The week will begin with a historic Church Tour on Wednesday, June 17th during the evening. The tentative hours are 5 to 8 p.m. The Churches will be ‘old & new’ in the Potosi area.

Thursday, June 18th from 3 to 6 p.m., the Potosi Elks Lodge 2218 will host an ImpactLife blood drive with special Festival t-shirts for donors.

Also on Thursday, the Mine au Breton Historical Society has planned a special evening of tours with the Society’s properties open for the public to see and enjoy.

The Mine au Breton Historical Society will have the Long-Banta House open, the old Presbyterian Church, which serves as a museum, the Casey Cabin and the Lucas House at the Heritage Park as well.

The plans for Thursday’s tours are proposed to be 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. with guides at each location. This will be an opportunity for those who are involved in festival activities to take some time to see the properties and exhibits within each location.

The Moses Austin Heritage Festival celebration will start early this year with food vendors, exhibitors and music on Friday around the Washington County Courthouse and the Mine au Breton Historical Society’s properties as Friday, June 19th is ‘Juneteenth’ and the Courthouse will be closed with the Festival having use of the parking lots and courtyard.

Billy Joe Boyer’s Memorial Car Show will be on Friday afternoon, into the evening, beginning at 4 p.m. Cars, trucks and bikes will be exhibited at the Washington County Courthouse and North Mine Street area.

Saturday, June 20th, the Festival schedule has the traditional parade at 11 a.m. with music following. Vendors of all kinds will be set up downtown and around the streets of the Courthouse and

Long-Banta House as well as the Town Square Park & Amphitheater Washington County.

Traditional crafters and displays will be set up at the Heritage Park, where the Mine au Breton Historical Society will be baking bread in the ‘Four a Pain’ oven. A great tradition that brings lines of folks to the park.

At 4 p.m. Dennis Stroughmatt will be playing traditional French historical music, much of which he learned from Old Mines.

A question and answer session will be the prelude to the Historic Pageant that will be presented by an ensemble of students and public entertainers.

‘A Living History of Washington County’ is being produced with the help of Missouri Humanities, to recreate some of the historic pageant that was performed for the bicentennial of Potosi in 1963.

Also, that evening, a ‘Barnyard Boost Bash Truck Pull’ has been set for the Potosi Lions Club Washington County Fairground. The truck pull is set to begin at 5 p.m. with food and refreshments. Admission is set at $15 for 13 and up.

Lots more is being planned. Watch for details. Vendors are welcome, please contact Kris by text 573-210-7986 or email [email protected] for more information.