KMSU - History Fest Collaboration
This annual event at the Jack McGowan Farm south of Mankato has delighted people, young and old, from all over southern Minnesota. The genesis of this was Jack’s desire to show young people in particular how settlers and pioneers lived when Minnesota was still frontier country. Volunteers from the area perform a number of basic lifestyle chores and traditional games for visitors, including: Two Person Log Cross Cut, Branding Iron, Tomahawk Throw, Fire House, Catapult, King Arthur’s Sword, Stilts, Jacob’s ladder, Cider Press, Rope Braiding, King of the Log and Juggling. There are also paid and volunteer re-enactors, including: Windy Hills Forge Blacksmithing, Past Presentations – Pioneer living for women, Minnesota & Western Railroad, New Ulm Battery – Civil War Re-enactment, Abe Lincoln, and Cody the Buffalo. One significant piece of the History Fest event is music education and appreciation. There are instruments for the kids to play and music instructors on hand to give them guidance. Piano, Celtic harp, and steel drums are instruments expected at this year’s event. KMSU will produce audio documentary content from the event and share the sounds and stories on-air and online.
Arts, culture and history will be interwoven into every facet of community life: The main audience for this event is middle School age students, but lots of families participate. History presented in this fun, engaging way has a profound effect on young people.More Minnesotans of all ages, ethnicities, abilities and incomes will participate in the arts, culture and history: Participation is the key word with this event. Everyone participates. Unlike a museum, children and adults are encouraged to touch.People will trust Minnesota’s stewardship of public arts, culture and history funding: The Arts & Cultural Heritage funding will supplement an already well respected and locally funded event.Arts, culture and history will thrive in Minnesota: This outcome could actually be the theme of this event.More K-12 students can affordably learn to read music and play a music instrument, participate in dance, choral, drama and other performing arts: The music programming at this event teaches some rudimentary skills, and this can lead to a young child or young adult exploring an instrument further.More locally and Minnesota focused content: All of the historical re-enactors focus their talent on Minnesota pioneer and Indian historyMore local artists, historians, writers and other that have their work showcased through public broadcasting: The audio documentary of this event will complete this outcome.More knowledge and awareness of the way that history affects people’s lives and how that knowledge can help people make informed decisions for the future: This outcome is achieved through participation in History Fest.How outcomes will be measured: -Attendance at events -Arbitron/Radio Research Consortium ratings information -Internet and social media statistics