News Release

Overmountain Victory Celebration 2022

A historic reenactor in traditional colonial garb stands talking to visitors behind a table with antique colonial pieces

NPS Image

News Release Date: September 12, 2022

Contact: Blue Ridge Parkway External Affairs, 828.348.3420

(Gillespie Gap, NC) – National Park Service staff announced today they are once again hosting the annual Overmountain Victory Celebration on the grounds of the Museum of North Carolina Minerals at milepost 331 on the Blue Ridge Parkway from September 15 to 17, 2022. This living history encampment celebrates the crossing of the Blue Ridge Mountains by the Overmountain Men on their way to a battle with British forces at Kings Mountain that turned the tide of the Revolutionary War in favor of the forces for Independence. 

School Days on Thursday and Friday, September 15 and 16, 2022, are open to local school and home school groups by reservation. School Days activities are available from 9:00 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., with groups rotating between 25-minute stations featuring elements of colonial life and the story of the Overmountain Men. To make a reservation for a school group, email e-mail us.   

On Saturday, September 17, 2022, the encampment is open to the public beginning at 10:00 a.m. Guests are invited to stroll through the encampment taking part in various demonstrations and visiting with re-enactors. Additional scheduled presentations include:  

10:30 am  A Period Exposition on the Science of Gunpowder 

Attend a lecture by a volunteer in the character of English chemist and natural philosopher Joseph Priestly regarding the science of gunpowder.        

11:30 am  Taverns 

Historian and author Michael Hardy will discuss the importance of taverns in the social, political, and travel lives of colonial America.   

12:30 pm  Medicinal Plants 

Remedies for sickness, injuries, and other ailments were found in the plants of the forests, fields, and gardens of the Colonial era.  

The event concludes Saturday evening with candlelight encampment tours from 7:00 - 9:00 p.m.  

In the fall of 1780, during the Revolutionary War, the American fight for independence was struggling. British Major Patrick Ferguson demanded allegiance to the King of England from the people living in the Carolina backcountry and the Appalachians. Referred to as the Overmountain area, these settlements were west of, or "over" the Appalachian Mountains. At that time, this was the boundary dividing the thirteen American colonies from the western frontier. The Overmountain area included parts of North Carolina, Virginia, and what is now Tennessee.  

The Blue Ridge Parkway would like to express their sincere thanks to the Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation for their tireless support in enabling the Overmountain Victory Celebration event. Overmountain Victory Celebration | Blue Ridge Parkway Foundation (brpfoundation.org)

More information about the Overmountain Victory Celebration is available on the Blue Ridge Parkway’s website at https://www.nps.gov/blri/learn/historyculture/overmountain-men.htm