Fort Sisseton Historical Festival in South Dakota

An historical festival takes place at Fort Sisseton in the Fort Sisseton State Park in South Dakota every year during the first full weekend in June. This year it will take place from June 6th through the 8^th. This festival takes place on the grounds of historic Fort Sisseton, in South Dakota. You will feel like you are living in the 1800's as you experience frontier life as it used to be. You will see history reenacted each day of the festival as actors and volunteers tell the story of what happened on the prairie long ago.

Each day is filled with activities to both watch and take part in. At the authentic military camp you can observe the Flag Raising Ceremony each morning and watch reenactors go through drills, Gatling gun and cannon firing demonstrations. You'll see Calvary troops on horseback and learn what it was like to live at a fort. And don't miss the military costume ball. The period clothes are beautiful. They really put a lot of effort into showing authentic replicas throughout the Fort Sisseton Historical Festival.

The Rendezvous Camp is where traders gathered to trade furs and supplies during the 1800's. You can listen to tall tales of adventure in their camp and watch the traders show off their mountaineering skills as they tell you about their daily life. Rendezvous traders will compete in exciting black powder shoots and tomahawk throws each day. It really is a thrill to see.

Fort Sisseton State Park is the perfect backdrop for the rodeo at the corral. It's an exciting event that takes place everyday. Blacksmiths provide horse shoeing demonstrations and you can see what a chuck wagon looked like and how they helped the frontiersmen survive. There are also draft horse pulls and a horse driving competition.

Sunday morning you'll find several Worship Services to attend. There is a Catholic worship service, a non-denominational worship service, and a Military Worship service.