Historic Folklife Festival

The annual Autumn Historic Folklife Festival celebrates a particular time and place, that is Hannibal, Missouri during Mark Twain's lifetime. This year's official Tom Sawyer and Becky Thatcher (right) played hosts all weekend.

Blacksmiths, weavers, printers, woodworkers, quilters, musicians and artists demonstrated their traditional skills in booths that lined the historic downtown streets for many blocks. Modern arts and crafts, food, and furnishings were also for sale. We purchased Christmas gifts for family, and fancy yarn that I offered to turn into a winter scarf for Scott.

It's a big, well-organized event. All the locals seemed to be either working a booth to raise money for their organizations, selling products from their businesses, or shopping along with the tourists.

Besides shopping and snacking at the festival, we took a one-hour tour aboard the Mark Twain riverboat. We also enjoyed the "Mark Twain Himself" show in the Planter's Barn Theatre. It was an entertaining and fitting end for the day.