Jour de Fete

[segsarge]

The annual Jour de Fete is happening at St Genevieve This weekend Aug 10th and 11th. It's one big street party for the whole family. There are tours of the old homes and businesses with people dressed in period costume. The town is 275 years old, so lots of history.
Plenty of food and craft vendors and games for the children. I plan to be there Saturday.

[krank]

Sounds like my kind of deal. Too bad it is so far away for me.

[segsarge]

Got back from St Gen a couple of hours ago. Man, am I worn out! I normally don't like crowded events, but everyone was friendly and helpful.Lots of young families with babies and (well mannered) children. Lots of older folks (like me!) too. Weather was great. There are two different beer gardens and business was brisk. Too many vendor booths to count. A local blacksmith was demonstrating his trade and selling his wares. The local French military re-enactors were there marching through the streets. The German (in costume) band rode on a wagon through town playing away.
Tomorrow there will be church services for anyone who wants to go,then back to the fest. More crafts and goods from local sources than cheap imported stuff than other events I've been to.
My son and I had a great time and if you can make it I recommend going. I HIGHLY recommend going to the food vendor down under the railroad trestle. They have the biggest corndogs I've EVER seen. Took me a while to finish one.

[krank]

Glad to hear that such events still go on. Years ago, I participated in some.
There used to be a big one at Daniel Boones house in LeFemme and the woke government put a stop to it due to the fact they had guns.
Covid and liability insurance has cancelled a lot of them.
They have events back in PA and NY where everyone is 1700 period dress and they are serious about being authentic.
Biggest one is Green River in Wyoming. Mountain Man rendezvous.
All we have here anymore is the Civil War thing in Harrisonville but they have toned that down too.
I know a couple of people that follow these enactments and they are vendors.It used to be lucrative but now its kind of a break even deal with the economy.

[segsarge]

The thing about this event was that (1) there were no sloppy drunks or people looking to cause problems. It was a family type fest with people just having fun, no drama or confrontations. (2) Lots of history about the town of St Gen and the impact it had on the fur trade of early America. Quite a few of the local shops and houses are still as they were in the late 1700"s and early 1800's. It's really living history.
If someone was looking for a fun interesting weekend this would be it.

[krank]

I googled it. Lots of things going on and the soldiers and militia all looked period correct.