The annual Music & Molasses Arts & Crafts Festival on Oct. 17 and 18 at Ellington Agricultural Center in Nashville will feature an array of events for the entire family.
““For our 23rd annual festival, we again celebrate the best of a true country fair experience in the heart of Nashville,” festival chairwoman Jennifer Watson said. “Traditional craft demonstrations, exhibits, farm animals, music from and for all ages, great fare and finds all await festival visitors this weekend.”
Adults and children are invited to see and touch farm animals and witness a working sorghum mill, grist mill and blacksmith’s forge. Learn about weaving, gardening, woodcarving, spinning and quilting. Sample sorghum molasses and apple butter made on site and pick up an assortment of soaps, yarn, jams and jellies and fresh produce. Children can ride a pony and be a farmer for a day.
For the first time ever, kids are invited to compete in a baking contest. Six cookies featuring molasses or sorghum can be entered for judging on Saturday, Oct. 17. For more details, entry ballot and full set of rules, email the Tennessee Agricultural Museum at tennessee.agricultural.museum@tn.gov.
This year will feature a special encore visit of “Painted Wings & Delicate Things,” a truly unique, rare Lepidoptera collection of more than10,000 butterflies and moths. The combined collection spans 120 cases and the oldest specimen dates to 1893.
For the second year, festival patrons can tour portions of Brentwood Hall, the former home of Rogers and Margaret Caldwell. The house was built in 1927 and fashioned after Andrew Jackson’s Hermitage. Known today as Ellington Agricultural Center, the estate is home to the Tennessee Department of Agriculture and other agencies.
The festival also offers visitors the chance to see the Tennessee Agricultural Museum, which features thousands of artifacts related to the rural history of Tennessee. “Equally important about this great festival experience is the support it yields to the education programs of the Museum,” Ms. Watson added.
Hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday. Admission is $6. Children 4 and under are free, parking is free and kids’ activities in the paddock area and pony rides are also free.
Ellington Agricultural Center is 10 miles south of downtown Nashville, accessible from Franklin Pike or Edmondson Pike. For more information call the Tennessee Agricultural Museum at 615-837-5197 or visit www.tnagmuseum.org.