Hear Ye! Hear Ye! Frontier life returns to Sky Meadows State Park for the opening weekend of the Seventh Annual Fall Farm Festival!
It’s Colonial Weekend from 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on October 1 and 2. Join the Shenandoah Valley Colonial Living History Association, Bell’s Company of the Virginia Regiment, and the Rutherford Rangers as they portray frontier life, soldiers’ camp life, and French & Indian relations. Visitors can watch a recruitment ceremony and musket demonstration and learn about colonial uniforms.
There is something for every member of the family at the Fall Farm Festival. The children’s area allows our youngsters to run, climb, crawl, and play in a safe, farm-themed environment. The entire family can enjoy storytelling near the Log Cabin at 11:30 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. Between story times, enjoy live music at the Cabin. On Saturday, harpist Chesham Creek Band will provide good old-time Appalachian music. Performance times on both days are 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. While listening to the music, enjoy a lunch of delicious BBQ, prepared by Red Fox Creamery of Middleburg, VA.And a trip to the farm would not be complete without stopping in to the pick-your-own pumpkin patch. There are many different varieties of pumpkins to choose from. Whether you're looking to carve, bake, or decorate – you can find what you need in our field.
To round out the experience, the park is offering a variety of interpretive programs suitable for all ages. On Saturday, join Park Historian Budd Reitnauer in the Log Cabin from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. for “A Light from Yesterday.” Learn how people lit their homes before electricity and witness a candle making demonstration. At 1:00 p.m., Park Naturalist Trish Bartholomew and park volunteer Marion McCoubrey will fascinate you during a spinning demonstration in the wash house. On Sunday, Budd will be playing with “Olde Tyme Toys and Games” in the backyard of the historic Mount Bleak House. You can try your hand at Graces or Hoops and even shoot a round of croquet from 10:00 to 11:30 a.m. On both days, enjoy a trip back through time with the “Ghosts of Mount Bleak” House Tour from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. Back by popular demand, this special tour of the park’s historic home gives visitors a look into the past at life during the 1860s on Mount Bleak Farm. Who knows? You may even run into a ghost or two!
For more information about these programs or other upcoming events, please callwww.virginiastateparks.gov.
For more information about these programs or other upcoming events, please callwww.virginiastateparks.gov.
LOCATION:Sky Meadows State Parkis less than two miles south of Paris, VA., via U.S. Route 50 to Route 17 South; or seven miles north of I-66, Exit 23 on Route 17 North. The park entrance is on State Route 710.
Drive Time: Northern Virginia, 45 minutes to one hour; D.C., over one hour; Richmond, two hours; Tidewater/ Norfolk/ Virginia Beach, three hours; Roanoke, two and a half hours
Click here for a Google map. Latitude, 38.988703. Longitude, -77.968913