In the United States, there’s a festival for everything from bugs to bologna, pickles to peanut butter. So why not a festival for flax?

The people of Stahlstown have been celebrating the humble plant since 1907 with the annual Flax Scutching Festival. In fact, some residents grow flax — the fibers can be processed and woven into linen — for the event themselves.

Returning after a pandemic year cancellation, the event will be held this weekend at Monticue Grove along Route 711 in Stahlstown. Hours will be 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Sunday.

Scutching is the process by which the stems of the flax plant are beaten to separate the usable fibers from the woody plant material surrounding them.

The festival itself is as unique as the plant that inspires it, says executive director Marilee Pletcher.

It’s the oldest flax scutching festival in the western hemisphere.

Personal touch

“There’s nothing commercial about us,” she said. “People come back to us for 20, 30, 40, 50 years. We’re a reunion for some folks.”

The personal touch starts with the planning.

“Each person on the committee is responsible for one part of the festival,” she said. “There’s a chairman for the hot dogs and hamburgers, there’s a chairman for the soup, there’s a chairman for the living history.

“I like to give the committee the ability to do what they need to do, and they do it well,” she said.

Much of the food is homemade in the on-site kitchen.

“People have been coming for our buckwheat cakes forever. It’s our own recipe,” she said. “We start on Thursday to prep for Saturday. We make our own starter.”

The cakes are served with a whole hog sausage, and regular pancakes also are available.

“We used to have someone farm the pig for us, but now we go to Bardine’s (Country Smokehouse in Crabtree),” she said. “We roast all our own beef for the roast beef sandwiches.”

The festival also is known for its homemade soups, including vegetable, beef vegetable, chicken noodle, ham and bean and chili, she said.

Festival staples such as hamburgers, hot dogs, potato salad, baked beans, funnel cakes and soft-serve ice cream round out the menu.

Old-time music

Visitors to the festival will be able to watch demonstrations of the complete, labor-intensive scutching process, along with seeing the fibers spun into thread and woven into fabric.

In addition to the food, there will be arts and crafts vendors, displays of antique farm equipment, entertainment and historical re-enactors.

Opening ceremonies will be held at 9:30 a.m. Saturday near the flagpole. Stahlstown United Methodist Church will host a worship service at 9 a.m. Sunday at the main stage.

The entertainment schedule includes:

Saturday

• 11:15 a.m. — Bits and Pieces, Civil War-era music with hammered dulcimer and guitar

• 1 p.m. — Patsy Cline tribute with Cathi Rhodes and Eric Harris as the voice of Johnny Cash

• 3:30 p.m. — Echo Valley, family group performing Americana and Celtic music

• 5:30 p.m. — Conflict at the Homestead, depiction of conflicts that occurred in the area in the late 1700s

Sunday

• 11:30 a.m. — SuperMoon String Trio, bluegrass music

• 2 p.m. — The Martin Sisters, three champion fiddlers (and sisters) performing Western swing music, with guitar and bass

• 4:30 p.m. — Conflict at the Homestead

Admission is $4, cash only, or free to children under 12. There is an ATM on the grounds.

Details: flaxscutching.org or Stahlstown Flax Scutching Festival on Facebook

Copyright ©2025— Trib Total Media, LLC (TribLIVE.com)