[twitter]Spring is in the air across Canada and that means the sap is running.

French Canadian festivals are happening across the country as ex-pats celebrate the season of syrup. Carnaval de Quebec is happening in La Belle Province and in Calgary this weekend there was the Maple Festival Des Sucres at COP.

$40 for a family entry included a couple plates full of scrambled eggs, sausage and crepes, but didn’t include the highlight of the day – maple taffy.

Truth be told, the “festival” was a serious disappointment. You had your usual routine of booths in a small market (about 12 – the only one with action was the one selling pies, tarts and syrup), there was a small stage with kid friendly songs about the fur trade and les voyageurs, a couple of bouncy castles and – well – that was about it.

I’m a big fan of french rap, but scheduling the far too loud local trio of rhyme busters over the busy noon hour in the lunch tent didnt seem to mesh with the family atmosphere of the day. My “bitch,” (yes, they dropped that bomb on stage in front of a mosh pit full of strollers) particularly didn’t appreciate the entertainment.

I would have liked to have seen the maple taffy included in admission, and more activities on the ground celebrating culture, spring and the season. I wasn’t expecting Quebec City’s Carnaval, but if you’re hoping to Capture Wow for Tourism Calgary, this wasn’t a place to look..