This Toronto bakery is hosting a city-wide Easter egg hunt with a hidden $1,000 grand prize
A whimsical Toronto bakery is bringing back its annual Easter egg hunt, with a major grand prize of $1,000 in cash up for grabs!
The Grand Order of Divine Sweets (The GOoDS) is entering its fourth year of putting on the annual Grand Hunt, a delicious prize-filled city-wide mission. On April 12, adventurers aged 18 and up can take advantage of clues to be posted on the bakery’s Instagram stories which will lead to ten hidden miniature treasure chests scattered across the downtown core, each holding a unique scroll revealing a special prize.
The Queen Street West bakery, known for its fandom-inspired sweet treats, began the hunt as a way of bringing the community back together, especially after a long period of isolation due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Since its launch, thousands of people have joined the fun each year, which has even prompted The GOoDS to start a second hunt to ring in the fall Halloween season.
“It’s a really wonderful way of getting to meet our community and see them again after not seeing them for a while. It’s just a great turnout every time,” Founder and Co-owner Sam Lapointe told Now Toronto on Wednesday.
“There are a lot of really beautiful interactions between us and our staff and other people in this community.”
For the first time, this year’s Easter hunt includes two treasure chests that hold scrolls for two large cash prizes. The grand prize is a giant sculpted chocolate Secret Garden-themed Smash Egg, filled with sweet delights and $1,000 in cash. The second $500 cash prize is a handcrafted, chocolate Smash Egg inspired by the cover art from The Maid’s Secret, the latest book released in The Maid series by author Nita Prose.
Additionally, this year’s prize pool includes items from The GOoDS’ scrumptious Easter Collection as well as from local partners including Penguin Publishing Canada, the Royal Ontario Museum, 401 Games, Storm Crow Manor, Realms 2 Infinity comic book and table top game shop, newly opened Grizzly Bar: Canadian Kitchen, and more!
Now, where are the prizes going to be hidden? Obviously, Lapointe can’t share, but promises that they’ll all be located in ten outstanding spots in the city.
“We’re very respectful to the spaces; we’re showing off our city and the place that we live and some of our favourite places, but we also want to make sure that everyone is being safe and respectful as they’re doing it with the clues themselves,” Lapointe noted.
“Sometimes it is at an official landmark, and sometimes it’s art that just was really amazing, and something that we wanted to kind of highlight and show off.”
Prizes won’t be located within the discovered treasure chests, Lapointe says. Once a chest is found with a scroll inside, lucky hunters should bring it to the bakery to receive their prize in-person. Explorers looking to get a hint in advance can visit The GOoDS a week before the hunt for pre-clues, and the word on the street is that if you do something nice for the staff such as sing them a little song, or do a little dance or tell them a joke, they might give you another one. But, shh – you didn’t hear that from us!
If you miss out on a prize this time around, have no fear. Lapointe says The GOoDS is offering an Easter Collection sure to sweeten the deal. Alongside their standout treats inspired by iconic series like The Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones and Harry Potter, visitors can indulge in a line-up of chocolate everything – from bunnies to cookies to cupcakes. Though it’s a bustling time for staff, she ensures all the community excitement makes it worthwhile.
via Now Toronto