A reader of Windy Pinwheel submitted a great event happening the Reno/Sparks, Nevada area Saturday, May 11, 2013, from 11:00 AM to 6:00 PM at Victorian Square in Sparks. It sounds like a great event and we hope you can attend the Western Heritage Festival.

The event is sponsored by Sparks Museum & Cultural Center and it’s free to the public. The intent of the event is to draw local and regional residents together to gain an understanding and appreciation of traditional Nevada arts and culture through experiential learning. The main festival events will occur in the Lillard Railroad Park and on the sidewalks of Victorian Avenue between 14th Street and Pyramid Way in historic downtown Sparks, Nevada.

Drawing from a rich heritage of ranching, railroading and mining, the Western Heritage Festival allows visitors to experience the one-of-a-kind diversity of Northern Nevada and the Reno-Tahoe region. During the event, many authentic Cowboys poets will perform such as Walt “Bimbo” Cheney, one of the original Cowboy Poets, hailing from Elko, Nevada. Also, there will be a Fiddler’s Showcase. The line-up of Western musicians, singers and fiddlers brings together some of the region’s most talented, yet often, little-known performers. Native American Pow Wow drummers, the Eagle Wing Dancers and a Folkloric Dance Troupe round out the entertainment for the afternoon.

On-going activities and demonstrations throughout the day, include:

• Saddle Making
• Native American Basket Making
• Quilting
• Spinning
• Tule Duck Making
• Blacksmithing
• Lariat Basket Making
• Leather Stamping
• Children’s Dummy Roping
• Wild Burros
• Artists
• Crafters

Special Exhibits inside the Sparks Museum during the Festival are:

• Timeless Treasures: A Celebration of Native American Culture; and
• Wally’s World: The Loneliest Art Collection in Nevada.

This sounds like such a great event and if you’re like me and into Nevada and Western history, this is the event for you and your family. We hope you can attend.

For more information, visit www.westernheritagefestival.org.

What: Western Heritage Festival.

Who: Sponsored by Sparks Museum & Cultural Center.

When: Saturday, May 11, 2013, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Where: On the sidewalks of Victorian Avenue between 14th Street and Pyramid Way in historic downtown Sparks, Nevada.

Need to know: It’s free to the public. You can’t lose.

Extra Extra: This is a perfect event to let the little cowboy or cowgirl in your life to dress up and play like it’s a real life western.

Website/Contact Information: www.westernheritagefestival.org