The Mountain Life Festival at Oconaluftee

Join park staff and volunteers as they celebrate the fall harvest. The Mountain Farm Museum will be alive with history as demonstrators provide visitors with a glimpse into the past as they make soap, apple cider, sorghum molasses, hominy, music and more.

This year's Mountain Life Festival will be held on September 15th at the Mountain Farm Museum next to the Oconaluftee Visitor Center near Cherokee, NC from 10 am - 4 pm.

The centerpiece of the event is the sorghum syrup demonstration, which the national park has provided each fall for nearly 40 years. The syrup is made much the same way it was produced a hundred or more years ago using a horse-powered cane mill and wood-fired cooker. The syrup making demonstration is provided by students, staff, and volunteers from Swain County High School through a cooperative agreement with Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Great Smoky Mountains Association.

Tools, farm implements, and historic photographs from the national park's archives and artifact collection will also be on display.

The purpose of the Mountain Life Festival is to share with park visitors some of the traditional fall activities that were an important part of rural life in the southern mountains. The spirit of cooperation that existed among families and neighbors is reflected in this event.


Jeff
Hiking in the Smokies