Colonial Heritage Festival in Orem to show colonial life

OREM — One of many events that are part of America's Freedom Festival, the Colonial Heritage Festival will offer a unique attraction: a village created to look like a colonial settlement, complete with a schoolhouse, a church and a variety of other shops.

Set up as "the village at Aubin's Grove," this living museum will highlight the period of time from the first British colony in 1607 (Jamestown) to 1787, according to a news release. It will offer a unique hands-on experience, with a host of volunteers, exhibits and artifacts, including the aforementioned Colonial School House and Old South Church, where visitors can participate in a lesson or join the debate whether to throw tea into Boston Harbor.

The village will also have an apothecary shop, a blacksmith, a cooper, a gunsmith, a potter, candle dipping, a cobbler and more. The calligrapher's shop, Cup and Quill, will be giving out free bookmarks and Allen's Brick Oven Bakery will be selling slices of sourdough bread and applesauce cake. Volunteers portraying Benjamin Franklin, Patrick Henry and Gowan Pamphlet, among others, will make appearances. Near the haberdashery, men and boys may be drafted into the village militia on sight.

In addition to the festival activities during the day, there will be a special colonial observance July 2 at 7:30 p.m. in the Orem High auditorium with songs from the Orem Chorale, words from the Founding Fathers and guest speaker Joseph Bauman, credited with the world's greatest collection of daguerreotype images of Independence War veterans. Bauman is the author of "Don't Tread on Me," a photo history of the American Revolution.

All events associated with the Colonial Heritage Festival are free.

What: Colonial Heritage Festival

When: June 30, July 2-3 from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. and July 4, from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.

(Colonial Special Observance July 2 at 7:30 p.m. in the Orem High auditorium)

Where: SCERA Park, 675 S. State, Orem

Cost: Free

Email: jhenrie@desnews.com