Historic Demonstrations at the Mountain Life Festival in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. Image courtesy of GSMNP.

Great Smoky Mountains National Park will host the annual Mountain Life Festival at the Mountain Farm Museum Saturday, September 19, from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. All activities are free and everyone is invited. The festival preserves the legacy of Appalachian folkways and is a tribute to the many families who lived on lands that would later become the national park.

In the early days, mountain families worked together to make sure they had what they needed to survive. That same spirit of cooperation is exhibited in the festival events. Demonstrations will include hearth cooking, apple butter making, blacksmithing, lye soap making, food preservation, and chair bottoming. Artifacts and historic photographs from the park's collection will be on display. The festival will also coincide with music jam sessions held on the porch of the Oconaluftee Visitor Center from 1:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. every first and third Saturday of the month.

The highlight of the event is the sorghum syrup demonstration, which the national park has provided each fall for over 30 years. The syrup is made much the same way it was produced a hundred or more years ago, using a horse or mule-powered cane mill and a wood-fired cooker. The syrup making demonstration is provided by students, staff, and volunteers from Swain County High School Future Farmers of America through a cooperative agreement with Great Smoky Mountains National Park and the Great Smoky Mountains Association (GSMA).

As a special addition this year, GSMA will launch the new Mountain Farm Museum audio tour handset available for free to visitors and members. GSMA will distribute the limited supply of audio tour devices on a first-come first-served basis.

The Mountain Farm Museum is located adjacent to the Oconaluftee Visitor Center on Newfound Gap Road in Great Smoky Mountains National Park, two miles north of Cherokee, North Carolina.