Heritage and HistoryOrganizing your storyThere are different ways of organizing your story. You might select a certain time period, focus on local people, whether famous or not, depict pivotal events, or take a time line approach. "In the old days" (time period): The first step in this approach is to select a particular time period and then amass as much information as possible about that time in your community. For example, your theme could be Pioneer Days or Early Railroad Days. Even though both periods are "back then," lifestyles and living conditions were completely different in the two periods, and also completely different in different areas of the country. Just because you find something on the Internet that shows the coming of the railroad that does not necessarily apply to the time period when the railroad came to your community. Select a time period that you or someone on your committee already has some expertise in so that you are not starting cold. You can incorporate the time period across your festival by asking musicians, storytellers, and craftspeople to dress in period clothing (provide them with some examples), providing some refreshments that are period appropriate, hiring demonstrators to showcase the skills of the age, or developing performances related to the time period. Be sure to include some hands-on activities. Children enjoy activities as simple as snapping beans while adults might like learning to make a basket from honeysuckle vines.
Characters: You can use universally known characters like Daniel Boone or Abe Lincoln if they truly are connected to your community, but sometimes it is more fun for your audience to learn about some less famous person who did something that made an impact - inventors, educators, musicians, artists, sportsmen, statesmen, or activists for civil rights or women's rights. Sometimes a person is interesting because their home has become a historic site and their life story is a reflection of the lifestyle of a bygone age. If you are going to focus part of your festival on one or more characters, you need to provide information about the person and their accomplishments or life story. Informational signage combined with enlarged photos and artifacts (i.e. a banjo played by Stringbean) or a historic site (the Stafford Mansion) can help your audience understand the character's significance. Living history characters or a play based on the life of the character can add to the audience's understanding and enjoyment. As always, demonstrations and hands-on activities are the best ways to build audience participation. Events: Events that have shaped your community's history reflect the history of the nation, and visa versa, so you can definitely show the tie-in to the "big picture" of history. But if you plan to include living history performances, re-enactments, or plays depicting events, the focus should be on your own community. If you want to do something about the Civil War, for example, and no battles were fought in your vicinity, you could show a soldier leaving home or returning, the trials and tribulation of families left behind. You should be able to locate letters and diaries of the period that will give you ideas.
It is also interesting to select an event that few people know about, such as the New Madrid Earthquake of 1810. Traveling through Time (time line approach): In this approach, you organize stations that represent different time periods in a sequential manner. Time periods, characters, and events can all be incorporated into this approach. The ultimate example of this approach is the Travel through Time in Johnson County festival, which takes place at a series of historic sites, with re-enactments, plays, period dances, and crafts at each site. |
