Small pollinating insects are the inspiration behind the design at the Lethbridge Cornmaze.

The maze has been in operation since 2009 and the honeycomb design on the field this year is the 19 design that owner and creator Theo Slingerland has made.

“We have some bees here on the farm this year, a friend of my sons started a bee business. I saw a picture of a honeycomb and thought ‘hey, that’s it.’”

He added that the maze this year took between 20 to 30 hours to create.
“Some say I made it too hard this year, but they all say that they had fun and that’s what counts,” Slingerland added.

The maze is popular amongst most demographics in Lethbridge. College and university students are just as common at the farm as families with young children are.
“It took us about 45 minutes this year. We come out every year, I really liked last year’s design for Canada 150,” said Tyler Ausuchak, who went through the maze with his parents and older siblings.

Every year, the Lethbridge Corn Maze has hosted a fundraiser on the Thanksgiving weekend to support different charities.
This year they chose to support Rehoboth Christian Ministries and its Serenity Garden. The event raised $2,500 and Slingerland made the decision to donate the money from the crop sales as well bringing the total donation to just over $5,000.

Along with the main maze, there are various challenges including a scavenger hunt, a children’s course and a puzzle maze where participants can only make right turns.

There is also a petting zoo featuring goats, chickens, geese, pigs and a llama.

“It’s a fun activity to do on the weekend,” Kinsey Smith said, watching her young daughter befriend a goat.

The farm will also be hosting Christmas events throughout the month of December. You can find more information about the maze here.