The Fort de Chartres Winter Rendezvous and Winterwalk will take place on Saturday, Nov. 6 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 7 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Fort de Chartres State Historic Site in Prairie du Rocher, Illinois.
The event is presented by Fort de Chartres State Historic Site and will include a weekend of colorful clothing, hand-made crafts, period music and delicious food.
Soldiers, trappers, traders and Native Americans (as portrayed by historic re-enactors) will gather at the rendezvous. They’ll trade goods, buy supplies, and some will take part in a shooting contest that requires them to walk through the woods and fire flintlocks at pop-up targets.
The rendezvous is fun both for the participants demonstrating frontier life from 1700 to1820 and for visitors spending an autumn day wandering among the tents, campfires and a historic French colonial fort. The event is open and free to the general public. This event is hosted by Les Coureurs des Bois de Fort de Chartres and sponsored by Les Amis du Fort de Chartres with additional Fort de Chartres special event support from an Illinois Humanities grant award in 2021-2022. *
For more event and participant information, please email [email protected] or visit fortdechartres.us/2021-winter-rendezvous. For Fort de Chartres State Historic Site information, contact (618) 284-7230.
The Fort de Chartres State Historic Site is operated by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources. The state’s historic resources contribute to education, culture, and the economy include ancient burial mounds, forts, and buildings erected by settlers, and homes connected to famous Illinoisans.
* Illinois Humanities, the Illinois affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, is a statewide nonprofit organization that activates the humanities through free public programs, grants, and educational opportunities that foster reflection, spark conversation, build community, and strengthen civic engagement.