Pioneer Days

Come out to Bonanzaville to experience what life was like on the Plains!

Pioneer Days has live demonstrations including blacksmithing, threshing, print shop press demonstrations and lefse and kuchen making, plus Native American educational components including native song and dance.

Historical activities include a kiddie tractor pull on both days, historic children’s games, a pioneer costume contest, kids haystack coin hunt, a parade at 2 p.m. both days and so much more! There will be face painting and kid’s crafts along with great, local entertainment throughout the village.

Costumed docents and demonstrators will be located throughout the village to give visitors a sense of what a pioneer’s life was like on the prairie. The Bonanza Belles will be on hand cooking up homemade food items and Terry & Jerry’s food truck will be deep frying all your favorites! Enjoy a fun filled day for all ages!

Demonstrations

Each day, Bonanzaville will come alive to show participants how our ancestors built up the area. Check out the many different demonstrations set up throughout the entire village throughout the weekend

Lefse

If you’re not familiar with this soft Norweigan flatbread, you should be. Made with potatoes, flour, butter and milk, these crepe-like desserts (or side-dishes) are basically the most Norweigan dish you’ll eat all week. Come to the Hagen House learn how the pros make their Lefse.

Spinning Wheel

Taking place on Sunday only, this demonstration will show you how the spinning wheel allowed artists to be more productive with their thread making. This was vital for people living in rural areas because they could create their own clothing. Especially important when you live in one of the coldest places in the United States – you could quickly use wool to create jackets, blankets, socks and more.

Blacksmith

Check out how people “back-in-the-day” fixed their tools, horse shoes, and more! Blacksmiths were a very vital part of the community as they were the ones who made all of the most complex things made out of wrought iron or steel.

Threshing

This is something that farmers do in order to separate grain from a plant. Nowadays, farmers use combine harvesters which can get an entire field done in a day. Back when the farmers were first moving to the Red River Valley, it was done by hand; this took about an hour to get through just one bushel of wheat!

Native American educational components

Witness the beautiful Native American song and dance through their demonstrations happening each day. Learn about the sweat lodge – a low profile hut that is used for ceremonies – and what the meaning of the sweat to their culture.

Some of the other demonstrations include: making kuchen, embroidery, butter churning, braided rugs, and print shop presses.

Historical Activities

There will be many volunteers throughout the entire grounds dressed as if they just came off of a mid-1800s farm along with live demonstrations showing you how these people lived back then.

Dress up in the pioneer costume contest, send your kids on the tractor pull or to play a historic children game. Or just wander through the village and chat with the docents scattered throughout.

Kids Activities

Parade

The parade will take place at 2pm both days. It will go right down the main street of the village near the church. Watch many different groups representing the area in different ways! Including – bag pipes, tractor pulls, and more!

Although all of the activities will welcome kids, there are some stops that will cater more towards the kiddos. Kid’s crafts, kiddie tractor pull, and horse drawn wagon rides will be going on throughout the weekend. Have your little ones chat with the costumed docents and demonstrators to get an even better idea of what life was like on the prairie!

Haystack Coin Hunt

Kids are welcome to go on the hunt for the coins hiding in the hay throughout the village. They’ll want to check them all to make sure they don’t miss any of the coins hidden in the haystacks!