Downtown Barrie showed its sweet tooth Saturday.
Despite the oppressive heat, thousands flocked to the second annual Open Air Dunlop Butter Tart Festival.
Everyone had a taste for the pastry.
“It’s like heaven in your mouth,” said John Jones of Barrie. “You’ve got to go to the classic, with the raisin butter tart.
“It’s just candy after that, but raisin butter tarts are the ones you want to have," he added.
Mary Rouble came from Sudbury to be one of the festival’s judges.
“I’m ready,” she said. “I like the crust, I like the filling, the crusty tops. There’s nothing I don’t like about butter tarts.
“I will now officially be able to say I’m a butter-tart connoisseur,” Rouble added.
Sean Duffin said butter tarts are all about Canadiana.
“It’s a Canadian thing, and the nostalgia is that everybody’s mother, when they were growing up, was making butter tarts and it was part of the family tradition,” said the Barrie resident.
“The quintessential butter tart is really the right ratio between filling and dough, and it has to be the right kind of crust and the right kind of filling and it’s got to be about 50/50 — so real aficionados of butter tarts go for that right combination,” Duffin added. “It’s kind of that sharp sweetness, that over-the-top sweet.”
Even in Saturday’s heat, Amy Faulkner of Barrie was lining up, like many others, for the Maids’ Cottage butter tarts.
“We’re going to get plain raisin and if there’s like a salted caramel, which sounds delicious,” she said. “They’re sweet and the pastry’s all lovely and they’re just delicious.”
But Bill Harris, also of Barrie, isn’t so sweet on butter tarts.
“Although I’m not really into butter tarts, it’s an interesting day to come downtown,” he said. “You can experience all the food trucks, the arts and crafts, interesting people and have a nice time out and experience Barrie by the water.
“But I don’t eat butter tarts,” Harris added. “I’ve got to say no to some things in life.”
Downtown Coun. Craig Nixon was one of the judges and had 48 portions of different butter tarts to taste.
“What don’t I like about butter tarts?” he asked rhetorically. “Especially today, when we have every imaginable type of butter tart.”
Nixon said he was not taking his judging duties lightly.
“That probably equals about a dozen butter tarts by the end of the day, so I won’t be moving around a lot this afternoon,” he said.
Nixon credits Downtown BIA chairman Steve Recalis with the idea of having an annual butter tart festival.
More than 100 vendors served butters tarts, from classic to wild flavours.
The Butter Tart Contest had categories for best crust, best filling, most unique and people's choice.