Harvest Weekend: Traditional Rural Skills and Celebrations

26 & 27 September 2026

Join us for a special Harvest Weekend and discover the rich traditions of our farming history. This family-friendly event is packed with live demonstrations, hands-on heritage skills, and the sights and sounds of the countryside.

Experience the sights and smells of a traditional harvest as you explore rural crafts, heritage displays, and working demonstrations.

Tickets Available Soon
A crowd of people look at a group of rare breed sheep in a traditional pen made from hand-crafted wood

Discover Historic Rural Life in the Chilterns

Explore a traditional working farm, with vintage tools and machinery from a bygone age.

Learn about the threshing machine and how it separates grain from straw as it would have done over a century ago, and find out more about the Swing Riots, a pivotal moment in agricultural history.

See apple pressing in action, turning orchard fruit into fresh juice.

Watch our talented sheepdogs at work, skilfully herding our Oxford Down sheep—a rare breed with a proud local history.

Meet the Heavy Horses and Take a Carriage Ride

A morris dancer dressed in a flowery hat and playing an accordion is surrounded by fellow morris men

Celebrate the Season

Enjoy the energy and colour of traditional Morris dancing.

Step inside Henton Chapel to see our beautiful Harvest display, created with produce grown in our own gardens and allotments, celebrating the bounty of the season.

Watch as our traditional bakers shape and bake a magnificent harvest loaf.

Vintage Agricultural Machinery on Display

Heritage Crafts & Skills

Don’t miss the fiery forge, where our blacksmith will be at work shaping metal using traditional techniques that have been passed down through generations.

Visit the Bodger’s Area to learn how bodgers once crafted wooden chair legs in the woods, and stop by our charcoal kiln and saw pit to see how woodland resources were once used for everything from fuel to furniture.

Watch flax spinning demonstrations and discover how a humble crop is turned into a useful material.

There will also be a small number of craft & produce stalls.

A man using wooden tools to craft chair legs out of logs sits in a woodland

Watch Highlights

The Harvest Weekend at Chiltern Open Air Museum is an annual celebration of the autumn season. Take a look at our video for highlights from the 2024 event.

A woman dressed in 18th century clothing with a straw hat places a shaped piece of dough onto a wooden padle so that the man standing next to her can place it into a traditional oven in the 18th century cottage they are both standing in

Event Information

  • This is a Premium Admission Day

  • Free entry for COAM Annual Members

  • Activities take place between 11am and 4pm

Tickets available soon

General Museum Information

With 45 acres at your disposal, there is plenty to explore, including woodlands and an exciting adventure playground

Dogs on short leads are welcome but must not go inside residential buildings

Light lunches, drinks, cakes and snacks are available to purchase from our Skippings Barn

Sensory backpacks are available to borrow (subject to availability)

Mobility scooters are available to borrow (subject to availability - pre-booking is advised)

Lots of free parking

Photography and filming may take place during this event for the Museum archives and publicity. These photographs and video footage may appear in promotional or educational materials including on our websites, social media pages, newsletters, or in newspapers and magazines. If you do not wish to be photographed, please speak to the photographer.

See our events calendar