Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, August 11, 1993 TAG: 9308130193
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE:
DATELINE: LENGTH: Short
Find out at the New River Herb Festival, and while you are there, take a step back in time.
The Aug. 28-29 festival will be held at Plant Plant, a Christiansburg nursery. The festivities, though, will be more like a Renaissance fair.
The Society for Creative Anachronism will provide jousting matches and combat demonstrations. Costumed dancers will show the courtly steps of a day gone by. Participants, by the way, are invited to don medieval-looking costumes, too.
Artisans, their tents turning the two-acre nursery into a country bazaar, will bring a host of herbal wares for the kitchen and the medicine chest. For the boudoir there will be herbal massages, soaps and powders.
The music will be eclectic and more modern, but Celtic strains are promised. Eight groups are slated to perform.
A special feature of the two-day event will be the free seminars. Topics will emphasize herbs, but there is a dash of information on Celtic heritage thrown in. Speakers will teach how to identify, dry, cook with, heal with and make potpourri and crafts from herbs. One promises to tell how to preserve seeds, while another will share secrets of attracting hummingbirds and butterflies.
Half a dozen food booths will offer lunch, snacks, beer and wine. Admission is $4 for adults and $1.50 for kids. The event is sponsored by the New River Valley Herb Growers Association.
by CNB