Tony Wioak History festival
Admission $5
The purpose of the History Festival is to provide educational and entertaining programs about Washburn area history. Programs are scheduled four times in the winter and four times in the summer. This is a collaborative program with the Washburn Area Historical Society.
How THe Festival started
The Washburn Heritage Association has been producing Tony Woiak Winter and Summer History Festivals since 2012. Local citizens, as well as tourists and visitors have come together for festive evenings of remembering and preserving our heritage. Each season consists of a series of four events occurring every two weeks in mid-winter and again in mid-summer. The presenters are both academic historians as well as regular folks with stories to tell.
The aim is always to give our audience an awareness of Washburn history in an accessible and entertaining format. We know it’s been a successful evening when audience members stick around following the presentation to share their own Washburn memories with one another. The festival venue, Harbor Table, is a warm and welcoming place for these community-building evenings.
But how did this history festival, which is much more than a formal “lecture series,” get started? And what does it take to bring the people and stories together? Read on, folks! In 2012, local historian Bob Mackreth, had a conversation with Carla Bremner who was at that time the WHA President. Bob and Carla talked about the possibility of starting a History Festival to honor recently deceased Tony Woiak who had written two books about Washburn’s history.
The idea was presented to the WHA board and was enthusiastically embraced, leading to 13 years of festivals with over 70 wide-ranging topics that celebrate local heritage and history.
