Flint Hills Folklife Festival
Last Sunday, we attended a Folklife Festival down in Cottonwood Falls. Vendors dressed in mid-1800’s period costume were demonstrating skills and crafts that were done in that time period. They were set up around the lovely county courthouse and were not only showing how to perform period tasks but also selling the products of their demonstrations. Here are just a few:
Handmade reed baskets:
Root beer:
Blacksmithing:
Spinning wool:
Handspun wool yarn:
Spinning yarn with a hand spindle, an ancient way of spinning yarn:
Hand spindles:
Braided and woven rugs:
Beeswax candles:
Raccoon skin hat:
Stonecutting:
Broom Maker:
We left that day having bought a couple bottles of homemade root beer (yummy!) and a handmade reed basket.
Have you ever attended a festival where heritage crafts were demonstrated?
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Looks like so much fun! Thank you for sharing the experience!
You’re welcome. Thanks for coming along!
I love to go to fairs where handmade things are demonstrated. I especially enjoyed the spinning. The spindle type is fascinating and it looks easy, but I tried it and found out it wasn’t! Thanks for sharing.
I love these Festivals! I have gone to several over the years, Missouri Town, Branson, Missouri. Independence, Missouri has a festival celebrating the covered wagon trails. I have also gone to Sturbridge Village in MA. I love all the crafts and always find something to bring home. I love your pictures Suzanne, that was a great trip! Thanks so much! ;- )
Yes, I have, and I love them!! What a wonderful thing to do on the weekend. You are so fortunate that Harlan likes to do that kind of thing. I’d have to drag mine along most of the time.
Fascinating. I’m from the UK and would love to be able to go to one of these Festivals. I would’ve bought a basket, root beer, candles, yarn, a broom! Not sure about the broom on the flight home though! Love your posts and photos about your trips.
Great pictures. We were there Friday night and Saturday. A great weekend.
Yes, in Kanabe,Utah. It is great fun. Wish there were more of them I feel the old ways are dying out.
My husband, Ron, said he met someone who used to live at Wien, and he knew the last name was Folks. I asked him which one it was, that I knew there was one a year or so older than our son, Michael, and he did not know! Now I know, and yes, those are my braided rugs in your picture. Ron was there weaving away!
My maiden name was Folks, Suzanne Folks. We were the only Folks family in Wien because we had moved there from Florida in 1976. I believe Michael was in the class after me. Did he graduate in 1987?