Since 1979 visitors have flocked to Walhalla every October to celebrate the town’s German heritage.
Click the link above for a digital exhibit produced by Oconee History Museum. It gives viewers the background history of Walhalla’s German settlement and the reasons for Walhalla’s Oktoberfest celebration.
Oconee History Museum, in partnership with Lake Hartwell Country, has curated a digital exhibit series called “Why We Celebrate” to give more insight into three of Oconee County’s most popular festivals.
In addition to Walhalla’s Oktoberfest, you can also find out Why We Celebrate Mountain Rest’s Hillbilly Day and Westminster’s Apple Festival. Each of these digital exhibits includes photographs, programs, memorabilia, oral histories and much more showcasing the history and origins of each festival.
“We have had so much fun with this digital exhibit series. I am always amazed at the amount of community pride, hard work, and dedication that these festivals require. The fact that community volunteers continue pulling off festivals like these year after year for 40, 50, and even 60 years is remarkable and very telling of Oconee County’s character.”
Oconee History Museum Director/Curator Leslie Hagerty
Funds for Why We Celebrate were awarded to Oconee History Museum through a Growth Grant from South Carolina Humanities. Funding for the Growth Grants were provided by the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) as part of the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.
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