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History of the Festival
The Lawrence
County History Festival first came into being in 2002 during the time of the Mum's the Word Festival held annually
on the square in Bedford, Indiana. We, the founders, had hoped to help raise funds for the Lawrence County Historic
Museum to begin their remodeling project of their new building. Also we had wanted to help build up the
Mum's the Word Festival that had begun to decline in attendance. So with about 17 re-enactors involved and no funding
from community organizations at all, the History Festival achieved both goals that first year.
The event was so successful that we did it again the
next year. However, the city square of Bedford was not really the ideal setting for a historical re-enactment, so it
was decided to move out to Murray Park, where we could have more room to have actual battles and camps set up. However,
the event was still taking place in August.
In the second year, the Lawrence County Historical
and Genealogical Society and Museum officially became involved with the History Festival. The Boy Scouts also became
involved for the first time that year, and the number of living historians grew from 17 to 50 participants that year.
The History Festival at this time was still a
one day event and remained in August for another year. However, it became unbearably obvious that when doing an event
in August, you must deal with the heat and humidity that comes with that month. So it was decided to move the event
from August and put it on the third weekend in April, where it has remained ever since.
As we quickly discovered, when the event was
moved from August to April, a greater number of re-enactors were able to attend and participate in the History
Festival. With so few events at that time of the year, our participants grew to about 90 living historians, and we decided
to make it a two day event to offer more activities and shows.
In 2006, we extended the History Festival to a three
day event with the addition of the "School Day Program." This program allows school students to come out on Friday and have a chance to meet us and see what we do. The kids
have a lot of fun participating in the hands-on activities we offer for them, and many of them discover something that they
never knew about before. This is a day for history to "come alive" for the kids that take part in this fun,
but educational, day.
In 2009, we once again expanded our festival
into cyberspace with the creation of our website. This has allowed re-enactors, vendors and visitors alike to be able
to get a copy of our itinerary, download registration forms and obtain other needed information. This expansion has
even aided people in the community to find other events nearby that they might visit and enjoy.
In 2010, we decided to have the first
Lawrence County History Fest/Powwow. The Indiana Indian Movement and local Native American groups organized the powwow
event, which brought out a lot of people interested in Indian culture. This, combined with the History Fest, helped
our participant/re-enactor numbers to rise to more than 200 people. The Powwow gave an opportunity for
spectators to join in with the dancers and learn something about Indian culture and customs. Also, Native jewelry and
other items were offered for sale by vendors. This was in addition to the History Fest activities. As far as we
know, this was the first such joint venture, combining a history festival with a powwow.
For 2011, we will continue with this combined event -- the Lawrence
County History Festival/Powwow. The event has grown so much that we need more space to accommodate spectators, vendors, reenactors,
powwow participants and others, that we have moved the event to the grounds of Bedford North Lawrence High School. This location
will allow for future growth, and also gives us a great field for Civil War battles and WWII battles. We have more room for
vendors and sutlers as well. The organizers of the Powwow work with students of Bedford North Lawrence High School after school
throughout the school year to work on activities related to Indian culture. This location also gives students of the North
Lawrence Career Center (located adjacent to the festival grounds) an opportunity to participate in preparing for the festival
and volunteering on the weekend of the festival.
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