Herb Harvest Fall Festival October 3 and 4, 2014

The 25th Annual Herb Harvest Fall Festival takes place Oct. 3 – 4 at the Ozark Folk Center State Park. This year’s focus is on the culinary herbs, fiber arts and medicinal remedies of the British Isles.

Justin M. Nolan, PhD, Associate Professor of the Anthropology Department at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, will be the keynote speaker on Friday, Oct. 3, with Field Notes of British, Irish and Scots-Irish Folk Uses of Medicinal Plants and Corresponding Ozark Traditions. Culinary herbalist Susan Belsinger will present The Pleasures of Irish Cookery: From “Tatties and Neeps” to Colcannon and Champ on Saturday.

Both days will be action-packed, with entertaining and educational demonstrations and living history presentations from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Presenters include: fiber artist Jeanette Larson; seamstress Marilyn Dowdy; Heritage Herb Garden herbalists Tina Marie Wilcox, Kathleen Connole and Annie Osborn; Phyllis Williams of the Herb Society of America-Ozark Unit; and poet, Rix White of Fayetteville, Arkansas. In addition to these demonstrations and presentations, ethnic noonday meals will also be served.

Registrants can save $10 by meeting the September 22 deadline. At-the-door registration will be permitted between 8 and 10 a.m. Oct. 3 and 4. Herb Harvest Fall Festival fees are as follows: one day admission, $60 before September 22 or $70 after September 22; Two day admission, $110.00 before September 22 or $120.00 after September 22.

The full schedule and registration may be found at www.ozarkfolkcenter.com on the herb events page or call 870-269-3851 for more information and to register.