Maple Leaf Festival is a time where people from all around come to the small town of Baldwin City. The population in the town booms from approximately 4,000 people to around 40,000 people for a matter of a weekend according to the Maple Leaf Organization committee.

“I believe it is a good tradition to have because it brings the community together,” junior Mason Taylor said, “but it’s hard to get around places with all of the extra people.”

Since 1958, the Maple Leaf Festival has taken place in Baldwin City because Baker professor Ivan Boyd believed this was the best time to view the changing leaves. It has only continued to grow more and more and an average of 300 booths from all around attend the event.

“I think all of the booths show up for three reasons,” senior Analise Gill said. “I think they show up to get their items out to the public, to make money, and because it’s a tradition for their booths possibly. The booth that gets my money the most is probably the caramel apple stand by the Baptist church.”

The booths are not the only attraction, however. Many people come to participate or just to watch the annual parade. There is a great variety in the parade, ranging from show cars to floats for sporting events to bands that come from different schools to show what they can do.

“Although marching isn’t my favorite thing to do, I enjoy marching at Maple Leaf,” junior and drum major Libby Brungardt said. “I always went to the parade when I was younger and it’s cool to be a part of what I enjoyed when I was younger.”

Booths are assigned a certain spot and fitting all the booths takes very strategic thinking. The First United Methodist Church youth group is assigned with showing where certain booths go.

“This is my third year helping set up Maple Leaf, we put tape down where the booths go and number each one,” sophomore Ashley Jackson said. “We do a little bit of it and the time it takes depends on the number of volunteers.”

Although many people come to Baldwin from other places for Maple Leaf, the hometown kids enjoy it as well.

“I enjoy seeing all the different people coming into Baldwin,” junior Justice Zabala said. “It’s fun to see all the people doing their own thing and having a good time. The only thing I really go for is the food. My two favorite booths are the beef jerky stand that comes here and the seasoned nut stand.”

The Maple Leaf Festival is a long lived tradition in Baldwin and it is going into its 57th year and it is showing no sign of slowing down in the future.