VERNON — The two-day Sassafras Tea Festival and Civil War Living History event will return to Vernon on April 24 and 25.
Last year, the popular annual event was canceled due to COVID-19 restrictions.
“I think our community needs the festival this year, and from what I am hearing other communities need our festival, too,” Vernon Mayor Dan Wright said.
The first Sassafras Tea Festival was held in Vernon in 1962 in honor of Jennings County’s many red sassafras trees that produced the tea used by both early Hoosier settlers and Native Americans.
Before the 2020 cancellation, the festival had been held for 59 straight years.
Over time, the festival expanded to include the history of Vernon’s confrontation with Morgan’s Raiders during the Civil War.
Each year, the Civil War battle reenactments and other historical displays have attracted more visitors from across Indiana and surrounding states, organizers said.
Food has also became an important part of the annual spring festival.
Local volunteers work tirelessly to prepare early favorite Hoosier dishes such as vegetable soup and chicken and noodles each year. They also prepare an average of 700 homemade pies for sale during the festivals.
“We will have our famous pies this year as well as our other dishes,” said festival chairperson Chris Asher. “How we will do the seating for dining will depend on the COVID status for the week, but we will have dining available.”
Asher said that food and some merchandise are the only things sold at the festival, and that because there is so much food sold, the festival has become the largest annual fundraiser for the Jennings County Historical Society.
Free demonstrations of blacksmithing, fabric weaving, wood carving and pottery will also take place throughout the weekend.
There will be carriage rides on April 24 as well as music and art displays as well as many other activities.
There will be Civil War battle reenactments on both days. The battles will be free to watch though there will be a $5 fee per car for parking.
“The festival is a wonderful opportunity to experience history and have fun at the same time. We have something for everyone,” Asher said.
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For more information on next month’s Sassafras Tea Festival and Civil War Living History event, visit www.jenningscounty.org or call 812-346-8989.
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Preparations for this year’s Sassafras Tea Festival face a few extra challenges related to financial shortages caused by the pandemic.
“We are desperate for sugar to make our wonderful pies,” Chris Asher said.
Volunteer bakers will soon bake up to 700 pies for sale during the festival.
Jennings County Historical Society volunteers are now accepting donations of bags of sugar. The sugar can be donated at the North American House Museum Building at 134 E. Brown St. in Vernon.
The Historical Society is also looking for corporate sponsors and individual donations to help get ready for this year’s festival.
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