Local College Invites All to PalmFest 2011

History buffs, art lovers and children of all ages won’t want to miss special activities planned by South Texas College for PalmFest 2011. Taking place Oct. 1 and 2, 2011 at the McAllen Convention Center, the annual celebration features a variety of interactive booths, music, shows and food.

“We are setting up the STC Heritage Village with the idea of making history come to life, and making the experience of learning about history fun,” explained Elizandro Munoz, STC history instructor. “The indoor historical exhibits will include a Mexican-American War exhibit on loan from the Palo Alto Battlefield National Historical Park, an American Revolutionary War uniform with period weapons, and my personal United States Civil War exhibit.”

The outdoor exhibits will consist of living history performers representing the 19th and early 20th century period, who will give a variety of demonstrations including musket preparation and the art of making arrow heads. An authentic teepee campsite will also be on view.

For those who enjoy creating and viewing art, STC’s Visual Arts and Music Department and Visual Arts and Music Club have a wide variety of fun activities planned for the whole family. For budding artists of all ages, participants can create their own works of art on pre-made paper mache and matte frames using coloring pencils and markers. Those interested in pottery can get a small amount of wet clay to create small, one-of-a-kind pinch pots. Also, original coloring books created with student prints will be available.

If you simply wish to enjoy the creative process without the hands-on work, music faculty and students will perform live at designated times throughout the festival and visual art students will give sketching demos.

And every young child, and all those young at heart, will enjoy the fun of “Three Men in a Tub,” “Lucy Locket,” “The Old Woman in a Shoe,” and much more as faculty and students from STC’s Child Development Program dress in costume and dramatize Mother Goose rhymes.

Stargazers can enjoy a little of the night sky during the day at the festival with the college’s traveling planetarium, which offers a glimpse of space through time.

In addition to STC’s activities, PalmFest attendees will enjoy a Pan de Campo Campsite, fajita cook-off, car show, El Mercado artisan and farmers market shopping and KidsVille, a special entertainment zone for children. For more information about PalmFest visit http://www.palmfest.com/index.asp.