In light of Governor Roy Cooper’s state of emergency declaration and guidance regarding canceling or postponing large gatherings in an effort to limit the spread of COVID-19, Mountain Gateway Museum’s 2020 Pioneer Day festival has been canceled.
Festival organizers had hoped to reschedule the event, usually held in late April, for July 4, but rescheduling has become impracticable.
Begun in 1984 to celebrate and help preserve the history, heritage and traditional lifestyle of people in western North Carolina’s mountains, Pioneer Day generally features Southern Appalachian crafts, live bands, food trucks, vintage farm tools and equipment, Civil War re-enactors, special exhibits, authors, animals, children’s games and much more.
Organizers plan to resume Pioneer Day in 2021 at its traditional time, the last Saturday in April, on the museum’s grounds at 24 Water Street in Old Fort.
Meanwhile, craft and food vendors who paid for booth spaces at the 2020 festival will be reimbursed. If you are a vendor and haven’t received payment or been contacted by Monday, June 15, please call 828-668-9259 or e-mail RoAnn Bishop at roann.bishop@ncdcr.gov.
In accordance with Governor Roy Cooper’s Safer at Home executive order and efforts to help limit the spread of COVID-19, Mountain Gateway Museum currently is closed to the public.
Please visit the museum’s website at www.mgmnc.org and check out its social media pages on Facebook (Mountain Gateway Museum) and Instagram (mtngateway) to see virtual activities and information the museum has to offer.
About the Mountain Gateway Museum & Heritage Center
Mountain Gateway Museum & Heritage Center (MGM) is a regional branch of the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh and is the westernmost facility in the NC Department of Natural and Cultural Resources’ Division of State History Museums.