Folklife Festival returning to Tifton ag museum
Event is set for April 8 at ABAC museum
From Staff Reports
TIFTON — South Georgia’s rich, rural heritage will be on display April 8 at the annual Folklife Festival at the Georgia Museum of Agriculture and Historic Village at Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College.
The showcase of the region’s history and culture will be 9 a.m.-4 p.m. and will include interactive activities for children and adults.
The Vulcan Steam train’s whistle will be running and museum officials say the “can’t miss moment of the day” will be the ceremonial firing of the Turpentine Still at 11 a.m. for the village’s annual turpentine distillation. Museum guests will get to witness an age-old process that is central to South Georgia’s cultural heritage. The still will be run during day and discharge its finished product around 4 p.m.
The Folklife Festival will include hands-on activities such as tree debarking and hewing, sheep shearing, wool spinning, weaving and washing, pine needle basket-making, and a quilt square sewing demonstration.
Visitors also can visit the antique and model tractors that will be on display on the Opry Shelter Lawn. The antique tractors will parade through the village at 1 p.m.
The Blacksmith Shop’s forge will be glowing red as the Village Blacksmith provides demonstrations throughout the day.
Visitors also will be able to gain insight into the life of a traveling circuit judge and imagine themselves in an old-fashioned barber’s chair when two new exhibits are unveiled at 1:30 p.m. at the village drug store. And they can visit with the Little River Wood Turners as they ply their trade in the Variety Works shop.
Bluegrass music will be in the air, provided by Grassically Trained Bluegrass, of Corryton, Tenn. Folk music from Dr. Jeff Newberry, professor of English and communication and poet-in-residence in the School of Liberal Arts, will be featured on the Clark Cabin porch.
A quilting exhibit, “Linda O’Sullivan: A Celtic Perspective,” will also open on April 8 as part of the festival in the Museum Gallery. The exhibit will showcase 24 unique quilts by the artist. The 2017 American Legacy Quilt show will also take place in the Peanut Museum at the Ag Museum on April 7-8 and will showcase dozens of quilts to the public.
O’Sullivan’s work earned the People’s Choice Award at last year’s American Legacy Quilt Show at the Gallery of the Museum. She has been a member of Quilters Unlimited of Tallahassee for over 30 years and a member of The Dyffryn Quilters in Wales for 10 years.
Food will be available to visitors. The Historic Village’s Drug Store will offer soup and pound cake. The 41 & Main restaurant will be selling barbecue ribs and chicken salad at the Opry Shelter. Visitors also pick up food items including jams, jellies, grits, or corn meal at the village’s Country Store.
The Festival coincides with the seasonal opening of the Wiregrass Farmers Market. Local growers and producers will be offering fresh picked produce from 9 a.m. until noon as well as hand-made goods for sale at the Market located under the pole barn behind the Country Store.
Admission to the Folklife Festival is $10, adults; $8, senior citizens; $5, children 5–16; free, children under 5. Contact the Country Store at (229) 391-5205.
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