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Pioneer Days 2020 opened at that Pioneer Museum of Alabama Friday with a large number in attendance.

Barbara Tatom, museum director, said she was very pleased with the day’s attendance and looks forward to an equally successful day today.

Pioneer Days opens at 10 a.m. and will close at 4 p.m.   

“With COVID-19, we weren’t sure about attendance this year but we had a large number of visitors including home-school students and their parents from around the local area and Montgomery, Dothan, Prattville and Auburn,” Tatom said. “It was encouraging to see so many young parents who realize the importance of sharing the history of our pioneers with their children.”

The Mystic Wind Choctaw National Dancers from Mississippi were among the demonstrators and will be back at the amphitheater today. Tatom said the dancers feature chanting and share information about the culture and traditions.

New to Pioneer Days is the Conecuh Sporting Store that features hunting, target shooting, trapping and fish circa 1860.

“There will be more than 60 rifles, shotguns, fowlers and pistols on display,” Tatom said. “Also, the store will have cane poles with bobbers and blued hooks.”

Today’s Pioneer Days will also include blacksmithing, woodworking, rope making, chair weaving, Davey Crockett, a circuit rider, American Revolution and Civil War re-enactors, a French Army grenadier, an old-time store keeper’s tour and a sampling of stew cooked on a wood stove.  The Montgomery Area Dulcimers will be a “Saturday-only” attraction.

Admission is $12. Members and ages 5 and under are free.

Pioneer Days at the Pioneer Museum of Alabama is sponsored by the Alabama State Council on the Arts with support from the National Endowment for the Arts.