The Maryland County Tobacco Festival was founded in 1973. As a celebration of sheep and tobacco farmers to celebrate the area's tobacco harvest.
It is the longest running tobacco and sheep festival in the state of Maryland. It is also Maryland County's oldest annual parade.
This year we will be celebrating the 74th anniversary of the festival. Over the years the festival has been hosted by various community organizations.
What began as a gathering for fiber artists to buy the best fleeces from
sheep producers has grown to a premier event attracting tens of thousands
of visitors annually. The 25th anniversary Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival | sheepandwoolfestival.org
will feature special new events along with the usual array of demonstrations,
competitions, seminars and shopping opportunities . Whether you want to
improve your sheep operations, get access to the best in wool crafts or
just come out for a good time, the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival | sheepandwoolfestival.org has
a variety of activities just for you!
The long history of Maryland tobacco
Tobacco shaped the history and landscape of Maryland for the last 370 years.
Its history of aiding and harming human culture is very old. This thick-stalked, broad-leafed plant helped England's dreams of empire to take root along the Chesapeake Bay and nurtured our country's beginnings in present-day Virgina and Maryland.
Settled by the English in the 17th century and established in 1727, the town on the Port Tobacco River soon became the second largest in Maryland.
Agriculture was the primary factor shaping the early Maryland Chesapeake, and within that agricultural framework, tobacco was king.
Within a generation of the first Maryland settlers' landing at St. Clement's Island, they pushed the frontiers of the colony north and west toward the Potomac and Port Tobacco rivers.
Tobacco became the principal and characteristic crop of the Chesapeake region shortly after the establishment of the English colony of Maryland in 1634 and it was the dominant cash crop in Calvert County for more than 350 years.
Tobacco defined agriculture in Southern Maryland throughout this time period and, in turn, defined the cultural landscape of Calvert County.
In addition to shaping the physical form of settlement, tobacco also shaped the labor needs of the Chesapeake.
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Sponsored by the Maryland Sheep Breeders' Association, the Maryland Sheep
- Wool & Tobacco Festival is managed and implemented by a volunteer committee.
Help is needed the weekend of the Festival and throughout the year in a
variety of areas! Please contact the Festival office at (410) 531-3647 if
you would like to get involved.
Please report web site malfunctions (ONLY!) to [email protected]
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