You don’t have to say “Jordbruksdagarna” to know what it means: food, music, dancing, games, crafts, and much more at Bishop Hill. The annual, town-wide, fall festival (pronounced yord-brooks-DAH-ga-na) takes place Saturday September 28 and Sunday September 29, 2019. As always, there will be a variety of traditional craft demonstrations during the 48th Jordbruksdagarna (Swedish for “earth work days”). Artisans will make rope, process flax, carve wood, forge metal, and more. Vendors will also sell farm produce, pumpkins, pioneer popcorn, and more from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days.

At the Bjorklund Hotel from noon to 4 p.m. each day, there will be demonstrations on how to press and cook sorghum and bake hard tack. Visitors can try their hand at shelling corn, making bricks, pressing cider, and making a cornhusk doll.

Performances in the park include Hammer and Pick at noon and 2 p.m., and the Nordic Dancers at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday. The Burns Boosters 4-H club will host a petting zoo both Saturday and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Old-fashioned children’s games will also be conducted in the park at 2 p.m. each day. Historian, author and actor Brian “Fox” Ellis, in character as Jonas Olson, will perform at 11 a.m. at the park gazebo on Saturday only.

This is only a partial listing of all the activities that are going on in Bishop Hill during the last weekend of September. For more details, please call 309 927-3899 or email bhha@mymctc.net .