Annual Lumby Butter Tart Festival served up tasty treats

Photo: Darren Handschuh

During his time as a provincial MLA, Eric Foster had to make some tough calls.

And those decision-making skills were put the to test Saturday when the former politician acted as a judge at the ninth annual Lumby Butter Tart Festival Saturday.

“There were four judges and we tested them all,” Foster said. “There was a lot of great butter tarts. It was a lot of fun – a lot of sugar.”

This is not the first time Foster, who was also the mayor of Lumby, acted in an official capacity at the event, acting as a judge for the inaugural festival.

And with 22 entries this year, Foster put that past experience to good use.

“You don't eat the whole butter tart, you just taste them. The first year we did this, we didn't think about that and we ate the whole butter tart. We had 17 or 18 entrants so that is a lot of butter tarts.”

The one-day event was held in conjunction with a show and shine and the Lumby Market.

Organizer Nancy House said there is “all sorts of good stuff going on” at the event the drew hundreds of people despite cloudy skies and the threat of more rain.

“The first year it was a roaring success, so we thought we would keep doing it,” said House. “We had 22 entrants the judges are all very high on sugar right now.”

People also purchase pack of tarts to take home, which House said typically sells out by the end of the day.

The 10th annual event will be held the third weekend of September next year.

The Lumby Market has one more weekend left this year and will wrap up for the season Sept. 30.