Campbell County gears up for heritage festival

What do sheep herding, tobacco tying and apple cider making have in common?

They are all skills that will be on display at Campbell County’s heritage festival on August 15.

The festival, which will be at Community Park in Naruna, will feature folk artists, crafters and other historical artisans, along with numerous other activities and displays.

If you go

• When: The Campbell County Heritage Festival will be Saturday, August 15 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Where: It will be held at Community Park, next to William Campbell High School in Naruna. Admission is free to the public. Among the activities are: basket-weaving demonstrations, pottery demonstrations, pony rides, children’s activities, alpacas, and fiber spinning demonstrations and live music throughout the day.
• Cost: A concert featuring The Dazzlers will be held at 7 p.m. Tickets for the concert are $8 for adults and $5 for children. Proceeds from the concert will go toward the Community Park Amphitheater.
• For more information: call the Campbell County Recreation Department at (434) 332-9570.

Campbell County used to hold a farm festival and small fair, but interest began to fizzle out and in 2002, the plug was pulled, said Sherry Harding, Campbell County Recreation Department co-chair. Recently, there was more citizen interest in having a large county festival and the idea to hold an event celebrating the county’s heritage was hatched.

“It gives folks an opportunity, who have these really unique skills that represent our history, a chance to share them with the public, with kids, and kind of passes along these old-fashioned skills that a lot of people have forgotten about,” Harding said. “We think there’s a resurgence of getting back to our roots.”

The Heritage Festival is free to the public. However, the concert at 7 p.m. featuring The Dazzlers requires tickets, which cost $8 for adults and $5 for children, Harding said.

A number of the crafters and vendors are from Campbell County, with the rest from the Central Virginia region, Harding said. In addition to folk art and other crafts, there will be demonstrations of traditional farm techniques, such as making cornhusk dolls and tying tobacco.

“People have been very receptive (to the idea),” Harding said. “We’ve been getting a lot of calls inquiring about what we’re going to have.”

For Brookneal district supervisor J.D. Puckett, the event is a family affair. Puckett and his wife, Nona, will demonstrate how to make two different types of cornhusk dolls, while their son-in-law and grandson will demonstrate how to make apple butter and apple cider.

During the past year, the Pucketts have learned how to make two different types of cornhusk dolls. He makes them using a Native American technique, Puckett said. “My wife makes an early-American colonial cornhusk doll. Hers is a little more fancy, it’s a little larger than mine and I really couldn’t tell you how she makes it.”

Puckett and the Community Park committee were very involved with planning. Money raised from a special evening concert will go toward a planned amphitheater at the park, Puckett said. His interest in history and local heritage was a big help, Puckett said.

“It’s just fascinating to me to watch people quilting to making apple butter or doing those kinds of things how they did it years ago.”