Festival of the West welcomes tour groups

The National Festival of the West will be off to a running start March 13, 2008
and will run through March 16th. There’ll be plenty to see and do at this year’s event.

Says producer Mary Brown, “You sure can’t get bored at the National Festival of
the West. We have so much for folks to see and do, and it’s all focused around the American West.” It’s sure enough true – with plenty of toe-tapping music, perfect rhyme and meter poetry, fast shootin’ – hard ridin’ cowboys, Western heroes, chuck wagon cooks, great shopping and so much more, you’ll want to spend the entire day at the Festival, enjoying all there is to see and do.

Red-blooded shoppers will think they died and went to heaven…Imagine, more than 200 exhibitors in one area, selling uniquely Western items ranging from fine arts to crafts to furniture and clothing to collectibles and memorabilia. Plus many of these merchants contribute generous door prizes which are awarded daily.

Log Home Show-Talk with builders and learn more about log homes. Todays log
home living combines the tradition of the old with the latest technology and design.

Shop for some of the finest furniture and decorator items to compliment your new log home.

Words and music with a Western flavor….Multiple stages of continuous entertainment showcase some of the nation’s best Western musicians, cowboy and cowgirl poets, and storytellers. You could be treated to a nationally-known entertainer, a Wild West revue, or a Western melodrama.

Meet a honest-to-gosh heroine or hero…
Remember those larger-than-life men and women who thundered across movie and TV screens? You could end up meeting them face to face at the National Festival of the West. “We play host to a number of Western fi lm icons every year,” points out Brown. Enjoy celebrity panel discussions and ask questions of the stars. In the past, the Festival has been honored with personal appearances by Dale Evans, Gene Autry, Rex Allen, Ben Johnson, Jack Palance and a host of other famous stars.

“Get it while it’s hot or I’ll throw it out”, was a famous line of many chuck wagon
cooks. One of the most respected, and often feared, men on a cattle drive was the cocinero, or cooky. Saturday’s chuck wagon cookoff features some of the best cocineros in the country. Cooking from authentic chuck wagons, the food is hot, hearty and delicious. Be sure to “fuel up” on the real chuck wagon grub.

Re Enactments to Entertain & Educate
“If ever there were a modern day time machine, it would come in the form of the Arizona Gunfighters.” And their time machine will be set each day for various reenactments depicting true events in an educational and entertaining manner for audiences of all ages. Episodes from the lives of such famous characters as “Doc” Holliday, “Wild Bill” Hickok, Batt Masterson and of course, the Earp brothers will be seen.

Crowd-pleasing pageantry and spectacular tests of skills…Spectators always find the beauty and color of the Festival’s traditional grand entry into the arena especially exciting! Not to mention the Mounted Shooting Championship where cowboys and cowgirls compete to see who can shoot the straightest and ride the best.

Mosey on back to the early 1800’s…The Festival’s Mountain Man Historic Camp and Sutler’s Row dramatize how “rough and tough” life was back in the mid-1800’s. Living in authentic tents, dressed in traditional buckskin garb, these rugged men and women demonstrate crafts — leather work, bead work — along with many of the skills needed to live off the land.

In 2008 the Festival will be held at Rawhide Western Town at Wild Horse Pass, Phoenix, AZ. Make your reservations now to join in all the excitement March 13-16, 2008. Call (602) 996-4387 or write P.O. Box 12966, Scottsdale, AZ, 85267-2966 for more information. Great Be sure to visit our web page at www.festivalofthewest.com

Courtesy of grouptravelblog.com