FCMV

2025 Lantern Tours
2025-12-16 17:30 - 20:00 (America/New_York)
SOLD OUT!!!
Lantern Tours will happy rain or shine! Please come dressed for the weather.

Our ever-popular Lantern Tours are back!

For 2025, we do have a few changes due to our on-going construction, but the skits and holiday atmosphere will be just as enjoyable as ever! The tour will begin at our Visitor’s Center and will be a lantern-lit walking tour stopping at 17th century England, 18th century Ireland (both forge and farm), 18th century Germany, and end in our Lecture Hall for refreshments and our final sketch set in 1850s Virginia.

Please remember that this is an outdoor walking tour that will occur rain or shine, please plan to dress appropriately.

Tickets are on sale now. Get yours here: https://frontierculturemuseum.shop.koronaevent.com/en/offers/t568. Tours leave Visitor’s Center every half hour from 5:30-8:00 pm and last around an hour and a half.

17th century England
The future King Charles II and the Scottish army do not do well during the last of the English Civil Wars. This puts the Scottish government and King Charles on the run. We enter into the home of the Woodhouse family in Hartlebury, Worcestershire, on a Christmas many years later and learn how a moment of kindness helped a King.

18th century Irish Forge
Times are tough for an Irish blacksmith with many people, especially wayward apprentices, being drawn toward the New World and the chance to own land. What to do when an apprentice runs away?

18th century Irish Farm
A young man returns to the County Tyrone countryside of his childhood to find that many people he remembers have left for America or London. Disoriented, he encounters the home of some former acquaintances, a mother who thinks that he stole their pig and ran away, and her daughter, who remembers playing with him and having a crush on him.

18th century German Farm
It’s a bit of a chaotic Christmas season in a household packing to move to America. The young daughter, concerned about the things she’s heard about no Christmas in America, is cheered up by a classic children’s tale.

1850s Virginia
Balls were common entertainments in the mid-19th century at the holidays. Social gatherings like this were excellent ways for younger women, often working on their parents farms until marriage, to meet new people and show off their fashion sense. Of course, sibling tensions can rise at any time and when two young ladies get ready at the same time…not even the Christmas spirit can prevent it!

Cider Festival
2025-11-08 11:00 - 17:00
This November 8th, join the Frontier Culture Museum, Virginia Humanities, and the Virginia Cider Association for a one of a kind event in Staunton, Virginia. From 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM, explore how apples and cider helped shape the culture of the Valley of Virginia through historical interpretation and modern day cider tastings. The event will include living history demonstrations, author talks, live museum, and cider tasting.

Joining us for this event is celebrated cider historian Mark Turdo. For over twenty years Mark A. Turdo, historian and museum professional, has been researching and recreating historic alcoholic cider. He is especially interested in early American cider and cider culture, including who was making it, who was drinking it, and why it was more common than beer. In 2013 he began the Pommel Cyder blog (https://pommelcyder.wordpress.com) where he shares his adventures in cider research and his experiments in cidermaking.
We will also be joined by apple grower and basket maker Clyde Jenkins, and foodways historians Leni Sorensen & Elizabeth Beamon.
This event is a general admission event, with an additional option to add on a tasting ticket option, which includes five 4oz. pours from Virginia cideries. Purchase your tickets now at: https://frontierculturemuseum.shop.koronaevent.com/en/offers/t551.
There are a limited number of commemorative tasting glasses available for those who prepurchase tickets, the first 50 annual passholders to purchase tasting tickets that day will also receive a commemorative tasting glass. The remaining commemorative glasses will be given out first come, first serve to walk ups.
*If you are having difficulties purchasing your tickets, please call 540-332-7850 and one of our staff members can help!
Cideries
We are excited to welcome the following cideries for this year’s Cider Festival.

Ciders from Mars
Albemarle CiderWorks
Old Hill Cider
Daring Wine & Cider
Big Fish Cider Co.

Food Trucks
We are excited to be joined by three food trucks for this event! We will have Smokeshow BBQ, the American Corndog Company, and Blue Ridge Cider Donuts!

Book Sales
Stone Soup Books will be selling books from our authors from 11:00 AM – 5:00 PM at our 1850s Barn.

Please note golf carts will not be available for rent during this event. Shuttles will be running.

If you are an annual passholder, you can purchase a tasting ticket for $13 at the door. Presales at this price are not available for annual passholders via our website.
There will be no refunds granted for this event.

Schedule of Events
All Day Activities (11:00 AM – 5:00 PM):

Book sales with Stone Soup Books
Food trucks
Cider tastings
Living history demonstrations

11:30 AM – 12:00 PM

Presentation with apple grower Clyde Jenkins at 1850s

12:45 – 1:00 PM

Presentation of Folklife Apprenticeship Certificates in 1850s Barn

1:00 – 2:30 PM

Lau Project performance in 1850s Barn

1:30 – 2:00 PM

Presentation with apple grower Clyde Jenkins at 1850s

3:00 – 4:00 PM

In conversation with Diane Flynt, Gregory Hansard, and Allistair Reece

4:00 – 4:45 PM

Book signings with Diane Flynt, Gregory Hansard, and Allistair Reece

Homefront at War
2025-10-26 09:00 - 17:00, 2025-10-25 09:00 - 17:00
What happens to a farm when the men march off to war? Join us for Homefront at War on October 25th and 26th, 2025, to learn about the impact of the Revolutionary War on the civilian population.

International Archaeology Day
2025-10-18 09:00 - 17:00
Saturday, October 18th is International Archaeology Day, and the Frontier Culture Museum is offering archaeological activities all day!
But just what is archaeology and why are we talking about it at a living history museum? Archaeology is the study of patterns of material culture, the tangible things that people made and used. Things that are still around, just in the ground beneath us. Archaeology gives us a snapshot of the past. Objects enter the ground, a house decays leaving only the foundation. We only get to see the remnants, not the activity. History, on the other hand, is the study of human behavior in the past, based on the records people themselves have left behind. You can see where one might inform the other. Both involve asking questions, forming hypotheses and doing research.
We look at all of these clues, carefully piece the fragments of a moment in time together, and create a picture of what life was like, for example, on the frontier.
So, what does Archaeology Day at the Frontier Culture Museum mean? It means walking around our Old World loop, the farms from places people left behind to come to the New World, and learning about different types of artifacts, like metal and ceramics, and also a little bit about experimental archaeology. It also means heading over to the American section and being able to try your hand at excavation in our dig boxes and learning a bit about what happens after the artifacts are excavated. We hope to see you here at the museum, as we celebrate International Archaeology Day!

The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore
2025-09-28 14:00 - 15:30
Join the Frontier Culture Museum and Dr. Evan Friss on Sunday, September 28, 2025 at 2:00 PM for a lecture on his bestselling book, The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore.
How have bookstores shaped American life and culture? What makes the bookstore a unique institution? Why do we still need them? Join us for a talk and a discussion about the history (and future) of the American bookstore.
This lecture is free to attend and copies of the book will be for sale at the lecture!
About the Lecturer:
Evan Friss is a professor of history at James Madison University. His latest book, The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore, is a New York Times bestseller, one of Time magazine’s “100 Must-Read Books of 2024,” and the winner of the Goodreads Choice Award.

Fall Homeschool Days
2025-09-05 09:00 - 17:00, 2025-09-04 09:00 - 17:00, 2025-09-03 09:00 - 17:00
Come see all the activities we have planned for our Fall Homeschool Days! Homeschool days provide homeschoolers the chance to participate in the increased hands-on experience of a field trip. Try your hand at splitting a log to make fence rails or experience an early 19th century school lesson! Pre-registration is highly recommended, but tickets may also be purchased at the Visitor’s Center on the day of the event.
Tickets are on sale now! Get yours here.

Trades Day
2025-08-23 09:00 - 17:00
Have you ever spent an entire afternoon with our blacksmith or tinsmith as they make objects for use on our historic sites? Have you ever wondered how buckets and barrels are made? Come visit our first Trades Day! With many historic tradesmen and craftsmen demonstrating a range of trades carefully preserved and passed on, you’re sure to find something interesting. You might even find something to take home!

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Come and see all our fantastic demonstrators and vendors!
Dod amphitheater

SVCWEDancers

Germany

Austin Englund – Joinery
Preston Gibson – Blacksmithing

1760s

Paul and Elissa Parrish – Surveying and weaving
Stave Frysinger – Revolutionary War Surgeon
Colonial Long Rifles

1820s

Laurin Hanger – Soap
Marshall Scheetz – Cooperage
Carter Hundley – Blacksmithing
Wendy Davis – Basket making

1850s

Angel McCreery – Lace making/Hair Jewelry
Denis Clem – Blacksmithing

Extracurricular Nights: An Evening With Crockett's Battalion
2025-08-15 17:30 - 19:00, 2025-08-01 17:30 - 19:00
Join our semiquincentennial celebrations this summer! We have special after-hours programming for the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution. Test yourself- would you have been a patriot or a loyalist? Join in the defense of Virginia and enlist in Lt. Colonel Joseph Crockett’s Western Battalion. Sign the roll, draw your pay, and learn how these men fought to defend the Shenandoah Valley. Experience the American Revolution on the frontier and how Virginia’s unique frontier culture helped win American independence.
This event will take place on July 18, August 1, and August 15, 2025, from 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM. Admission for this event is $5 for children (6-17) and $7 for adults (18+), children 5 and under are free! This event is also included in our Annual Pass.
Tickets are available here.

Commonwealth Day of Play
2025-08-09 09:00 - 17:00
The Frontier Culture Museum is participating in the Commonwealth’s Day of Play!
As part of the Reclaiming Childhood Initiative, the Governor’s Office is hosting the inaugural Commonwealth Day of Play to raise awareness and inspire collective action about the importance of play, social connection, physical activity, and community in children’s lives.
On Saturday, August 9th, the Frontier Culture Museum will be offering free children’s admission into the museum! Come and experience history coming to life and play games from the past!

Extracurricular Nights: An Evening With Crockett's Battalion
2025-07-18 17:30 - 19:00
Out of abundance of caution, we have made the difficult decision to cancel tonight’s event due to the weather forecast. We hope you will join us for the next Extracurricular Night on August 1, 2025.
Any tickets purchased for this event will transfer to the August 1st or 15th dates. If you are unable to attend those, please contact the Visitor Center at 540-332-7850.

Join our semiquincentennial celebrations this summer! We have special after-hours programming for the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution. Test yourself- would you have been a patriot or a loyalist? Join in the defense of Virginia and enlist in Lt. Colonel Joseph Crockett’s Western Battalion. Sign the roll, draw your pay, and learn how these men fought to defend the Shenandoah Valley. Experience the American Revolution on the frontier and how Virginia’s unique frontier culture helped win American independence.
This event will take place on July 18, August 1, and August 15, 2025, from 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM. Admission for this event is $5 for children (6-17) and $7 for adults (18+), children 5 and under are free! This event is also included in our Annual Pass.
Tickets are available here.

Independence Day Celebration
2025-07-05 09:00 - 17:00
*July, 5, 2025*
In 1809, the Staunton Eagle recorded Independence Day as “ About 50 gentlemen and a number of ladies…partook of a plain Barbecue, where none but Domestic productions were eaten…In short, the whole afternoon was spend with a good humor, harmony, and joy, which the fourth of July ought always to inspire into the bosoms of Americans.”
Let the Frontier Culture Museum provide you and your family with an opportunity to find good humor and joy with our pay-what-you-will Independence Day celebration! Starting at 9 am and lasting all day, we’ll have apple pie making, games of all kinds, an audience participation required 19th century Civics Bee, and of course, a reading of the Declaration of Independence!
Join the Frontier Culture Museum this July 5 from 9:00 AM – 5:00 PM to celebrate American Independence and learn how people celebrated Independence Day throughout history!
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How well do you remember your civics classes in school? Come test your knowledge in our 19th century Civics Bee in our 1840 schoolhouse! Audience participation is required in this reconstruction of a historical civics lesson. 11:30, 1:30, 2:30, 3:30
Did you know that the Declaration of Independence was not the first document expressing discontent with English rulers to be written by Virginians? Nathaniel Bacon wrote the Declaration of the People of Virginia on July 30, 1676 expressing discontent with Royal Governor William Berkeley, sparking Bacon’s Rebellion. Come here the Declaration of the People read on our English farm at 11 and 3.

Flag Day
2025-06-14 09:00 - 17:00
Join the Frontier Culture Museum on Saturday, June 14, 2025, for our annual Flag Day event! Stop by the tailors shop at our German farm as our staff race against the clock to create a flag in a day. This year we will be recreating the Culpeper Minute Man flag.
Militia units in the Shenandoah Valley formed individually and headed north to the New England area before, with, and after the B-Line March occurring in July. In preparation for the treck north, to becoming Americans, Flags like the Culpeper flag would be made for regiments to take with them, ultimately distinguishing them from the rest of the army by doing so. Join us this flag day to learn more about this flag, and many others like it!

Memorial Day Weekend
2025-05-26 09:00 - 17:00, 2025-05-25 09:00 - 17:00, 2025-05-24 09:00 - 17:00
Saturday, May 24 and Sunday, May 25
While the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution has already begun across the former colonies, this Memorial Day, we’re hosting guest reenactors to showcase other periods of history that helped shape American history. We will be joined by the Hog Island Garrison recreating a 17th century militia muster and the civilian response, Crockett’s Western Battalion during the American Revolution, and the Civil War Impressions reenactor group showcasing a period hospital.

Monday, May 26
Join the Frontier Culture Museum this Memorial Day, in commemorating the bravery of the many American patriots who made the ultimate sacrifice for our liberty. Sign up for a tussie-mussie making workshop, a 19th century memorial flower posey with different plants providing specific meaning. This workshop is $15 and you can sign up here!
This event is a general admission event and is included in the annual pass.*

*Workshop is excluded from annual pass.

May Day
2025-05-03 09:00 - 17:00
May Day has marked the return of spring for people around the world for millennia. Traditional celebrations included decorating people and structures with wildflower garlands, feasting on newly growing greens and, of course, Maypole dances. Maypole dances have had many iterations throughout history. The earliest May poles were simple poles dressed in greenery and flowers, with no ribbons. The dancers wound in and out in complex patterns that evolved much later into the iconic ribbon dances that are still performed today. Weather permitting, come learn a ribbon dance at our May Day festivities on the English Farm Saturday, May 3rd, at 1 PM and 3 PM!
This is a general admission event and is included in the Annual Pass.

Easter Weekend
2025-04-20 09:00 - 17:00, 2025-04-19 09:00 - 17:00
Easter traditions have a long history. Serving ham, cheese, and bread, along with special sweets to end Lent began around the 12th century. The first decorated Easter eggs date to the 13th century. Come join us as our costumed interpreters demonstrate historic Easter activities all weekend long, including naturally dyed eggs, making hot cross buns, playing games, and more!
This event is general admission and included in the Annual Pass!

Revolutionary Virginia
2025-04-17 13:00 - 20:00, 2025-04-16 13:00 - 20:00, 2025-04-15 13:00 - 20:00
Join us for this special extended hours event at the Frontier Culture Museum! On April 15-17th 2025, we are excited to host the Virginia American Revolution 250th Mobile Museum! This free interactive experience allows the visitor to engage with Virginia’s rich Revolutionary history. The Mobile Museum will be open from 1-7 pm.
After visiting the Mobile Museum, receive a coupon for a special $3 entrance to the Frontier Culture Museum to use that day. Our special Revolution on the Frontier program will run from 1-8 pm on the Eastern Woodlands Indian and 1760s Settlement sites. Immerse yourself in Crockett’s Western Battalion, a state regimental force tasked with maintaining the western front of the Revolution. Learn about Native allies and how the Revolution affected Indigenous neighbors.

Fiber Festival
2025-04-05 09:00 - 17:00
*Golf carts will not be rented on April 5, 2025*

Join the Frontier Culture Museum for the 3rd annual Fiber Festival. This festival highlights the historical importance of natural fibers such as wool, flax, cotton, and hemp, and the ways in which they were processed and used by people in the past. Visitors are invited to engage with our historical interpreters as they demonstrate traditional activities related to fiber production such as sheep shearing, spinning, wool washing, dyeing, and more.
This event is a pay what you will donation day!

Workshop
Join the museum at 10 AM (SOLD OUT), 1 PM (SOLD OUT), or 3 PM for an Introduction to Portuguese Knitting Workshop! Each session is an hour and half long and is $15. This workshop will introduce knitters of all levels to an ergonomic style of knitting that lessens small movements of the wrists and simplifies basic stitch styles (such as ribbing) by only working with the yarn in front. This style is goodfor knitting while walking or standing, knitting in the round, garter stitch, ribbing, and long, sometimes monotonous stretches of stockinette. If using multiple knitting pins, it prevents color work from becoming tangled or lacking tension. This is an especially quick style. While it helps with those who have issues with wrist and finger joints, it involves heavy thumb movement and would not be suited to knitters with arthritis in their thumbs.
Participants must bring their own needles and yarn, but it can be any size or style. It must be something the participants are alright with holding around their neck. Participants must know how to cast on and how to perform a knit and purl stitch. Knowing how to “read” your knitting is also helpful.
Register now!

Timed Activities
10AM: 1st sheep dog demonstration (in field behind 1820s)
11AM: Sheep shearing demonstration (in front of 1850s barn)
12PM: Heritage Breed Sheep Presentation (in 1850s barn)
1PM: 2nd sheep dog demonstration (in field behind 1820s)
2PM: Sheep shearing demonstration (in front of 1820s barn)
3PM: 3rd sheep dog demonstration (in field behind 1820s)

Vendors
The current vendors for this event include:
Original Fiber
One of A Kind
Virginia Quilt Museum
The Fuzzy Ear
Simple Hill Farm
Misty Mountain Farm
Aleta Spring Farm & Fiber
Real Keen Leashes
Fog & Honey Artisan Boutique
Farm Experiences
Which Way Crafts
Kathie’s Cinches & More
Zombot Creations
Longshot Fibers
Broken Arrow Creations
Semper Fi Farm

Spring Homeschool Days
2025-03-28 09:00 - 17:00, 2025-03-27 09:00 - 17:00, 2025-03-26 09:00 - 17:00
Come see all the activities we have planned for our Spring Homeschool Days! Homeschool days provide homeschoolers the chance to participate in the increased hands-on experience of a field trip. Try your hand at splitting a log to make fence rails or experience an early 19th century school lesson!
Golf carts will not be available for rent on Spring Homeschool days.
Pre-registration is highly recommended for this event!
Purchase Now

Toddler Time
2025-03-15 10:00 - 12:00
Join the Frontier Culture Museum this January, February, and March for Toddler Time! Each Toddler Time will include a story, a hands-on historical activity, and a craft to keep.   Adults are $5, and children are $3. We ask that no more than two adults per child allow the maximum number of children to participate. All Toddler Times are included in the annual pass! If you have difficulties booking your Toddler Time through your Annual Pass, please call the Visitor Center at 540-332-7850 or email us at visitor.center@fcmv.virginia.gov.
Tickets for each of the Toddler Times can be purchased here.
Please note that each Toddler Time session requires a separate booking. If you wish to reserve your spot for multiple dates, you must complete multiple bookings.
If you are an Annual Pass Holder, please contact us at visitor.center@fcmv.virginia.gov, or give us a call at 540-332-7850 to reserve your spot.

February 8th, 2025 (SOLD OUT)
Toys and Games: Our third Toddler Time will be focused on historical toys and games. Children will be able to try out things that historical people enjoyed from long ago. We’ll play games and even have a chance to make your historical toy!

February 22nd, 2025 (SOLD OUT)
Chores: Our fourth Toddler Time will be focused on historical chores. Children will have an opportunity to experience daily life as a child in the past, including chores! Participants will have the chance to try out some tasks children would be expected to help with, such as fetching water.

March 1st, 2025 (SOLD OUT)
Gardening: Our fifth Toddler Time will be focused on historical gardening. Children will learn about different plants and their uses and even plant their own to take home to watch and grow. *Weather permitting, participants can explore the museum’s gardens.

March 15th, 2025 (SOLD OUT)
Animals: Our final Toddler Time will be focused on the animals of the Frontier Culture Museum! Your child will have the opportunity to meet some of the critters who make their home at the FCM and make a craft in honor of their favorite new friend.

You can purchase your tickets to any of the Toddler Times here.
