Annual Ocali Country Days

A Glass Bottom Boat gives visitors a ride in the main spring near the state proposed beach and swimming area by the Glass Bottom Boat dock at Silver Springs State Park in Silver Springs, Fla. on Monday, July 27, 2020. [Bruce Ackerman/Ocala Gazette] 2020.

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Posted November 5, 2021 | By Rosemarie Dowell
Special to the Gazette

It wasn’t easy being a Florida pioneer.

Carving out a life amid the Sunshine State’s unforgiving tropical climate was difficult for folks in the mid-to-late 1800s.

That hard-scrabble existence and all it entailed will be feted during the Silver River Museum and Environmental Education Center’s Annual Ocali Country Days, slated from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 13-14 on the museum grounds at Silver Springs State Park.

“It’s fun, it’s educational and it’s an interactive celebration of pioneer folk life,” said Scott Mitchell, museum director since 2004. The museum, founded in 1991, is a program of Marion County Public Schools in partnership with the Florida Park Service.

Demonstrations of pioneer trades and crafts popular during the Florida of yesteryear will be plentiful, he said.

“It includes all kinds of folks showing how they made things back then including a syrup maker, weavers and spinners, potters, basket makers, and blacksmiths,” said Mitchell. “They’ll be dressed in period clothing too.”

Held annually on the second weekend of November (last year’s event was canceled due to COVID-19) the family-friendly fundraiser, founded in 1995, will also include historical reenactors, artists, and musicians, he said.

The museum’s Pioneer Village, a collection of seven authentic and replica buildings that give a true snapshot of the life of a Florida pioneer including 19th-century log cabins, a blacksmith shop, a wood-fired pottery kiln, and a large cast-iron kettle used to make sugar cane syrup, will be buzzing with living history exhibits during both days of the festival.

“It’s a way for us to show these past lifeways that were so important in settling Florida,” said Mitchell. “How many people can take up a basket of raw cotton and weave it into cloth.”

“Not many people know how to do that these days,” he said.

Woodworkers, rope makers, coopers, flintlock rifle makers, and a Seminole dugout canoe carver, along with colonial-era trader/trappers historians and Civil War era re-enactors will also be showcasing their talents and taking visitors back to a bygone era.

“You can easily spend a half-day here, have some fun and learn about Florida’s past,” said Mitchell. “You can not only watch someone make cane syrup: you can taste it too.”

Dubbed Ocali Days as an homage to the area’s Native American inhabitants, a subgroup of the Timucuans known as Ocali who were present when Spanish explorers first arrived in the area in the 1500s, the event will also feature live music, southern barbecue, and arts and crafts vendors selling handmade goods.

This year’s performers include the Pasture Prime Bluegrass Band, Johnny “Debt” Prestage, and local singer Jeff Brown, who is well known for his repertoire of ‘50s to ‘80s classic rock.

Admission is $8 per person (kids five and under are free) and includes free entry to Silver Springs State Park as well as the museum. Parking is free as well, and tram rides will run from the state park to the museum throughout the festival.

Mitchell said this year’s event is crucial to getting the museum back on track since last year’s was canceled due to the pandemic.

“It’s an important fundraiser for us; we are trying to rebuild our program,” he said.

If you go

What: Annual Ocali Country Days.

When: 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Nov. 13-14.

Where: The Silver River Museum and Environmental Education Center at 1445 Northeast 58th Ave., Ocala, on the grounds of the Silver Springs State Park.

Admission: $8 per person, children five and under are free. Includes admission to Silver Springs State Park and the museum.

Details: silverrivermuseum.com or 352-236-5401.