Boone Heritage Festival Oct. 8

The High Country takes a trip back in time Saturday, Oct. 8, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., when the Hickory Ridge Living History Museum hosts the Boone Heritage Festival.

The festival invites visitors to have fun with the family, learn about history through 18th century demonstrations and participate in crafts, music, storytelling and dance.

The day’s music and storytelling will feature performers, such as Lisa Baldwin, Orville Hicks, Rick Ward, Glenn Bolick, The Sheets Family, The Elkville String Band, Lonnie Ward, Charlie Glenn, Mary Greene and Mike Lowe.

Festivalgoers can enjoy music jam sessions all day, too, where both amateurs and professionals can join in the fun. The jam sessions are open to musicians, dancers and listeners alike. Folks can even get a hands-on, mini music lesson in exchange for a small donation.

Fun and entertaining cakewalks will be featured in between sets throughout the day. Square dance fans can enjoy the 3:30 p.m. dance, featuring renowned caller Warren Doyle.

Make-and-take crafts activities include dipped candles, cornhusk dolls, ragdolls, scarecrows (limited clothing items provided, or bring your own), foil “tin-punch” crafts and more.

Festivalgoers can sign up for the pumpkin-carving contest; gutted pumpkins and carving tools will be provided.

Adjacent to the museum property, Daniel Boone Native Gardens will offer free, guided tours of the Gardens at 10 a.m., noon and 2 p.m., inviting visitors to explore the varied “rooms” of the Gardens, featuring a bog garden, fern garden, rhododendron grove, vine-covered arbor and more.

Boone Heritage Festival is the major fund- and friend-raiser for Hickory Ridge Living History Museum, a nonprofit museum. Located in Boone, at 591 Horn in the West Drive, the museum features eight original log cabins and outbuildings that transport visitors to another time. For more information, call (828) 264-2120.