Activities are set in Lower Town off Shenandoah Street in Harpers Ferry, W.Va. Events are free. For a complete schedule, go to www.nps.gov/hafe.
Schedule highlights
Friday, Oct. 16
• 7:30 to 9 p.m. - "John Brown's Body," a play by Stephen Vincent Benet performed by the Jefferson High School Drama Department.
• 6p.m. to 8p.m. - John Brown's March from the Kennedy Farm to Harpers Ferry (event sold out). 150 years ago to the moment, when John Brown led his "Provisional Army" to capture the federal arsenal at Harpers Ferry, in hopes of starting a slave uprising.
• 9 p.m. - Lantern-lit walk of Harpers Ferry that sets the stage of the eve of John Brown's raid.
Saturday, Oct. 17
• 10 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. - A variety of creative activities at the Family & Youth Tent.
• 10 a.m. to noon - Two-mile, park ranger-led hike. Learn about the people and buildings involved in Brown's raid.
• 11 a.m. - Matilda's Incredible Time Travel puppet show
• 11 a.m. to noon - Actor and historian Fred Morsell presents Frederick Douglass' famous 1881 address on Brown.
• 11:30 a.m. - New Orleans' Uptown Music Theatre presents children's musicals about Harriet Tubman and Althea Gibson.
• Noon to 1 p.m. - A living history event showing citizens, local militia, U.S. troops and voters reacting to Brown's raid.
• 2 to 2:45 p.m. and 4:30 to 5:15 p.m. - U.S. Marine Band concerts
• 3:30 to 5 p.m. - "Tattered Souls" world premiere with Delfeayo Marsalis. See story on page ??.
• 7 to 8:30 p.m. - "Sword of the Spirit," a play based on the original letters of John and Mary Brown and the final days of Brown's life.
Sunday, Oct. 18
• 9 to 11 a.m. - Walk of the Descendants. Commemorative walk follows the footsteps of Brown and his men during their raid on Harpers Ferry. Readings and moment of silence.
• 1 to 2 p.m. - Commemorative readings of Benet's Pulitzer-prize winning "John Brown's Body," featuring former Maryland Lt. Gov. Kathleen Kennedy Townsend, special guest readers, and music by the Maryland Symphony Orchestra String Ensemble.
• 2 to 3 p.m. - U.S. Marine Band concert and history talk
• 3 p.m. - Parade with Marine Band through Lower Town.
• 3:30 p.m. - Wreath-laying at engine house for the U.S. Marine who dies capturing Brown
• 5 p.m. - Choral performance of Negro spirituals, gospel, folk songs and jazz choral music from 1918 to the present
