Colonial Fest at the Scera Park

This was our first year attending the Colonial Fest they do each year as part of the Freedom Festival in Provo. It was really impressive--the costumes, the quality of the period weapons and tools, very educational, and the kids had a blast.

Ruth and Lily looking through a soldier photo with the face cut out.

Ruth in the stocks. I wonder if people living in the Colonies would ever imagine that in the future folks would be lining up to be put in these things!

One lady was showing the kids how to twist twine to make rope. She was using taffeta and showed me how to do it so I could use with my Scouts someday.

Every half hour they did a 15 minute school session. Lily is supposed to be sitting with the girls, but there was a shortage of room and the boy side had plenty.

Ruth doing a Colonial game rolling marbles through arches.

This gentleman had a  giant fire burning stove (behind him) and was demonstrating Colonial baking. I got a kick out of his glasses (hard to see in the picture), but they were period glasses, like the kind you see Franklin wearing in his portraits -- very small and probably anything but helpful for seeing well (unless he had them made prescription!). The attention to detail was really delightful.

The one thing I did not get a photo of was the debate they had at the "South Towne Church," which was a big open canvas tent with benches in the middle of the Colonial Village. A lady and her helpers passed out cards with different names of Patriots or Loyalists and their view and she lead a debate on whether we should dump the tea in the Boston Harbor. She divided  us into Patriots and Loyalists and you had to cheer for your side "Huzzah!" and boo "Fie!" the oppositions' arguments. If the debate stalled, she would prompt with something like, "What does Samuel Adams have to say about that?" She also added interesting commentary along the way about what was going on at the time with the different taxes Parliament was levying. It was my favorite part of the morning.

Below is just a promotional video showing the Colonial Fest. It amounts to a 5 minute commercial, but I enjoyed watching it just because it captures what a terrific event it was.