Aug 27, 2022

End your summer with a dose of living history at Fort Larned event

Posted Aug 27, 2022 10:30 AM

News release

FORT LARNED — Labor Day Weekend traditionally signals the end of summer. Bring your summer fun to a historic close with a weekend of fun and learning at Fort Larned’s Labor Day Weekend Living History Event.  

Volunteers and staff will once again bring Fort Larned to life during the Labor Day Weekend living history event.  Get a glimpse into the life of a frontier soldier with rifle and artillery firing demonstrations, and their life in the army.  You can also visit with officers’ wives, as well as watch the post blacksmith use a forge and anvil to transform iron into everyday objects. 

Come out and end your summer with a celebration of our nation’s history.  Here is the schedule of events for all three days. 

Saturday 

10:00 am – Forge and Anvil: Blacksmith Demonstration 

11:00 am – Frontier Army Weapons: Rifle and Artillery Firing Demonstration 

1:00 pm – Special Program – Buffalo Soldiers: An American Legend on the Western Frontier 

2:00 pm – Frontier Army Weapons: Rifle and Artillery Firing Demonstration 

3:00 pm – Beat the Drums – Drum Calls of the Civil War Era 

4:30 pm – Flag Retreat: Traditional Army Flag Lowering Ceremony 

Sunday 

10:00 am – Forge and Anvil: Blacksmith Demonstration 

11:00 am – Frontier Army Weapons: Rifle and Artillery Firing Demonstration 

1:00 pm – Special Speaker – Dr. Leo Oliva – early Kansas History and Zebulon Pike 

2:00 pm – Frontier Army Weapons: Rifle and Artillery Firing Demonstration 

3:00 pm – Life on Officers’ Row 

4:30 pm – Flag Retreat: Traditional Army Flag Lowering Ceremony 

Monday 

10:00 am – Forge and Anvil: Blacksmith Demonstration 

11:00 am – Frontier Army Weapons: Rifle and Artillery Firing Demonstration 

1:00 pm – Special Program – Santa Fe Trail: Its History and Influence 

2:00 pm – Earning Your Stripes: Non-Commissioned Officers at Fort Larned 

3:00 pm – Life on Officers’ Row 

4:30 pm – Flag Retreat: Traditional Army Flag Lowering Ceremony 

Fort Larned National Historic Site is located six miles west of Larned on Kansas Highway 156. Information on visiting is on the internet at www.nps.gov/fols, or by calling 620-285-6911, or email to [email protected]. For information on area tourism partners, lodging, dining, and community services go to www.larnedks.org or call (620) 285-6916.