The James River Batteau And Festival History
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Friday afternoon and evening will find 18th Century vendors setting up at the entrance to Percival’s Island at the riverside for all that would care to watch. There will be period camping available on Percival’s Island for Friday night only. Authentic campsites as well as modern campsites will be available from Thursady evening through Saturday evening at the Galt’s Mill location. Because of the large amount of people that are now accompaning the batteaux down the river to Richmond, which have added considerably to the cost of putting on this festival, the 1997 James River Batteau Festival Board of Directors have initiated a $5.00 per night or $25.00 per week camping fee for all people not on a batteau. These fees must be paid in advance to the JRBF, P. O. Box 10564, Lynchburg, Virginia 24506 by June 1st. All campers will be given passes to bring their vehicles into the campsites.

Saturday morning the batteaux will be moved from Griffin Pipe area to Percival’s Island for the second annual 18th Century Market Fair which will take place at the entrance of Percival’s Island. Batteau rides will be given from this area to the public for a small donation. The public will be treated to 18th Century craftsmen demonstrating and selling their wares as well as many 18th Century visitors in period clothing. A canoe livery will be temporarily located on the island if anyone wishes to rent a canoe and join the batteaux on the river. There will be lots of 18th Century entertainment all day, so come join us and step back into the time of John Lynch, the city’s founder. About 1pm the batteaux will leave Percival’s Island on the first leg of their seven day 128 mile trip to Maiden’s Adventure Landing, 40 miles west of Richmond.

The Saturday evening festival at Galt’s Mill beginning about 4:00pm will feature an 18th Century Jousting Competition put on by the Buckingham County Maneo Jousters. There will also be Blue Grass music by area musicians and all are welcome to bring their instruments and talent and contribute to the festivites. The evening meal available to all will be put on by the Amelon United Methodist Church as their annual fundraiser. Bring your lawn chairs, let the kids cool off in the river, watch these champion jousters as well as the batteaux arriving after their first day on the river, enjoy supper and wonderful music!

Sunday morning, the Amelon United Methodist Church will be fixing a riverside breakfast beginning at 6am for any wishing to watch the campsites be taken down and the batteaux departing. There will be an outdoor non-denominational church service at 7am. The batteaux usually depart about 9am with Bent Creek as their next port. What a great way to begin Father’s Day!!!

The site at Bent Creek will be on the Appomattox County side of the river, north of Allen’s Creek. The Lynchburg Chapter 196 of the Vietnam Veterans of America will be fixing their annual Spagetti Dinner beginning about 5:30pm. The proceeds from this dinner will be used to help veterans in time of need. For such a wonderful cause, please join the batteau crews for dinner. They will also be fixing the breakfast if anyone wants to come down at 6:30am to join us.

Monday will find the batteaux on their way to historic Wingina. This site, home of one of the largest permanent encampment of Monican Indians of the 1600’s as noted in the exploration maps of Captain John Smith, will feature both modern and 18th Century vendors, 18th Century encampment, a Brunswick stew dinner and an outdoor stage presentation put on by one of Virginia’s leading repertoire group. Entertainment will begin about 1pm and the batteaux will start arriving about that same time. This is another side where a lawn chair is mandatory.

This year the festival will again stop in Howardsville, only on the north side of the Rockfish River. Ben Shumaker, owner of the Howardsville General Store and Trading Company and Sandra Pillow will be offering a chicken dinner that evening and a breakfast the following morning. Again, music, vendors, craftsmen will be the order of the day!

From Howardsville, on Wednesday, the batteau will continue to their half way point at Scottsville. There will be authentic camps at the riverside with vendors offering their wares. Another authentic and modern campsite will be at the field by the batteau mural in the middle of town and modern campsites will also be available behind the school. The batteau crews will be sampling meals from area restaurants and invite the public to join them for dinner.

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