Rendezvous in Poway opens Thursday, Oct. 1, for four days of free living-history encampments at Old Poway Park. The event adds a Victorian fashion show and a primitive fire demonstration this year.
The Old Poway Park Action Committee, a coalition of 10 nonprofit community organizations, hosts the event at 14134 Midland Road. Admission is free, according to the city of Poway's event calendar.
Re-enactors will camp in the park's picnic area, portraying figures spanning the 1840s through the early 20th century. An old-fashioned mercantile store will stand nearby, said Katie O'Reilly, recreation coordinator for the city of Poway.
"People can see what it was like back then to go into a store and buy dry goods," O'Reilly told the San Diego Union-Tribune.
Two additions debut this year. On Saturday only, The Historical Dressers of Santee will stage a 19th-century Victorian fashion show at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. inside Templars Hall. A primitive fire demonstration using flints will also be new at the encampment.
School tours run from 9:15 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 1, and Friday, Oct. 2. The tours are geared toward third-, fourth- and seventh-graders from Poway Unified School District and homeschooled students. About 660 fourth-graders alone are expected to take part, Ray Eaton, president of the Poway Arts and Crafts Guild, told the Union-Tribune in a Sept. 14 article.
Student stations include making tiles at the pottery studio, creating a wooden bookmark with an artisan and practicing cursive in the Heritage Museum's old-fashioned schoolhouse.
The public is welcome Saturday, Oct. 3, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday, Oct. 4, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Weekend visitors can pan for gold near Rattlesnake Creek, tour the historic Nelson House and ride the park's train.
Some re-enactors arrive as early as Wednesday, Sept. 30, to pitch their camps before the Thursday school tours begin.
For more information, email [email protected] or call 858-668-4576.
