French Heritage Festival

The Foundation for Restoration of Ste. Genevieve's 28th annual French Heritage Festival marks an important point in the procession of the French Heritage Calendar of Events in Ste. Genevieve. This year marks a turning point in the tradition as the Foundation for Restoration and the City of Ste. Gen, as well as its partners with the National Park Service, the Centre for French Colonial Life, the Felix Vallé State Historic Site, the Museum Learning Center, and even the Ste. Genevieve County Library are committing more to: 1. making it fun and engaging for a broader audience of creative people looking for a bit of romance with their history, and 2. expanding the cultural relevance to include a broader community of North American French heritage.

We're hoping over the next few years, to develop this festival into Ste. Gen's version of a Frontier French Rennaissance Faire. In this year's iteration, the daytime will be filled with traditional Paw-Paw French music from Dennis Stroughmatt, colonial creole food and entertainment, and a Parisian-style market that will make use of a traditional beehive oven. The evening will stretch into a Frontier Dance in the lantern-lit garden of the centuries-old Louis Bolduc house. Tickets for the dance are available here: https://www.historicstegen.org/event-details/frontier-french-dance

Music will be played from a live band, and the dances will have a caller which means no experience is necessary to participate. Don't have the proper attire? You can rent an ensemble from Sara, at Ensembles of the Past before the event online, or in-person the Friday night before. www.ensemblesofthepast.com/french-heritage-festival

A full schedule will be posted soon. Also, we are looking for vendors who sell colonial era goods, or who don't mind dressing up to keep with the cohesiveness of the experience.

Also check out other Festivals in Sainte Genevieve, Music events in Sainte Genevieve, Entertainment events in Sainte Genevieve.