Goschenhoppen Historians' Folk Festival

Goschenhoppen Historians' Folk Festival

Second Friday and Saturday of August

The Goschenhoppen region of Pennsylvania, in what is now Montgomery County, was settled in the early 18th century by Mennonite, Schwenkfeldian, Lutheran, Reformed, and Catholic farmers and artisans, most of whom were German immigrants. It remains one of the oldest and most "authentic" Pennsylvania German communities in America. The Goschenhoppen Historians, a group founded in 1963 to study and preserve the culture of the Pennsylvania German, also known as the Pennsylvania Dutch, and related groups, hold an annual Folk Festival at Goschenhoppen Park in East Greenville every summer to educate the public about life in this area during the 18th and 19th centuries and to preserve the traditional skills of the Pennsylvania German people.
Since 1966, when the first Folk Festival was held, the Historians have made every effort to keep the festival as educational and as non-commercial as possible. One of the most interesting aspects is the participation of schoolchildren, who are recruited as apprentices or helpers for the craft demonstrators at the festival. By actively participating in the demonstrations, young people learn traditional skills that might otherwise die out. These include blacksmithing, fishnet making, pewtering, gunsmithing, chair caning, rope making, weaving, and thatch and tile roofing. The Historians also operate a folk life museum and country store.
See also Kutztown Festival

CONTACTS:
Goschenhoppen Historians Inc.
Red Men's Hall
P.O. Box 476
Green Lane, PA 18054
610-367-8286
www.goschenhoppen.org
Library of Congress
101 Independence Ave. S.E.
Washington, DC 20540
202-707-5000; fax: 202-707-8366
www.loc.gov

Celebration days:
2011: Aug 12; Aug 13
2012: Aug 10; Aug 11
2013: Aug 9; Aug 10
2014: Aug 8; Aug 9