This year’s Little Falls Cheese Festival will fully embrace the region’s roots with a historical display and demonstration by Herkimer Home. The Herkimer Home booth will be located at the M&T Bank pocket park on Main Street, and demonstrations of colonial diary production will run throughout the day on Saturday, October 7, 2023 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
“We’re excited to be participating in the Little Falls Cheese Festival this year,” said Michael Roets, site manager of the Herkimer Home State Historic Site. “The dairy industry was absolutely crucial to the Mohawk Valley in the 18th century, and we’re looking forward to sharing that rich history.”
The Herkimer Home booth will focus on dairy production in the colonial era and its importance to the region. The booth will feature dairy tools, colonial clothing, depictions of dairy production during that time and (weather permitting) periodic demonstrations using 18th century reproductions of butter churns, cheese presses and other tools. The booth will also feature children’s activities such as mason jar butter-making.
“We’re obviously very proud of the role Little Falls plays in the history of the cheese industry,” said Teri Chace of the Little Falls Cheese Festival committee. “So we’re thrilled to have Herkimer Home join us and help us truly embrace our roots.”
Visitors to Herkimer Home today will marvel at the grandness of this Georgian-style mansion that once stood on the colonial frontier. The unspoiled landscape, including the Herkimer family burial ground, is remarkably unchanged from that of the 18th century. The site is open daily from sunrise until sunset. The Visitor Center is open and house tours are available Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and on Monday holidays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Herkimer Home State Historic Site is located at 200 State Route 169, Little Falls just off the NYS Thruway Exit 29a. Call (315) 823-0398 for more information.
The Little Falls Cheese Festival is New York State’s premier gathering of cheesemakers, with an estimated 8,000 to 10,000 people in attendance last year. Keep up to date with planning and vendor announcements by following the Little Falls Cheese Festival on Facebook, Instagram or visiting littlefallscheesefestival.com.
