9/20: Cedar Valley Settlers Celebration

As long as you don’t really have to go back and live under those conditions, it can be fun to explore how 19th-century frontier folk lived. That’s what the Cedar Valley Settlers Celebration and Music Festival is all about. From 11 a.m.-5:30 p.m. today, visitors to the Frostville Museum and Rocky River Nature Center at the Rocky River Metroparks Reservation (Valley Pkwy. and Columbia Rd. in North Olmsted, 440.734.6660, clevelandmetroparks.com) can dabble in some of the activities that were part of everyday life for early Ohioans: candlestick dipping, butter churning, basket weaving, contra and square dancing, old-time storytelling, and feasting on foods like fire-roasted turkey, apple cider and biscuits with fresh-churned butter. There’ll be strolling musicians playing traditional American folk-music genres all around the grounds, and a main stage at the Frostville Museum will feature headliners Bradley Walker — voted 2007 Male Vocalist of the Year by the International Bluegrass Music Association — at 2 p.m. and rural Louisiana-raised country/bluegrass singer Alecia “Hillbilly Goddess” Nugent at 4 p.m. Nugent, who released her debut album in 2004, brought Walker some attention when he performed a duet with her on her 2006 CD, A Little Girl … A Big Four Lane. Maybe they’ll reprise that tune, “When It Comes Down to Us,” at the festival. It’s all free. — Anastasia Pantsios