Reenactors, craftspeople and parades add a diverse appeal to Fort Ligonier Days

The 18th and 21st centuries intersect in Ligonier this weekend as the city hosts the annual Fort Ligonier Days.

The festival's historical appeal includes reenactments depicting French and Native American combatants as well as one of the country's founding fathers – no, not George Washington.

Live entertainment, a parade and vendors offering crafts, food and beverages for adults are other attractions spread across the three days of the event.

The reconstructed Fort Ligonier and its museum at Routes 30 and 711 were founded as a British outpost in 1758, giving the town its name and later inspiring the fall celebration.

“The real reason it's held on the second full weekend in October is to commemorate the attack on Fort Ligonier by French forces,” said Julie Donovan, director of marketing and public relations at the fort. “The British successfully defended the fort.”

Entry to the fortress is included and commemorates the crucial engagement of October 12, 1758. Living history participants wearing period uniforms and equipment will conduct artillery and historical demonstrations. The programs take place on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. and on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.

“We will have about 150 reenactors stationed throughout the fort,” Donovan said.

The fortress and museum will be open for tours from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. during and after the festival, which begins Friday. This Saturday and Sunday admission is free for children up to 17 years old.

Big parade

Saturday's big parade along Main Street begins at 11 a.m. and will feature about 20 marching bands – including units from Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Franklin Regional High School, as well as the Pittsburgh Steeline drumline and bagpipers with the Pittsburgh Firefighters Memorial Band.

“That’s about 1,200 people,” Tom Stablein, parade chairman and festival co-chair, said of the combined units. “It will be a very nice parade, about an hour and a half long.”

A returning favorite will be the six-horse team and wagon from Spring Mount Percherons of Huntingdon County.

“They look absolutely beautiful on the road,” Stablein said of the black draft horses.

New to the event is Philadelphia-based Ben Franklin interpreter Bill Ochester. After the parade, he will be there to welcome visitors to the fortress.

Ochester, a Revolutionary War reenactor who has served as a historical tour guide, said it was a pleasure to step into the role of Franklin for patriotic events and educational programs.

“He was a phenomenal American,” Ochester said, noting Franklin’s many accomplishments as a politician, diplomat, scientist and inventor before his death in 1790.

Now in his 70s, Ochester said: “Franklin lived to be 84 years old. I hope I stay healthy enough to continue portraying him until then. I look a bit like the old man when I let my hair down.”

If you meet him up close, you'll notice that Ochester is wearing glasses with round lenses, not the octagonal lenses that are sometimes mistakenly depicted sitting on Franklin's nose.

“The glasses I wear were made in London in the 1750s,” Ochester said. “I am very proud of her. I’m really interested in authenticity.”

The festival begins at 9 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 10 a.m. on Sundays and features food, wine and spirits, as well as numerous vendors selling crafts in a variety of styles from colonial to contemporary. Street sales by local vendors begin at 10 a.m. every day.

A series of musical performances begins at 10 a.m. Friday and Sunday and 9 a.m. Saturday at the Mack Darr Stage on West Main Street. Music begins at 1:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 10:30 a.m. on Sundays at the bandstand in central Diamond Park in Ligonier.

New food court

Vendors are gathered at several properties downtown — including a new food court in front of the Ligonier Valley School District administrative offices on West Main that complements the food vendors on the Diamond.

For the second year, Fort Ligonier's front lawn will feature a Sutlers Row of artisans offering traditional wares and demonstrating their skills. There is no entry fee to visit the stalls of a woodworker, a tinsmith, a potter, a weaver and a baker who serves hot bread from a beehive-like clay oven.

In the fort's early days, Donovan said, “These were the goods and personal items that the soldiers traveled with.”

Visit fortligonierdays.com for festival schedules, maps and information about parking and a 5K run on Sunday at 8:30 a.m.