Ocali Country Days
A living history festival celebrating 1800s pioneer Florida life at the Silver River Museum
About Ocali Country Days
Ocali Country Days is one of Marion County's most beloved annual events — a living history festival that transports visitors back to 1800s pioneer Florida. Held on the second weekend of November at the Silver River Museum inside Silver Springs State Park, the festival brings Florida's frontier heritage to life through hands-on demonstrations, authentic crafts, and historical reenactments.
The festival grounds come alive with the sights, sounds, and smells of pioneer life. Blacksmiths work at their forges, shaping red-hot metal into tools and hardware. Sugar cane is pressed and cooked down into syrup using traditional methods. Open hearth cooking demonstrations show how Florida settlers prepared meals over wood fires. Artisans demonstrate spinning, weaving, quilting, and other domestic crafts that were essential to frontier survival.
Visitors can tour authentic log pioneer cabins on the museum grounds, explore the Silver River Museum's collections of natural and cultural history, and take tram rides through the beautiful Silver Springs State Park grounds — all included with the $10 adult admission. Children 5 and under enter free, making this one of the most affordable family events of the season.
The name "Ocali" references the indigenous Timucuan people who inhabited the region long before European settlement. Their name for the area became the basis for "Ocala," connecting this pioneer history festival to the deeper roots of Marion County's past.
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Festival Activities
Blacksmithing
Watch blacksmiths forge tools and hardware at working forges using traditional techniques.
Sugar Cane Syrup Making
See cane pressed and cooked into syrup using methods unchanged for over a century.
Open Hearth Cooking
Pioneer cooking demonstrations over wood fires showing frontier-era meal preparation.
Spinning & Weaving
Fiber arts demonstrations including spinning wheels, looms, and quilting techniques.
Pioneer Cabin Tours
Walk through authentic log cabins and learn how Florida settlers lived in the 1800s.
Tram Rides & Museum
Tram rides through Silver Springs State Park and Silver River Museum tours included.
Event Details
Location
Silver River Museum, Silver Springs State Park
1445 NE 58th Avenue, Ocala, FL 34470
When
Second weekend of November (annually)
Saturday & Sunday, 9:00 AM – 4:00 PM
Admission
$10 adults / Free for children 5 and under
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Event information verified by the Only In Ocala team with data from the Silver River Museum. Updated March 2026.