Feast of the Flowering Moon in Chillicothe, Ohio, Memorial Day Weekend
For those of you who do not know, Chillicothe was the first capital of Ohio. It is also rich in history. Chillicothe used to be inhabited by the historic Shawnee Indians. They were the ones who named the now modernized city. The term Chillicothe is derived from the ancient Shawnee phrase meaning “Principal place”. It was the name of one of their clans. The main chief of the Shawnee could only come from the Chillicothe clan. When a village was called Chillicothe, it meant that it was home to the principal chief.
This annual three day event started in 1984. The festival is held in the locally famous Yoctangee Park and the historic downtown Chillicothe.
The highlight of this event is the Native Americans who participates. They bring to Chillicothe, Gathering of the Nations. Through this wonderful program they demonstrate and teach us origins of songs and dance of American Indians, traditional storytelling, traditional flute music, as well as social dances. One year, during a really dry spell, they even performed a ritual rain dance. It was a sight to see. Yes, it did rain.
The park also returns to the past as mountain-men encampment sets up for the entire weekend. Men, women and children shows us how our ancestors lived in the 1800’s. They dress in the clothes of the time period and set up tents, which they sleep in during the weekend. Outside, they prepare their food on an open fire. Many working craftsmen also demonstrates how blacksmiths and broom-makers and the like, used to go about their work. Musicians also set up in this area, showing us how music used to sound.
When one gets tired of the history part of the event, there are many modern day crafters and commercial sellers with booths on display along the streets of the park. It is estimated that this years event will house over 80 crafters and sellers. Entertainment is continuous throughout the 3 day event on the Main Stage. Of course, no festival is complete without loads of outside vendors supplying the masses with foods of all kinds.
Many people also love the various contests that will be going on during the festival. The favorite is: Anything that Floats but a Boat Race. But there is the traditional: Queens contest, Princess Contest and Baby contest as well. New this year, is the corn hole contest.
But the biggest and favorite contest is the Ross County Idol contest. Yes, it is just like American Idol, except only people who reside in Ross County can participate.
Yes, there is also a parade scheduled for Saturday. The parade will start at the local high school and run throughout the park and local area streets of Chillicothe.
The entire event is free to the public. All the main events are free as well. If you wish to participate in any of the contests there is a ten dollar fee.
Parking is free and there is even handicap parking set up from the alley of West Water Street to Walnut Street.
On average, 84,000 people attends this event annually. I hope if you are in the area, you will join the residents of Chillicothe and see for yourself what makes this an annual tradition.
