This lovely October I have had the pleasure of attending two historic festivals – the annual 1770s Festival at Lord Stirling Park in Basking Ridge, NJ and the annual Quiet Valley Living Historical Farm Harvest Festival.
The 1770s Festival happens each year on the first Sunday in October. I attended this year’s festival on October 2, 2011. The setting for the festival was on the grounds of Lord Stirling’s grand manor house and estate, originally constructed in the 1770s.
We had a long and interesting talk with a member of the Revolutionary War military detachment camp, who taught us all about the weaponry and methods of combat during the Revolutionary War.
Skilled artisan Homer Hansen demonstrated paper cutting techniques to achieve beautiful and intricate silhouette designs.
The Quiet Valley Harvest Festival takes place on Columbus Day weekend each year. The setting is a beautiful historical farm with buildings dating back to the late 1700s – 1800s. There is plenty of yummy food to eat at the festival…
…farm animals in their pastures (like the sheep above), barns (there were 13 three-week-old piglets in the barn with their mother this year), and petting areas…
…and demonstrations of many early American skills and crafts, including spinning, weaving, yarn dyeing, tatting, coopering, quilling, broom making, oak split basketry, outdoor brick bake oven, Dutch oven cooking, butter making, and rope making. I learn something new about these crafts every year.
