Homestead National Historical Park announces annual winter festival dates

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – The Homestead National Historical Park has announced the dates for its annual Winter Festival of Prairie Cultures.

This holiday season, events will begin on Nov. 25 and run through Dec. 30.

Visitors will be able to see the winter traditions of those who lived on the Great Plains at the beginning of the homestead era.

The Homestead Act of 1862 served as an invitation for immigrants to seek free 160-acre homesteads in the United States and become citizens.  The act resulted in the arrival of a variety of cultures and traditions.

Each year, the winter festival remembers and celebrates the rich heritage of those who settled on the Great Plains.

The festival features decorated trees and tabletop displays featuring ornaments and handmade crafts that reflect the traditions of the Great Plains.

The following programs and activities will be presented at the education center:

Music from Around the World: David Marsh 

Sunday, Dec. 4, at 2 p.m.

Marsh will present music from around the world with over a dozen instruments.  This program will highlight the influence that immigrants from around the world have had on American culture.  Audiences will learn about the creativity that goes into the development of instruments and music styles.

Jr Ranger Activity: Ornament Making 

Saturday, Dec. 10, at 1:15 p.m.

Park volunteers and rangers will host a family-friendly ornament-making activity.  Participants will make weaved paper heart ornaments and gingerbread people, while learning the history of these crafts. 

Holiday Music: Cortland Opry House Dulcimer Players 

Saturday, Dec. 10, at 2 p.m.

The Cortland Opry House Dulcimer Players will play a variety of holiday songs on the dulcimer.  A dulcimer is a fretted string instrument of the zither family, typically with three or four strings, which are stretched over a body that has no neck. 

Songs and Dances of the Lakota: Jerome Kills Small

Sunday, Dec. 11, at 2 p.m.

Small will describe the history and origin of Native American songs and dances.  He is also a lecturer and storyteller who makes hand drums and powwow-size wood drums and is a singer of Lakota songs.

Nebraska’s Musical Smorgasbord: Chris Sayre 

Sunday, Dec. 18 

Sayre will share the songs and melodies that were brought to Nebraska by the various European ethnic groups who settled here in the 19th and early 20th centuries, including music originating from the British Isles, Czechoslovakia, Germany, Scandinavia and more.  He will use instruments including the button accordion, English concertina, fretted dulcimer, guitar, mandolin, musical saw and bowed zither. 

The park near Beatrice has free admission to all of its events.  

For information on language and disability accommodations, please contact accessibility coordinator Amber Kirkendall at 402-223-3514 or amber_kirkendall@nps.gov.