…the joy of living in a simpler time…
When life was hard, but family and community made it all worthwhile. It’s smiles like these – from young and old – that you’ll see today, Sunday September 7th at the Harvest Fall Festival at the Glengarry Pioneer Museum in Dunvegan on Sunday, from 10 am to 4 pm.
In the header pic you can see the smiles of the children show off their prized zuchinis, dressed up as superheros. Below you can see photos from past years – Friends and families gather to watch the annual horse parade, led by the Quigley
Pipe Band and also men use a crosscut saw in “Man vs. Machine” competition.


For 24 years, families and friends from all across Glengarry, Cornwall, Ottawa and Montreal have returned to our little museum to usher in the autumn season… and experience in some small way how Glengarry’s early settlers worked and played. And this 25th anniversary of our Harvest Fall Festival will no doubt be the same.
There will be a host of crowd-pleasing attractions awaiting them, including:
- Demonstrations of ice cream making, quilting, rug hooking, wool spinning, blacksmithing, revolutionary farm machinery, and more.
- “Man vs. Machine” competition that pits a vintage gas-powered wood saw against two people and a crosscut saw.
- Exposition of an old belt-driven machine that foreshadowed today’s booming Alexandria Moulding. It was used to mill the wooden mouldings seen in so many period homes.
- Hugely popular horse-powered parade of buggies, wagons and carts led by the Quigley Highlanders Pipes and Drums.
- Local artisans, live music, kids’ activities and old time games, food booth with homemade pie, beer garden, and the oldest bar in Eastern Ontario.
- Rooster crowing competition, enter your most handsome rooster and allow him to make you proud with his crow.
- Zucchini contest, bring your best dressed and most unique zucchini to the Harvest Tent for submission and chance to win a prize.
- Then there’s our “Harvest Sale” fundraising tent. Its tables will be groaning with breads, pies, squares and other baked goods, jams, jellies, preserves, fresh fruit, vegetables, plants and more… all donated by local families and all available for purchase.
Another crowd favourite is our “Cow Pie 50/50” raffle, where a dairy cow’ digestive system picks the winner. This year, people are encouraged to buy their tickets ($10 for one or three for $25) beforehand – online – by visiting the Fall Festival page of the museum’s website. Once again, there will be two draws in which the lucky winners will receive up to $1,125 each.
Fall Festival admission is $12 per person ($6 for museum members and students aged 5 to 17). There’s also a special family rate of $30 ($15 for member families). Children four and under are free. Tickets can be purchased online in advance, or cash, debit and credit cards are accepted at the entrance gates.
The Glengarry Pioneer Museum is located in Dunvegan, Ontario at the intersection of County Road 24 and County Road 30. Parking is available on the road, or nearby in the Kenyon Presbyterian Church parking lot. ‘Accessibility Permit’ parking is also available.
Visit: www.glengarrypioneermuseum.ca for more information about the museum.