General Sam Houston Folk Festival Gets Highland Flavor
 This
year's General Sam Houston Folk Festival will offer its usual
attractions and more, a growing list of accomplished entertainers
and the flavor of the Scottish Highlands, all in honor of
that old Texan of Scottish descent, Sam Houston.
The folk festival will be open Friday April 22 and Saturday
April 23 from 9 a.m. until 6 p.m., and on Sunday, April 24
from noon until 5 p.m. The history department's 11th Texas
Cavalry Reenactment Group will perform on Friday for an estimated
4,000 area 4th graders and all day Saturday.
In its 18th year, the event is held on the Sam Houston Memorial
Museum grounds at Sam Houston State University, where guests
will experience the unique opportunity to step back in time
to the 1800’s and celebrate the life and times of General
Sam Houston.
Among the historic treasures to discover from Sam Houston’s
past are a variety of folk life activities, including dancers
and demonstrations, Living History Theatre performances, cultural
displays, live music, guitar workshops, story tellers, and
costumed historical characters.
The folk festival will also feature museum tours, children’s
activities, arts and crafts, and ethnic foods.
 Festival
food favorites include root beer, funnel cakes, fresh lemonade,
kettle korn, turkey legs, roasted corn, fried pork skins and
a lot more.
Live entertainment will charm the folk festival crowds with
performances by Brennen Leigh, Back at the Ranch with Clover
& Rachel Carroll, The Gillette Brothers, Bluegrass Solution,
Mixed Review, No Foolin’, the Quebe Sisters, Grady Lee
and many more.
Highlighting the festival will be a special "Chautauqua"
appearance by Senator Sam Houston himself on Saturday. Sam
will be portrayed by Felix Almaraz, a professor of history
at the University of Texas-San Antonio. His appearance at
the Festival is supported by a grant from the Texas Council
for the Humanities.
General Houston will speak from the front porch of his Woodland
Home and address the pressing issues of his day, such as the
Annexation of Texas, the War between the U.S. and Mexico,
the Compromise of 1850, and the dangers of Secession and Civil
War.
 In
keeping with folk life celebration, this year's folk festival
will feature re-enactments and entertainment by the Scottish
Highland Games, with Scottish Mayhem, Sia LaBelle Beaton,
Hugh Morrison, Carl Peterson, Cor Gaellge Texais, Piper Vernon
Love and the 1745 Highlanders just to name a few.
The Scottish Clans of Texas Society will have an information
center located in front of the Sam Houston Home porch and
more than 11 clans with Clan Donald Society of Texas and Clan
Donald USA will be on hand for the three day event.
The history department's 11th Texas Cavalry Reenactment Group
is directed by Susannah U. Bruce, assistant professor of history.
Their demonstrations will include drills and formation at
the individual and group level, and a battle enactment at
2 p.m. both days.
The 11th Texas Cavalry will also have "stations"
in their camp where visitors can learn about Civil War rifles,
artillery, horses, equipment and camp life. For more on the
group, see their folk festival Web
site.
All folk festival will be held on the grounds of the 15-acre
Sam Houston Memorial Museum Complex at 19th Street and Sam
Houston Ave., across from Sam Houston State University.
Admission is $7 for adults and $3 for children. Children under
five are free. Group rates are $3 per person with a minimum
of 15 people.
Free parking is available at 20th Street and Sam Houston Avenue.
For more information, visit the Sam
Houston Memorial Museum and General
Sam Houston Folk Festival Web sites.
- END -
SHSU Media Contact: Frank
Krystyniak
April 19, 2005
Please send comments, corrections, news tips to Today@Sam.edu
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