Colony Days adds Tent City After Dark to festivities
Tent City Dining Hall at the 2014 event served food and beer. The Dining Tent will serve food and beverages at during the day-time event on Saturday, Oct. 17 and Tent City After Dark that same day. Photo by Heather Young
– Atascadero’s annual Colony Days celebration will be held on Saturday, Oct. 17 in the downtown core centered around Sunken Gardens. The tribute to the city’s start by founder E.G. Lewis, will include a community parade along El Camino Real starting at 10 a.m. and followed by booths and activities in Sunken Gardens and a glimpse into the past while strolling through Tent City along Atascadero Creek.
Tent City at the 2014 Colony Days celebration. Photo by Heather Young
This year the celebration will include a new experience – Tent City After Dark. This “after-hours” event will include dinner, drinks and music in Tent City from 6 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 17.
“Tent City After Dark really took hold as a goal last year,” Tent City Committee member Terise Kelly said. “After the crowds go home, the cast and crew hang out, with some camping in the tents on site.There are lights hanging, and it is always so lovely under the trees, and tent city takes on a romantic tone. Playing music has become part of the deal, and it is a very special time in Tent City.”
So now the Tent City crew will share that with the community and raise some money to pay for the yearly reenaction. Kelly said that the money raised will help defray Tent City’s operating costs, some of which include professional security, entertainment, fencing, promotional materials, costumes and more.
Tickets to the event at $10 for adults and $5 for children. Kelly said that the event is family friendly and all ages are welcome; however, all children under 18 must be accompanied by an adult. Tickets may be purchased online www.colonydays.org.
Children and adults had the opportunity to make fresh apple cider in Tent City. Photo by Heather Young
“This year, Tent City After Dark will feature a Bluegrass Music jam, professionally led by Last Stage West,” Kelly said. “We foresee a large main stage, then some little groups in various tents playing and visiting. The public is invited to participate in the music jam.”
Tent City’s diner will serve food, beer, desserts and coffee. Wine and hard apple cider may also be sold. The entrance fee includes the concert and enjoying Tent City, food and drinks are available at an additional cost.
The original Tent City will include the typical activities, though this year Phoebe Apperson Hearst will come to Tent City, and ride in the parade. “E.G. Lewis was a huge proponent of women’s rights and publishing, and would have been contemporary with Phoebe,” Kelly said.
Tent City will also have a new exhibit — the Atascadero Seed Company. Kelly said there was a seed industry in Atascadero during Colony times that was expected to flourish; however it did not last long due to the need for irrigation.
Attendees got to experience what it’s like to wash laundry by hand with a wash board. Photo by Heather Young
Once again this year, Tent City will host 400 school children on Friday, Oct. 16 for an education on the history of Atascadero and life in the 1910s.
Atascadero was founded by E.G. Lewis, who purchased the land that makes up the city, from the United States Army for $1 million in 1913. The first Tent City was in 1914 when perspective residents visited the area to pick out their lot. The second Tent City was in 1915.
“Tour guides in Tent City include our young student players who do their job very capably,” Tent City Committee Chairwoman Dianne Greenaway said. “Visiting students, parents and teachers get to visit exhibitors in small groups, getting a very small-group, hands-on experience which can include dance and games. A period-appropriate sing along is part of the deal, plus meeting historical people like E.G. and Mabel Lewis.”
The large visiting group will be divided into smaller groups, which will tour the historic City Administration Building and the Atascadero Historical Society’s Colony Museum as well as Tent City.
“It is a little taste of what’s in store for those who come out the next day, Colony Days,” Greenaway said. “We let them know what kinds of activities will be happening that day in Tent City and at the parade and in the park as well.
The florist tent in Tent City. Photo by Heather Young
