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Harvesttime Approaching At Great Smoky Mountains National Park

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Published Date

September 11, 2015
Cooking over an open fire at Great Smoky Mountains National Park/NPS

Cooking the old-fashioned way will be on display during the annual Mountain Life Festival at Great Smoky Mountains National Park/NPS

Harvesttime can't be far off, as the annual Mountain Life Festival is coming to the Mountain Farm Museum at Great Smoky Mountains National Park on September 19.

The event, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., harkens back to homesteaders and how they marked the harvest season.

The spirit of cooperation that existed among families and neighbors is reflected in this event. Demonstrations will include hearth cooking, apple butter making, blacksmithing, lye soap making, food preservation, and chair bottoming. Artifacts and historic photographs from the park's collection will be on display. The festival will also coincide with music jam sessions held on the porch of the Oconaluftee Visitor Center from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. every first and third Saturday of the month.

The centerpiece of the Mountain Life Festival is the sorghum syrup demonstration, which the national park has provided each fall for over 30 years. The syrup is made much the same way it was produced 100 or more years ago, using a horse or mule-powered cane mill and a wood-fired cooker. The syrup making demonstration is provided by students, staff, and volunteers from Swain County High School Future Farmers of America through a cooperative agreement with Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Great Smoky Mountains Association.

As a special addition this year, GSMA will launch the new Mountain Farm Museum audio tour handset available for free to visitors and members. Park staff will distribute the limited supply of audio tour devices on a first come, first serve basis.

The Mountain Farm Museum is located adjacent to the park’s Oconaluftee Visitor Center on Newfound Gap Road in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, two miles north of Cherokee, North Carolina. For more information call the visitor center at (828) 497-1904.

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