Saunders Farm offering 'campfire nights' • Tapped Out Travellers

You Can Have Social Distance Campfires With Your Friends At This Ottawa Farm. With physical distancing measures and other restrictions on gatherings in place during the COVID-19 pandemic, Saunders Farm says its team is “creating new experiences to serve our community while meeting the current safety guidelines and gathering restrictions.”

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Just when it was starting to feel like we’d never go outside again, Ottawa’s famous Saunders Farm dropped an exciting announcement. Starting May 21, the farm will be hosting social distancing campfires for up to five people at a time and don’t worry, there will be snacks.

“Get outside and enjoy a campfire with your loved ones,” Saunders Farm says on its website.

“Our newest experience is perfect for a family outing, date night, or small gathering of up to five people.”

Saunders Farm is offering a “Family Night” or a “Date Night” campfire package, which includes an hour-and-a-half campfire and snacks. The “Date Night” campfire includes a bottle of wine or bottles of sparkling apple cider.

You can book a campfire experience on the Saunders Farm website.

Campfires start at $90 per campsite or $150 for a Double Family Campfire package. There are 3 timings available; 16:30-18:00, 18:30-20:00 and 20:30-22:00.

Package Includes:

1.5 Hour Campfire started with wood
Hot Dog Box [for 5]: 10 raw all-beef hot dogs and buns • mustard, ketchup and relish
S’mores Box [for 5]: marshmallows, chocolate bars, graham crackers
Chips
Water & Canned Soda

*bring your own blanket or camp chairs

Logistics

Since we didn’t know what to expect and the farm is roughly 45 minutes from our house, we decided to schedule the 16:30-18:00 campfire. We also weren’t sure what to expect in terms of mosquitoes.

Don’t arrive early. There was really no point. The farm isn’t open to the general public due to social isolation policies so when we pulled up at 4 pm, there wasn’t much to do except wait patiently until they were ready. And they were definitely not ready until 4:30 pm on the dot.

Bring bug spray. There weren’t too many bugs, considering we were in the middle of a field, surrounded by smoke. But there were a few and I am glad I remembered to bring the bug spray.

Bring chairs and umbrellas. The confirmation email did mention to bring lawn chairs, since they aren’t providing them, we did manage to pack the beach umbrella and a few personal umbrellas. It started to sprinkle just before 6 pm so I was happy to have a little protection while the kids ran around and burned off some energy.

Rescheduled due to rain. Because the weather network was calling for mild rain later in the evening, we did receive an email about 2 hours before our scheduled campfire. They were offering to let us reschedule, free of charge, to another date of our choosing. I didn’t read the email until we were already at the farm but the fact that it was offered is great news.

Bring snacks. I was happy to learn that the farm wasn’t policing what we brought into the area.

It can get windy. Being in an open field, we found the wind to be a little chilly. We all packed a light sweater.

Bring entertainment. Because all they offer is food and a stick to cook it with, you are responsible for your own entertainment. The campsites are fairly spread apart so you won’t bother your neighbors unless you are quite loud. You are encouraged to bring lawn games or music, as long as it doesn’t bother those around you.

Safety measures

When we arrived at the farm, we signed in from our car. They took our name, pointed us into the direction of our campsite and asked us to pop the trunk so they could load our bag of included goodies.

The field had 6 fires on one side, and 6 on the other. Each site had its own trash bin and portable toilet. We shared a hand-washing station. There were signs, and we witnessed, the staff sanitizing every surface (including the toilets) between guests.

Staff asked that they be the only ones to load wood into the fire pit, for safety, and I’m sure for liability reasons as well. Each side had their own attendant, we had Matt. Matt was responsible for ensuring our campfires were well stocked and answered any questions we had.

I especially liked that we were able to park the car right up next to our campsite, so we didn’t have to trek around with our chairs and food bag.

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