UA’s Moundville Park Hosts Native American Festival Oct. 5-8

MOUNDVILLE, Ala. — The University of Alabama will host its annual Moundville Native American Festival Oct. 5-8 at Moundville Archaeological Park.

The festival attracts 10,000-15,000 visitors each year, making it the largest festival of its kind in the Southeast. This year’s is the 28^th.

Along with volunteers, more than 200 Native Americans attend the festival as performers, vendors and demonstrators. Many are from tribes who connect to Moundville as an ancestral homeland.

The festival strives to entertain and educate visitors about the rich culture and heritage that makes Southeastern Indians unique.

The components of the festival will include a main Native American stage, children’s area, living history area, trader’s circle, art market and a space for food vendors. Demonstrators will also have their own area to do performances.

The Jones Archaeological Museum and the Knotted Bird Gift Shop will be open to visitors during festival hours, and there will also be a traditional Native American stickball game.

The performers on the main stage will include the Chikasha Hithla dance troupe, the band Injunuity, the Mystic Wind Choctaw Dancers, as well as Grayhawk Perkins and the Grayhawk band.

There will be a silent auction held Saturday at the end of the festival.

Festival hours are 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Admission is $12 for adults and $10 for students, and kids 5 and under get in free. For group reservations of 10 or more, attendees may phone 205-371-8732.

Described as the Big Apple of the 14th century, Moundville was America’s largest city north of Mexico 800 years ago. This National Historic Landmark, part of UA Museums, contains 320 acres with more than 20 preserved prehistoric Indian mounds, campgrounds, picnic areas, boardwalk nature trail, theater, Riverbend Lodge and a museum containing some of the finest Mississippian-era artifacts in North America.

The park is located 16 miles south of Tuscaloosa on Highway 69 in Moundville.