Take 3,450 pounds of buttermilk flour, 800 pounds of eggs, 350 pounds of butter and 450 gallons of water, and what do you have?

The answer is the recipe for this year’s World’s Largest Pancake Breakfast and tons of fun planned in downtown Springfield on Saturday.

The annual nosh fest, sponsored by MGM Springfield, will be held from 8 to 11 a.m. along an endless table

running along Main Street from State Street to Bridge Street.

Bring your own bib and sit down at the breakfast table for some fluffy, light pancakes served up alongside bacon, milk, orange juice and coffee marking Springfield’s 387th birthday.

The expanded menu

continues again this year with samplings from Dunkin’ and cheese from Cabot Creamery Co-operative.

The Place 2 Be will also have its own pancake cups with special treats to top them off.

Admission to the event, beverages and activities are free, but if you want to enjoy a hearty breakfast, the cost is $3 and $1 for children under 12.

This year’s honorary chair is Superintendent Cheryl C. Clapprood of the Springfield Police Department.

“I’m honored to be chosen when there are so many other people to consider. The World’s Largest Pancake Breakfast is quite an event and the Spirit of Springfield does such a good job organizing it. I’ve attended it for many years, but this time I will be expected to work … helping to mix the batter on Friday as well as helping to cook the bacon beforehand,” Clapprood said.

“I’m very much looking forward to what will be a very nice and relaxing day for the many people who come downtown for a good breakfast and entertainment. And it better not rain,” she added.

For many years, the World’s Largest Pancake Breakfast has brought communities together in good times and in bad.

“It is an opportunity for people to get out of their homes in the spring after a long winter and be able to enjoy the company of their friends and neighbors and perhaps make new friends as well. Given a report released (recently) from our U.S. surgeon general that this country is experiencing more loneliness than ever before, which was worsened when COVID-19 spread, I believe this year’s breakfast will take on an even greater importance in addressing the crisis,” said Judith A. Matt, president of the Spirit of Springfield.

In addition to MGM Springfield, Monson Savings Bank, and TD Bank, it takes “an army of support from so many organizations” for the World’s Largest Pancake Breakfast to come together for the thousands of people who show up each year for a hearty breakfast, Matt noted.

All of the action begins the day before at Mercy Medical Center where Clapprood will roll up her sleeves and be among the many mixing the pancake batter — donated by Performance Foodservice — and filling 100 5-gallon buckets that will be delivered to the downtown breakfast on Saturday. Then, volunteers arrive as early as 4 a.m. to begin all the preparations and don’t leave until the last piece of trash is picked up around 1 p.m.

The breakfast also would not happen without Baystate Health and Mansfield Paper providing paper products or Cabot Creamery donating 200 pounds of butter and H. P. Hood delivering hundreds of gallons of milk, juice, and cream for the coffee that will be donated and brewed by Sheraton Springfield. Smithfield Packaged Meats contributes 1,000 pounds of bacon that will be cooked by the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department and warmed by MGM Springfield. Costco will donate a gift card to purchase cooking spray, sponges, and other supplies. Quality Beverage and Home Grown Springfield — Sodexo, as well as Ryder, will keep everything cold beforehand in their refrigerator trucks. Elegant Affairs every year donates the use of their downtown facility as the event headquarters. The Springfield Business Improvement District, with an assist from the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department, keeps the area clean. And Springfield Parking Authority will provide free parking for volunteers, while Gleason Johndrow Landscaping will work behind the scenes to assist the Spirit of Springfield with set up and keeping the volunteers stocked with the products they need for the breakfast.

Also, cooking, serving, selling tickets and keeping the tables clean will be hundreds of volunteers from 94.7 WMAS, Armoury Quadrangle Civic Association, Bethel Child Care Services, Baystate Academy Charter School, iHeart Media, Jack and Jill of Western Massachusetts, John Boyle O’Reilly Club, Law Office of Maurice Powe, Rock102, SATCO (PVTA), Springfield Code Enforcement/Building Division, Springfield Department of Health and Human Services, Springfield Honors Academy, Springfield Thunderbirds, Springfield UNICO, The MacDuffie School, Q 99.7, UMass Five Federal Credit Union, United Way of Pioneer Valley, U.S. Postal Service, Vox Church, Western Mass News, Western Mass. Square Round Dance Association and others.

In addition to filling up on pancakes, there is plenty to do downtown during the breakfast and after the last pancake is served.

There will be two entertainment stages, including the Bruce Landon Way Stage featuring the Sci-Tech Jazz Band from 8 to 9:30 a.m. The Harrison Avenue Stage will showcase the Martin Luther King Charter School at 8 a.m., Youthful Expressions at 8:30 a.m., Springfield Preparatory Charter School at 9 a.m. and others.

Monson Savings Bank will sponsor activities in Court Square including cornhole games and Jenga. There also will be displays from the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department, as well as the Springfield Police — including motorcycles and the K-9 Police and The Bear Tactical Units — and Springfield Fire Department — including Engine #1, Ladder #1 and the Rescue Squad.

TD Bank will be hosting activities at the corner of Main and Harrison Avenue that will include an appearance by its mascot, TD, a prize wheel, giveaways and more. The Massachusetts Division of Fisheries and Wildlife will have a cast clinic to help improve your fishing.

“This year we will have more exhibitors than ever before providing an array of things to do at their areas and tables and important information about their services,” Matt said.

Several of the more than 40 businesses and nonprofit organizations who will be promoting their services include Vox Church, YWCA of Western Mass, United Way of Pioneer Valley, Springfield Museums, Springfield School Volunteers, Square One, Libertas Academy, Follow My Steps Foundation, Fallon Health, Community Bank, Boys and Girls Club Family Center, Western Mass News, and WWLP-22News.

“As COVID continues across the nation and our local communities, we will be providing an opportunity at the breakfast for those who haven’t been vaccinated yet or received their boosters to get them onsite,” Matt said noting the Massachusetts Department of Public Health will administer the vaccines.

So that every youngster has an opportunity for a free breakfast, AMR will deliver 75,000 tickets and fliers to area schools that were printed by Mercy Medical Center.

“It’s something we have been doing every year for quite a while and have helped to feed thousands of hungry children over the years. We don’t want any child going away hungry,” Matt said.

She also noted that the Spirit of Springfield will be selling the book “Little Frog and the Bright Lights” to support Ukrainian illustrator Max Stasuik who has been working with them to illustrate several books based on Bright Nights at Forest Park.

The Spirit of Springfield has been presenting the World’s Largest Pancake Breakfast — one of the nonprofit organization’s signature events — since 1990.

For more information about the World’s Largest Pancake Breakfast, visit its website or contact the Spirit of Springfield at 413-733-3800, or [email protected].