The Taste of Maple Creek Festival recently received some provincial recognition from Tourism Saskatchewan.

The culinary event that's been around for eight years was awarded the Community Event of the Year Award last Thursday night in Saskatoon at the 30th-annual Saskatchewan Tourism Awards of Excellence Gala.

Royce Pettyjohn, the manager of community and economic development for the Town of Maple Creek, said just being named a finalist for the award was an award within itself.

"We really didn't know what the outcome was going to be," he said. "We were really quite pleased and excited to have been named as the recipients of the award this year."

Cowtown Showdown of Maple Creek and 2018 Saskatchewan's OUTBACK KCRA Rodeo from Carrot River were the other two finalists that the Taste of Maple Creek Festival edged for the trophy.

"Across our region here in the CHDA (Cypress Hills Destination Area) we had five finalists in six categories, so we were really proud of our region and how well represented it was at the awards," he said. "Although it's unfortunate that when two of the finalists in one category are from the same community, that one of them has to win over the other. It wouldn't have really mattered to us whether it was us or them, but rather that Maple Creek was getting that recognition for the great work we do in providing visitor experiences."

In the spring of 2015 Tourism Saskatchewan released their new branded pillars and they include - Land and Sky; Time and Space; and Community - something Pettyjohn believes played a part in their event winning.

"I think that the Taste of Maple Creek really resonates with the Tourism Saskatchewan brand of community because it is a community-wide event," he said. "The Taste of Maple Creek is called the Taste of Maple Creek because of the food festival aspect of the day, which we get 10 or 12 of our local restaurateurs under tents and people buy tickets and they go around and redeem those tickets at the tents for a taste of each restaurateurs culinary best. So that's where the Taste of Maple Creek name comes from, but its evolved to be more that just the taste of the food, but its a day-long event that involves multiple businesses and organizations within our community."

The event itself has morphed into something bigger with a "Fly-In Breakfast" taking place in the morning at the town's airstrip, the Maple Creek Small Venue & House Concerts do a street concert called "The Taste of Music," the arthouse and local artists do an art-in-the-tent event, the Creek Classics Car Club does a Show 'N' Shine, and at night there is a street dance or a movie night.

Last year about 7,000 tickets were sold to attendees at the Taste of Maple Creek, up about 2,000 from 2017.

"The growth within one year's time was so huge that we struggled to accommodate that," Pettyjohn said. "I think rather than growing the food festival element of it, we're going to try and find a way of capping it and making it more manageable. In some ways, we're a little bit worried about disappointing people that won't be able to get tickets, but in some way, given how popular the event is, maybe a little bit of exclusivity only heightens the appeal."