The Pioneer Day festival in our town of Old Fort, NC, celebrates the spirit and ingenuity of American pioneers who lived in the mountains prior to and after the Revolutionary War, when our nation was just getting going.
2012 Pioneer Day demonstration [photo: Mountain Gateway Museum]
A huge part of our area’s mountain heritage carries on today, in the form of art and craftwork, like quilting, weaving, pottery, etc., and trades such as woodworking and blacksmithing. Family-friendly Pioneer Day features demonstrations of many of these, along with vendors selling various handmade items.
Pioneer Day is held on the last Saturday in April on the grounds of the Mountain Gateway Museum and Heritage Center in historic downtown Old Fort, 15 miles east of Asheville, NC. For more information, contact the museum at 828-668-9259, or visit https://www.facebook.com/MtnGatewayMuseum.