Ocali Country Days festival is back this weekend with new vendors and dugout canoe exhibit

For the first time in two years, the Ocali Country Days festival is back this weekend, featuring many new vendors and the new “Dugout Canoes: Paddling Through the Americas” exhibit.

Last year the festival that celebrates the pioneer spirit and folk life of old Florida was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year will mark the 27th festival in the 30 years since the Silver River Museum was established.

And for the first time, families can use credit or debit cards to pay admission right on their mobile phones.

New era: Silver River Museum reopening after seven-month hiatus

Weekend closure:Silver River Museum is closed because visitors won't wear masks

Music, comedy and more: Fun things to do this weekend in Ocala/Marion | Nov. 12-14

"So when we get the families that come up and they don't have cash on them, they can pay by credit card right on their phone," said Scott Mitchell, the museum's director. "In past years, we were only able to take cash."

The Ocali Country Days festival takes place on the second Saturday and Sunday of November each year. The event features "live music, food, vendors and 'old timey' craft demonstrations," the Silver River Museum website touts.

New vendors for the festival

In the past, visitors interacted with skilled crafters, such as blacksmiths and sugar cane syrup makers. Visitors could see spinning, weaving, quilting and more. Attendees could explore log cabins, visit arts booths, and see pioneer cattle and horses.

Mitchell said while he was saddened that many of the vendors from before the pandemic had scheduling conflicts, or stopped showing all together, he was pleased that a new group of vendors may help revitalize the festival.

"The new ones are promising," Mitchell noted. "We've got a broom maker. There is a guy that has a hand crank rope weaving machine. It twists the rope and all together into three- or four-ply rope."

There will also be a gunmaker who makes authentic flintlock muskets and rifles.

"So there's some interesting stuff that they've joined us to fill in those voids," he said, adding the admission cost is $8 per person, with free admission for children younger than 5. "We are excited that we are back."

The festival will be ongoing from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday. This year's promotion states that visitors can experience the "Florida of yesteryear with 'Living History' exhibits highlighting life during the 1800s.

"Tour pioneer cabins, visit with crafters demonstrating old time skills, watch sugar cane syrup being made, take a tram ride though the state park, tour the Silver River Museum and much more," this year's flier states.

The Silver River Museum is located within Silver Springs State Park. More details at www.SilverRiverMuseum.com for more information.

Canoe exhibit can finally shine

For the first time in a quarter century, the festival had to be canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Mitchell said the new “Dugout Canoes: Paddling Through the Americas” exhibit opened in February 2020, but closed soon after due to COVID-19.

Mitchell is ready to give the community a chance to see the newest exhibit, which includes a 500-year-old canoe found in North Florida, video kiosks, and much more. The exhibit is presented in English and Spanish.

During a drought nearly two decades ago, a Gainesville High School teacher and his students discovered the world’s largest cache of prehistoric vessels.

In all, 101 dugout canoes, ranging in age between 500 and 5,000 years, were found in the exposed muddy bottom of Newnans Lake.

Though the canoes were too fragile to excavate, archeologists were able to carefully photograph and study the crafts, which were between 15 and 31 feet long. The Florida Museum of Natural History at the University of Florida created the exhibit in 2010.

“The canoe exhibit explores Native American canoes from the Americas,” Mitchell said last year. “That includes North, Central and South America. There is a heavy focus on Florida because of the Newnans Lake site.”

Though there are some original canoes in the collection, the Florida Museum of Natural History constructed some replicas. The exhibit also features other ancient artifacts, video kiosks and interactive displays.

For five years, from 2013 to 2018, the canoe exhibit was leased to museums all across the eastern United States. The cost was $55,000 for three months.

Mitchell told the Marion County School Board in 2019 that rentals tapered off in 2018. Without room to store the exhibit, Florida Museum of Natural History officials contacted Mitchell, who once worked at the Gainesville museum.

The exhibit was stored in a climate-controlled warehouse in Ocala until a new wing was added to the Silver River Museum.

"We are pleased that the community will be able finally see the canoe exhibit during Ocali Country Days," Mitchell said.

Joe Callahan can be reached at (352) 875-1750 or at joe.callahan@starbanner.com. Follow him on Twitter at JoeOcalaNews.

This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Ocali Country Days returns with new vendors, canoe exhibit