The Feast of the Flowering Moon is a festival that celebrates the Native American culture with dances, music, exhibits and more. There are also more than 80 crafters, food, games and contests.
2023 DATE: May 26-28, 2023
Location: Yoctangee Park
Chillicothe, OH 45601
Website: https://www.facebook.com/daltonfestival/
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This post documents my experience on May 29, 2010.
On Thursday, May 28, we had a full moon. To a great number of Northern American Indians, this particular full moon at the end of May is referred to as the Flowering Moon. As the flowers come into full bloom and crops begin to grow, Mother Earth is seen as coming back to life and giving great reason to celebrate.
Since 1984, the Feast of the Flowering Moon has been celebrated in Chillicothe, Ohio’s first (1803-1810) and third (1812-1816) capital. Being that its name comes from the Shawnee “Chalahgawtha,” or “principal town,” and it carries a rich Native American history, it seems perfect to celebrate a festival of this type.
Set primarily in Chillicothe’s Yoctangee Park, the area is beautiful with the Scioto River running right through.
The area along the river…
…is set up with period tents…
…and shops with various vendors who sold things more-or-less considered Native American.
Some of the “more” Native American items included…
…rattlers…
…dream catchers…
…masks…
…and various other stuff.
Some of the “less” items included…
…swords…
…knives….
…and sugar gliders.
The most unrelated Native American item was probably the food. Not that I was surprised to see basic festival food booths like…
…fajitas…
…Italian food, and funnel cake stuff.
But I hoped to see fry bread or maybe a handful of things that may have been considered Native American to some extent. I do remember one place having turkey legs…maybe I should count that.
We had to be somewhat careful what we ate, since we had a Crispie Creme doughnut in the car for dessert (Chillicothe really should be proud of this doughnut establishment). After taking a full tour of the area, we went for some sausage (kielbasa), beans and rice…
…which we enjoyed during an enjoyable Bingo game next to a rather lucky player.
(she won that hat for her husband in a previous game and won something for herself soon after this pic was taken)
There was also a wonderful new type of festival food we came across and enjoyed…
…the Apple Cider Slush…
…and it was absolutely amazing.
But the main attraction, and the reason for enjoying the festival, was the experience of the Native American performance…
…where adults and children of Native American origin…
…came together…
…and gave amazing dance performances passed down through the centuries.