When tropical storm Earl flattened the first maze at the Belfast Corn Maze, owner Rose Viaene took it as a blessing in disguise because they weren’t ready for the crowds.
This year, the trouble is different — an ongoing global pandemic keeping people home and bringing new health regulations to contend with — but she still hopes something positive can come from it, she said.
“My father always said, ‘never give up.’ Things happen for a reason, even if you’re not really prepared for it.”
That hope served as inspiration for the message in this year’s maze: “Together we can beat this COVID-19”.
The eight-acre maze in Belfast opened later than usual on Aug. 8, and traffic has been slow.
Viaene thinks that’s due, in part, to the heat this summer.
The corn hasn’t reacted well to the summer weather either and has started to dry out and die, which means the maze might not stay open as long this year, with or without the familiar risk of storms, said Viaene.
“If you want to come to the maze you better get there while the getting is good because there’s no guarantees it’ll be there in two weeks. We could get a hurricane and get wiped out.”
At a glance
Here are some other Island corn mazes:
- MacKenzie Produce in Stratford opened its maze on Aug. 11 with the message "Stay safe PEI." COVID-19 considerations include recording names and phone numbers of customers, wider paths and fewer dead ends within the maze, removing additional things like lawn-sized Jenga and a school bus from inside the maze, adding sanitizing stations within the maze. For more information, visit Facebook.com/MacKenzieProduce.
- Kool Breeze Farms in Summerside hasn’t opened its maze but will be making an announcement about it soon.
Over the years, the Belfast Corn Maze has added more attractions, like a culvert maze and pedal tractors for kids.
This year, the additions are less fun and more practical to address coronavirus (COVID-19 strain) regulations.
The biggest change is people needing to call and register ahead to take part in one of two daily five-hour sessions.
This works two-fold: to control the number of people on site — limited to 100 per session — and to collect the required contact information in the event the public health office requires it.
Sanitizing is another new priority, so she has split her team of staff to ensure everything that can be cleaned gets sanitized.
On top of increased cleaning, her team is also installing 14 sanitizing stations in the yard, she said.
“It’s a lot of extra effort this year, so I hope it pays off.”
More information, including session times and prices, can be found on the Belfast Corn Maze Facebook page.
