Dusty D has heard back from a 'Fest contact and has learned the following: 1. The gentleman who runs the historic area has taken a new job and wasn't there to run it this year; 2. it is free to camp overnight, after you sign a waiver; 3. firewood is provided! Sounds fun to me! Dusty D has a meeting coming up with Heritage Fest folks during which I'll describe my ideas on what I can hopefully contribute.But what I'd really like to know would be: what additional historical display, game, household activity, or other feature would YOU like to see in the Historic area? I'd really appreciate your ideas!
11 comments :
Got the li'l wire spectacles...just need the 'coon pelt to wear on my head. Have 'coon pelt, will travel (down to Riverside Park).
What was great about the old living history encampment was seeing people living as they did in the 1700 and 1800's. In the early years there were those who lived as native people, fur traders, and pioneers. There was music and crafts. This is a lot to ask, but one can dream.
Those are great ideas, James; thank you. I do have a stockpile of buckskin, strange to say but true. And deer sinew--two rolls. I wouldn't presume to pass as a native woman, but I wonder if there were any female voyageurs. Probably not. But one wonders.
Also was thinking of setting up a 19th-century games area where folks could play quoits, graces, and horseshoes. Additionally, I thought a demonstration of 19th-century clothes-washing would be interesting, with an old wooden tub-style washer and hanging clothes up on a line. Not the most decorative heritagey thing but interesting IMO. Butter-churning, weaving, cooking--I think the key is to do something interactive that visitors can try for themselves.
Have a meeting on Thurs. to discuss these and other ideas with Heritage Fest contact.
I think the interactive idea is great. Not only could everyone see what it was like, but to feel want to was like.
I agree, James, and of all people your advice and thoughts would be so helpful. I appreciate what you've said so far, and would be grateful for more of your thoughts. Thank you.
There are lots of ways to make activities more interactive. Of all the minstrel songs we play, by far the audience favorite is "Old King Crow", which invites the audience to caw along.
Likewise, extra clothes and equipment (whatever is appropriate to what you're doing) for people to try on, hold, etc. can be helpful. Just not your best/most expensive stuff. :)
cmadler: "We"? Wow!--are you one of the wonderful musicians? That's one of our all-time favorite things to do--just sit on the haybale and listen. How cool!
Your ideas are invaluable. Yes, stuff to handle, touch, or operate is really what I'm focusing on. The HF used to have a wide array of historic interactive stuff, including clothes for kids to try on and "Grandmother's Trunk," which was filled with all sorts of household tools and other historic items for people to handle and chat about.
I'll have to talk more with experts like you, to tap into the expertise of people who really know what they're talking about. Thank you thus far for feedback!
No, I've not played at the HF, although I know the musicians who are there. They do a variety of music, including shanties & sailors' songs, minstrel songs ranging from 1830s to 1860s (at least), and various other stuff. If you'll forgive a little criticism, they strike me as a little too eclectic for historical accuracy; it's pretty unlikely that you'd find a dulcimer and a bodhran together before the 1960s.
My group tries (with varying degrees of success) to do only songs that can be documented to the minstrel repertory by the end of the Civil War, with appropriate costumes, instruments, jokes, and dialogue. I've been trying to persuade my fellow musicians to come to the Heritage Festival next year; we'll see if I'm successful.
That would be incredible if the group could come. I'd love to hear your repertory there. Dialogue and jokes, even! So you're really doing first-person reenacting--wow. I love seeing that, and have a long ways to go before I can hope to reenact like that, but you have to start somewhere. Thanks for the interest, cmadler.
I love the ideas everyone are adding. The one thing about the past festivals/encampment was that the people who where there never engaged people. When a group/family walks up to them they should just starting talking about the life and times they are demonstrating. The hands on should be for both kids and parents.
When the festival was young they had a special area at the small house across the street from the Ypsi. Historical Museum, that kids could make crafts from the past. Not only was it fun but they learned somethong from past times.
Anonymous: Those are yet more great ideas and thoughts. You are so right about the interactive aspect; that's one thing we really want to focus on. It's the core concept in all our plans so far..."interactive!"
I'll post more about how plans are developing before the Sept. 16 public meeting.
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