DUNVEGAN, June 2022 — The Glengarry Pioneer Museum will ring with the sound of hammers hitting anvils during its fifth-annual Smith-In Blacksmith Festival on Saturday and Sunday, 18-19 June 2022 from 10am-4pm.
More than eighteen blacksmiths from across Ontario, Quebec, and the USA will come together to share their skills and products with patrons of the museum and fellow smiths. In the timber-framed Williams Pavilion, Smiths from across Ontario and Quebec will be demonstrating using a variety of portable forges. In the blacksmith shop, visiting smiths will be demonstrating historical blacksmithing. In the past, they have forged reproduction gun barrels modelled closely on a musket discovered in nearby Apple Hill as well as a reproduction of a ship’s anchor. The Big Beaver School House will feature presentations on the history of blacksmithing and on basic blacksmithing techniques. There will even be a children’s section for kids to bang away on safer materials or try out a scavenger hunt for chances to win a prize.
This event will also see the Museum’s reproduction forge and tools put to use. The bellows-blown portable forge is modelled on forges from the American Revolutionary War, and features leather bellows and wooden carriage wheels. Local smith, Pat Taylor, will be operating the forge and continuing to modify its bellows. The Museum’s Oliver Hamelin blacksmith shop, originally from Apple Hill will be alive with the sounds of the forge and anvil.
The blacksmith and his shop was at the centre of village life in the 19th century. The blacksmith shoed horses, made and repaired all the tools needed for agriculture, transportation, forestry, and other industries, and also fashioned decorative objects. The blacksmith shop, or “smithy,” was a key social hub, and smiths often performed important ceremonial roles in their communities. This year, you will be able to see the museum’s smithy come to life.
Many of the smiths will have items on display and for sale. On Saturday (June 18) there will be a variety of local craftspeople, artisans, and vendors to complement the visiting smiths.
Chili-dogs, hot dogs, snacks, and refreshments will be available for sale in the museum’s cheese factory.
Come smell the coal smoke and see the sparks fly when hammers meet hot steel! What better event could there be to attend on the Father’s Day weekend?
