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Westville’s Fair Of 1850 Welcomes Autumn In Style
Where Cotton is King, Syrup is Sweet, and There is Music to Sing
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Youthful scholars learn from McGuffy’s Eclectic Reader during Westville’s Fair of 1850.
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As fall approaches and leaves change brilliantly, Westville takes you back to harvest-time activities as they were done 150 years ago. Westville's "Fair of 1850" is a month of celebration from October 12 to November 12.
Guests can watch sugar cane juice being pressed out of the pulp for the syrup-making process. Guests can also sample Westville's homemade syrup on one of the popular sausage biscuits, which are made from scratch and cooked in an open-hearth fire at the Patterson-Marrett Farmhouse.
Idle most of the year, the cotton gin is one of a few operational mule-powered gins in the United States. During the month-long festival, guests can see the gin in operation.
Each weekday of the festival, students will be attending the Stewart Academy, Westville's schoolhouse. Classes will be in session as students don period clothing. They also use authentic slate boards and McGuffy Readers, provided to enrich each student's "living history" experience of the village.
Music will be shared by two talented artists from Bloomington, Indiana, playing traditional tunes from 1850. Sam Bartlett has played traditional Irish and American music on the banjo, guitar, and mandolin for many years. His music can be found in over twenty recordings as well as sound bites on National Public Radio's All Things Considered. Jamie Gans has established himself as one of the foremost fiddlers in the Northern Midwest. He will bring with him a repertoire of traditional tunes. Both will be working with students and entertaining visitors during the fair.
Throughout Westville, artisans will demonstrate and teach traditional 1850s activities such as pottery-making, candle-dipping, leather-working, wood-working, soap-making, blacksmithing, weaving, quilting, basket-weaving, and lace-making.
For more information call toll free 1/888-SEE-1850 or access our web site at www.westville.org. |
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It is not corn. Fred Rembert chops a stalk of sugar cane for grinding 