Civilian Conservation Corps Festival: Celebrate Florida History and Culture
Saturday, February 8, 2025, 1000 - 1600
Join us at the 38th annual CCC Festival! The park preserves wilderness, history and the legacy of the CCC and the festival celebrates history, culture, art, nature, music, sharing traditions and skills.
The festival is free with park admission ($6 per vehicle up to 8 people, $4 per vehicle with 1 person and $2 per bicyclist and pedestrian) except for tram, pony and carriage rides, food and purchases.
Learn all details on the Friends of Highland Hammock Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/fhhsp) or visit https://CCCfest2025.eventbrite.com. Information is updated as details are confirmed.
Talks are held in the CCC Museum:
- Noon: Wildlife Biologist Joe Guthrie, Archbold Biological Station and Florida Wildlife Corridor: The Florida Wildlife Corridor and Film The Wild Divide. This 45-minute program introduces the Florida Wildlife Corridor and includes an 18-minute documentary film of the 2019 Ranch to Ridge Expedition, a seven day trek from Highlands Hammock State Park to the Nature Conservancy's Tiger Creek Preserve in Polk County.
- 1 p.m.: CCC Museum Curator David Schmidt, Highlands Hammock State Park: The Appalachian Trail and the Blue Ridge Parkway. This 30-minute program examines the roles of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in these New Deal Era projects.
- 2:15 p.m.: Archaeologist John Goss, Bradenton, Florida: Prehistoric Native American Corridors and Waterways in Florida. This 45-minute program explores historical and archaeological accounts of Native American transportation corridors in primarily southern Florida. The effects of these features on trade and migration are, in some cases, unique to Florida.
Music in the Park Stage
Golden Era Jazz Band (10 to 11 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. ) playing Great Amerian Songbook numbers from the 1920s, 30s and 40s.
Folk music virtuoso John McClure (1 to 3 p.m.) performing traditional folk ballads and a selection of musical numbers featuring bouncy banjo, guitar and the mandolin.
Children will enjoy:
- 1 p.m. Discovery Nature Walk (children 5 to 13) to explore and learn about plants, animals, habitats, niches, food chains, animal adaptations and more! Interpretive Volunteer Marilyn Blair, the hour-long hike will depart from the Wild Orange Trail behind the Hammock Inn.
- Play traditional games, including cat's cradle, hopscotch, jacks, tiddlywinks, pickup sticks, and marbles. Take a CCC Festival Scavenger Hunt geared for families with children of all ages. Match birds, butterflies, reptiles and mammals within the murals of four habitats found in the park. • Engage in nature exhibits.
- VIP Custom Carriage will give children a thrill riding on a huge horse, an American Mammoth Jackstock Donkey, or a very tall mule ($5 per child) at the Owl Pavilion. Adults and families may enjoy wagon rides ($10 per person).
Arts and crafts vendor, demonstrations and displays by government agencies and organizations concerned with local history or nature and the environment are ongoing.
- Florida Artist Blacksmith Association (FABA) Blacksmiths/Frank Teele and Scott Teele with smaller metal works for sale. A silent auction of a wall sculpture (15 inches high x 18 inches long) of a fish made of steel and live oak wood. The silent auction will close at 3:30 pm.
- Florida Highwaymen paintings by Vernon Tynes, Dominque Tynes and Richard Edwards
- Pine Needle Basketry by Connie Nunn
- Karen Smoke Quilting: Traditional Quilting with items for sale
- Native American Artifacts Display by Archaeologist John Goss
- Lake Kissimmee State Park Cow Camp Reenactment Exhibit
- Avon Park Historical Society
- Sebring Historical Society
- Desoto County Historical Society
- Saws and Hand Tools from the 1900s to 1940s, Collection of Greg Blakeley
- Antique car show will include cars, tractors and engines from the early 1900s through 1949.
- Archbold Biological Station: Skull and Bones Display
- The Nature Conservancy - Tiger Creek Preserve with trivia wheel activity
- Highlands County Audubon Society
- Florida Forest Service: Wildfire Prevention
- Heartland Cultural Alliance
- Peter Powell Roberts Arts Museum
- United States Department of Agriculture (USDA/ APHIS): Information about citrus, insects and animal and health plant inspection
- IFAS - Highlands County Master Gardeners: Florida Landscaping Information
Be sure to enjoy:
- Guided 90-minute tram tours depart from the Hammock Inn through densely shaded hammock, a cypress swamp, open pinelands and a wetland of bay and cypress trees where alligators, turtles, herons, ibis, egrets and the occasional otter may be observed. Cost is $15, $10 for children six to 12, free for children five and younger. Purchase tickets the day of the tour or one day in advance. Call the Hammock Inn (daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) at 863-402-0061 for tram departure information.
Be sure to enjoy both the park and the museum!
Category: Festivals | Festival
The festival is free with park admission ($6 per vehicle up to 8 people, $4 per vehicle with 1 person and $2 per bicyclist and pedestrian) except for tram, pony and carriage rides, food and purchases.
Learn all details on the Friends of Highland Hammock Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/fhhsp) or visit https://CCCfest2025.eventbrite.com. Information is updated as details are confirmed.
Talks are held in the CCC Museum:
- Noon: Wildlife Biologist Joe Guthrie, Archbold Biological Station and Florida Wildlife Corridor: The Florida Wildlife Corridor and Film The Wild Divide. This 45-minute program introduces the Florida Wildlife Corridor and includes an 18-minute documentary film of the 2019 Ranch to Ridge Expedition, a seven day trek from Highlands Hammock State Park to the Nature Conservancy's Tiger Creek Preserve in Polk County.
- 1 p.m.: CCC Museum Curator David Schmidt, Highlands Hammock State Park: The Appalachian Trail and the Blue Ridge Parkway. This 30-minute program examines the roles of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in these New Deal Era projects.
- 2:15 p.m.: Archaeologist John Goss, Bradenton, Florida: Prehistoric Native American Corridors and Waterways in Florida. This 45-minute program explores historical and archaeological accounts of Native American transportation corridors in primarily southern Florida. The effects of these features on trade and migration are, in some cases, unique to Florida.
Music in the Park Stage
Golden Era Jazz Band (10 to 11 a.m. and 11:30 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. ) playing Great Amerian Songbook numbers from the 1920s, 30s and 40s.
Folk music virtuoso John McClure (1 to 3 p.m.) performing traditional folk ballads and a selection of musical numbers featuring bouncy banjo, guitar and the mandolin.
Children will enjoy:
- 1 p.m. Discovery Nature Walk (children 5 to 13) to explore and learn about plants, animals, habitats, niches, food chains, animal adaptations and more! Interpretive Volunteer Marilyn Blair, the hour-long hike will depart from the Wild Orange Trail behind the Hammock Inn.
- Play traditional games, including cat's cradle, hopscotch, jacks, tiddlywinks, pickup sticks, and marbles. Take a CCC Festival Scavenger Hunt geared for families with children of all ages. Match birds, butterflies, reptiles and mammals within the murals of four habitats found in the park. • Engage in nature exhibits.
- VIP Custom Carriage will give children a thrill riding on a huge horse, an American Mammoth Jackstock Donkey, or a very tall mule ($5 per child) at the Owl Pavilion. Adults and families may enjoy wagon rides ($10 per person).
Arts and crafts vendor, demonstrations and displays by government agencies and organizations concerned with local history or nature and the environment are ongoing.
- Florida Artist Blacksmith Association (FABA) Blacksmiths/Frank Teele and Scott Teele with smaller metal works for sale. A silent auction of a wall sculpture (15 inches high x 18 inches long) of a fish made of steel and live oak wood. The silent auction will close at 3:30 pm.
- Florida Highwaymen paintings by Vernon Tynes, Dominque Tynes and Richard Edwards
- Pine Needle Basketry by Connie Nunn
- Karen Smoke Quilting: Traditional Quilting with items for sale
- Native American Artifacts Display by Archaeologist John Goss
- Lake Kissimmee State Park Cow Camp Reenactment Exhibit
- Avon Park Historical Society
- Sebring Historical Society
- Desoto County Historical Society
- Saws and Hand Tools from the 1900s to 1940s, Collection of Greg Blakeley
- Antique car show will include cars, tractors and engines from the early 1900s through 1949.
- Archbold Biological Station: Skull and Bones Display
- The Nature Conservancy - Tiger Creek Preserve with trivia wheel activity
- Highlands County Audubon Society
- Florida Forest Service: Wildfire Prevention
- Heartland Cultural Alliance
- Peter Powell Roberts Arts Museum
- United States Department of Agriculture (USDA/ APHIS): Information about citrus, insects and animal and health plant inspection
- IFAS - Highlands County Master Gardeners: Florida Landscaping Information
Be sure to enjoy:
- Guided 90-minute tram tours depart from the Hammock Inn through densely shaded hammock, a cypress swamp, open pinelands and a wetland of bay and cypress trees where alligators, turtles, herons, ibis, egrets and the occasional otter may be observed. Cost is $15, $10 for children six to 12, free for children five and younger. Purchase tickets the day of the tour or one day in advance. Call the Hammock Inn (daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) at 863-402-0061 for tram departure information.
Be sure to enjoy both the park and the museum!
Category: Festivals | Festival
Starting Price Per Person
Free
Other Information
Where
Highlands Hammock State Park
5931 Hammock Road
Sebring Florida 33872
United States
( Park - Garden - Outdoor Space )
5931 Hammock Road
Sebring Florida 33872
United States
( Park - Garden - Outdoor Space )
Event Organizer Contact
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Event ID: 245072
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