Flax Scutching Festival

Festival Location: Stahlstown, PA, USA

Festival State: Pennsylvanian Festivals

Festival Type(s): Folk Festivals, Bizarre Festivals

By: © Nelson Taylor 2009

In the early 1700s there were no Gap khakis and no Old Navy fleece jackets. Back then folks mostly made their own clothes. But today, flax scutching, or the art of creating linen from the flax plant, has been all but lost. Thanks to Stahlstown, who since 1907 has been taking people back to a simpler time with their Flax Scutching Festival held every September, the art of spending three days to make one shirt is coming back.

The funny thing here is that it's not the oldest flax scutching event in the nation. It's the second oldest. Oh, what it must feel like to be #2 in the flax scutching world. But don't let that fact keep you away. There's lots of out-dated fun for the whole family: wheat weaving, carving apple head dolls, quilting, leather crafting, gospel, outdoor worship and a mock Indian raid. This is a free event.