COLUMBUS, OH -- Malabar Farm State Park in Richland County will host its 26th Annual Ohio Heritage Days, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on September 28-29. The event is open to the public and free of charge.
As one of the state's largest outdoor craft and history festivals, Ohio Heritage Days features more than 70 craftspeople in period clothing, demonstrating the arts of spinning, weaving, woodworking, broom making, molasses boiling and more. Many of these items will be for sale.
This year's festival will again feature a Buckskinners and Civil War encampment, complete with blacksmithing, as well as musket and cannon demonstrations.
Members of the Central Ohio Draft Horse Association will be on hand with horse-drawn wagon rides, and will offer demonstrations of plowing, log skidding and load pulling.
Members of the Timber Framers Guild of North America and Friends of Ohio Barns will demonstrate post and beam repairs and be on hand to answer questions about barn preservation efforts at Malabar Farm. Local community non-profit organizations will sell baked goods and other food items at the event.
A barn dance is scheduled for 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. on September 28 in the main barn beside the Big House, with live music and square dances. The dance is sponsored by the Mohican Resort & Conference Center. Experienced square dancers and beginners are welcome. Malabar Inn Restaurant will be open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. on Saturday and from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Sunday. Call 419-938-5205 for reservations. Malabar Farm Market will be open noon to 6 p.m. on each day of the event. Fresh grown vegetables, flowers and herbs are available at the market. Call 419-938-5000 for information.
Malabar Farm State Park is the former home of Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist and noted conservationist Louis Bromfield. Bromfield created the farm in the 1940s as a demonstration in progressive conservation practices. His home was designated as an Ohio State Park in 1976. It is the only working farm in the state park system and is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
Malabar Farm is located 12 miles southeast of Mansfield, one mile west of Route 603 on Pleasant Valley Road. For more information about Ohio Heritage Days or other events at the park, call 419-892-2784 or visit the park's web page at www.malabarfarm.org .