LANESVILLE, Ind. — Calling itself Indiana’s largest small-town three-day festival, Lanesville Heritage Weekend is just around the corner, Sept. 7-10.

 

Kicking off at 6 p.m. that Thursday, the festival increases the size of the community from about 600 people to thousands who visit from all over the world. “We’ve had people visit from a number of foreign countries,” said Festival Committee Chair Kenny Acton.

“One year we had people from nine different countries sign our guest book. It’s more than just a community event; this has put Lanesville on the map. One year, we had a group of six here from England that took apart a tractor and put it back together in like 18 or 20 minutes.”

While the state of Indiana celebrated its Bicentennial in 2016, Lanesville is celebrating that milestone this year, Acton said. The free festival kicks off with a ceremony at the gazebo on the grounds at 5 p.m. followed by entertainment by Ladies for Liberty from 6-7 and the Doo Wop All-Stars from 7:30-10.

The fun starts each day of the weekend, Friday through Sunday, at 8 a.m. Events include tractor pulls, equipment demonstrations, gas engine displays, a carnival midway, horseshoe pitching, a fiddle contest, a farm toy show, a blood drive, princess and queen pageants and vendor and food booths galore. More than 250 vendors have registered to participate.

Each year, a different tractor manufacturer is featured. This year, expect to see a lot of red as the festival hosts the International Harvester Collectors Indiana Chapter 7 state show.

With everything that happens during the weekend, Acton said one thing he really enjoys is watching the antique machinery at work. Before the festival opens, on Thursday morning he said local elementary school students visit for a demonstration of the antique machinery, and then they get a look at a new $300,000 combine for contrast. “This is still a farming community, but there aren’t many small farmers here anymore,” Acton said. “A lot of the kids don’t get to see farming up close.”

A volunteer from the beginning, Acton said he was 16 the year of the first festival in 1976. “The community got a couple of grants from the federal government during the bicentennial year for the festival, and it was such a success, organizers decided to make an annual thing,” he said.

He has served on the board for 28 years, and this is his ninth as its chair. “Anytime anyone asks me how it has continued all these years, I tell them it’s the passion and consistency of the people. There’s a huge number of volunteers who help that weekend and many more getting everything ready year-round.”

The Marketing Committee, for example, takes a month-long break after each festival and starts promoting the next one in October. “By the time January 1 rolls around, we’re in company wheelhouses for advertising,” Acton said.

Along with soliciting for sponsorships, Marketing Committee member Amy Watson said volunteers also host a yard sale the same weekend as the Kentucky Derby, a tractor ride in the spring, a rummage sale during Heritage Weekend and the grounds host the Harrison County Relay for Life in June.

“Along with making donations to Relay, we’ve helped out people in the community and donated to other charitable causes,” Watson said.

It’s not all work for the committee members and volunteers, however; each November, everyone involved is invited to a holiday party. “We provide a meal, talk about the weekend, the ups and downs, the things we need to improve on and get input from our membership at that time,” Acton said.

Then in January, the work begins again in earnest with a directors’ meeting to set goals for the coming year.

To learn more about what the group has planned for this year, visit www.lanesvilleheritageweekend.org or search for “Lanesville Heritage Weekend” on Facebook.