Join us at the 38th annual CCC Festival! The park preserves wilderness, history and the legacy of the CCC and the festival celebrates history, culture, art, nature, music, sharing traditions and skills.

The festival is free with park admission ($6 per vehicle up to 8 people, $4 per vehicle with 1 person and $2 per bicyclist and pedestrian) except for tram, pony and carriage rides, food and purchases.

Learn all details on the Friends of Highland Hammock Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/fhhsp) or visit https://CCCfest2025.eventbrite.com. Information is updated as details are confirmed.

Talks are held in the CCC Museum:
· Noon: Wildlife Biologist Joe Guthrie, Archbold Biological Station and Florida Wildlife Corridor: The Florida Wildlife Corridor and Film The Wild Divide. This 45-minute program introduces the Florida Wildlife Corridor and includes an 18-minute documentary film of the 2019 Ranch to Ridge Expedition, a seven day trek from Highlands Hammock State Park to the Nature Conservancy's Tiger Creek Preserve in Polk County.
· 1 p.m.: CCC Museum Curator David Schmidt, Highlands Hammock State Park: The Appalachian Trail and the Blue Ridge Parkway. This 30-minute program examines the roles of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in these New Deal Era projects.
· 2:15 p.m.: Archaeologist John Goss, Bradenton, Florida: Prehistoric Native American Corridors and Waterways in Florida. This 45-minute program explores historical and archaeological accounts of Native American transportation corridors in primarily southern Florida. The effects of these features on trade and migration are, in some cases, unique to Florida.

Children will enjoy:
- 1 p.m. Discovery Nature Walk (children 5 to 13) to explore and learn about plants, animals, habitats, niches, food chains, animal adaptations and more! Interpretive Volunteer Marilyn Blair, the hour-long hike will depart from the Wild Orange Trail behind the Hammock Inn.
- Play traditional games, including cat's cradle, hopscotch, jacks, tiddlywinks, pickup sticks, and marbles. Take a CCC Festival Scavenger Hunt geared for families with children of all ages. Match birds, butterflies, reptiles and mammals within the murals of four habitats found in the park. • Engage in nature exhibits.
- VIP Custom Carriage will give children a thrill riding on a huge horse, an American Mammoth Jackstock Donkey, or a very tall mule ($5 per child) at the Owl Pavilion. Adults and families may enjoy wagon rides ($10 per person).

Arts and crafts vendor, demonstrations and displays by government agencies and organizations concerned with local history or nature and the environment are ongoing.
· Florida Artist Blacksmith Association (FABA) Blacksmiths/Frank Teele and Scott Teele with smaller metal works for sale. A silent auction of a wall sculpture (15 inches high x 18 inches long) of a fish made of steel and live oak wood. The silent auction will close at 3:30 pm.
· Florida Highwaymen Paintings by Richard Edwards from Ft. Pierce
· Pine Needle Basketry by Connie Nunn
· Karen Smoke Quilting: Traditional Quilting with items for sale
· Archbold Biological Station: Skull and Bones Display
· Native American Artifacts Display by Archaeologist John Goss
· The Nature Conservancy - Tiger Creek Preserve with trivia wheel activity
· Highlands County Audubon Society
· Florida Forest Service: Wildfire Prevention
· United States Department of Agriculture (USDA/ APHIS): Information about citrus, insects and animal and health plant inspection
· IFAS – Highlands County Master Gardeners: Florida Landscaping Information
· Lake Kissimmee State Park Cow Camp Reenactment Exhibit
· Avon Park Historical Society
· Sebring Historical Society
· Desoto County Historical Society
· Saws and Hand Tools from the 1900s to 1940s, Collection of Greg Blakeley

Be sure to enjoy:
· The Golden Era Jazz Band playing Great American Songbook numbers from the 1920s to 40s. (10 to 11 a.m. and 11:30 am to 12:15 p.m.)
- Guided 90-minute tram tours depart from the Hammock Inn through densely shaded hammock, a cypress swamp, open pinelands and a wetland of bay and cypress trees where alligators, turtles, herons, ibis, egrets and the occasional otter may be observed. Cost is $15, $10 for children six to 12, free for children five and younger. Purchase tickets the day of the tour or one day in advance. Call the Hammock Inn (daily 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.) at 863-402-0061 for tram departure information.
- Enjoy Highlands Hammock State Park where wilderness and history are preserved. The park has more rare and endemic species than any other Florida State Park and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Highlands Hammock is known for its magnificent hammock and the Civilian Conservation Corps Museum. To help lift the United States out of the Great Depression, Franklin D. Roosevelt established the CCC in 1933 as part of the New Deal Program.

Category: Festivals | Festival