Fall Flavours of Lake Country returns to Orillia and region

Small businesses in Orillia and Lake Country looking to get through economic hardship are turning to a long-standing promotion.

Fall Flavours of Lake Country kicked off this weekend at participating restaurants in the city and across the area, giving diners the opportunity to experience farm-fresh and local flavours for a limited time.

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Riverside Hideaway in Coldwater is one of the businesses participating.

"We've been doing the fall flavours now for, I think, two years," said owner Pamela Venne. "We believe it helps business. We have had people come from as far as Barrie, Orillia, Wasaga Beach, and Collingwood. They get to see what Riverside is about, a lot of stuff we do from scratch here."

Venne opened her business through the height of the pandemic, navigating through economic hardships along the way.

"Last year, when everything was fully opened, it was a little harder because I don't feel like we had real numbers, and this year we saw a lot better trends - more people out," she said.

The promotion is put on by Orillia and Lake Country Tourism, running twice a year in the Fall and Spring.

"It really promotes our culinary businesses, restaurants and lets the chef do a seasonal piece with local supported ingredients and show visitors and locals what they can explore in our restaurants," said Shannon Hawke with the organization.

Fall Flavours of Lake Country will wrap up on November 5.