-day events in cities across Ontario, trying to meet a demand that, in some ways, remains a mystery.

"We're still trying to figure that out," said organizer Helen Prucha. "People love their butter tarts, and it's not just traditional butter tarts anymore. There's something for everyone."

About 35 vendors took part in the tour's first visit to Barrie. One operator told CTV News she has been preparing for nearly a week, carefully crafting more than 1700 butter tarts.

"They say it's Canada's treat, but what I think it is for me anyways is the maple and the butter," said Tracy Spencer, the head baker of Ten of Tarts."The combination of the brown sugar, the sugar, the maple and the butter they are just amazing flavours that go together. They are just sinful! They are enjoyable! They are fun!"

The event also included various artisans and was collecting funds for the Women and Children's Shelter in Barrie.

Prucha said she decided to start her own touring company after seeing how popular butter tarts were while visiting another festival before the COVID-19 pandemic.

"There were thousands of people that came out for their butter tarts, and I said there's something here," Prucha said to CTV News. "Let's take it, let's run with it, let's do it in communities across Ontario."

The group's next stop will be in Burlington in August.