Horse-drawn carriage rides are part of the Forest Festival at Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park/NPS

Marsh-Billings-Rockefeller National Historical Park, which practices active forestry within its boundaries, invites the public to celebrate working lands and wood craft during the annual Forest Festival event this coming weekend.

The park’s 550 acres include some of the oldest scientifically managed forest in the United States, according to park staff. For millennia prior to colonization, and continuing today, the region is home to the Abenaki people, who continue to carry out cultural practices that involve the northeastern forest.

During the event, scheduled to run 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. this Saturday and Sunday, visitors can experience a wide array of forestry practices. A horse-logging team will fell trees, while a portable saw mill transforms logs into boards. Professional woodworkers will demonstrate their craft, while visitors can try their own hand at woodworking with family-friendly projects to complete at the park and then take home. Chief Roger Longtoe Sheehan will share cultural demonstrations with forest materials, including stories and songs of the Elnu Band of the Abenaki Tribe. A horse-drawn wagon ride will connect the various activity hubs throughout the park.

Each day features a series of forest-themed scheduled programs. On Saturday morning, University of Vermont professor Walter Poleman will present his popular “Understanding the Forested Landscape” workshop from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. at the Forest Center. At 11 a.m., Windsor County Forester Hannah Dallas will lead a short guided walk through the woods. At 2 p.m., a national park ranger will present “Forestry, History and the Future,” a walking account of the site’s forest management practices across 150 years – from reforestation to climate change and invasive species adaptation.

Sunday begins with a 9 a.m. walk with Windsor County Forester AJ Follensbee. At noon, Rich Holschuh, a spokesperson for the Elnu Band of the Abenaki and a member of the Vermont Commission for Native American Affairs, will lead a hike called, “Alosada Kpiwi (let us walk in the woods): Indigenous Perspectives on the Northeastern Forest.”  At 2 p.m., Amanda Anderson of Inner Lift Yoga will lead a yoga hike from the formal gardens behind the Mansion to the Prosper trailhead by way of the Pogue.

“As summer turns to fall, people are drawn to the transforming forested landscapes,” says the park's chief of interpretation, Stephanie Kyriazis. “Forest Festival celebrates the woods of Vermont. The park is particularly excited this year to host several indigenous presenters, sharing traditional and contemporary knowledge about the northeastern woods. Come to enjoy the storytelling, the horse-logging, the wagon rides, the artisanship of the wood workers, the hands-on crafts, or the science of sustainable forestry. The weekend will be full of fresh air and family fun.”

All Forest Festival activities are free. Regular tours of the Mansion ($8 adults, $4 seniors, children 15 and under free) will be offered at 10 a.m., 12 p.m., 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. Parking for the event is at the Billings Farm & Museum Overflow Lot.