“Western Showcase” is a more than an appropriate name for the Buggy Barn’s fifth annual autumn festival on the grounds of the facility located just north of Blanco on Highway 281.

The two-day Hill Country Western Showcase is scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 4-5. Cowboy church and breakfast will take place at 8 a.m. on Sunday.

“It’s an event for everyone, young and old,” General Manager Amanda Smith said. “We’re trying to bring a lot of fun and excitement. We’re trying to make it a weekend where people will want to stay and see it all.”

Smith’s father, Dennis Moore, is the owner of The Buggy Barn Museum.

The weekend will be filled with activities and entertainment, including Dan Mink, known as the Rhinestone Roper. His show is described as an exciting, interactive Wild West traveling show that features trick roping, bullwhip cracking, knife and tomahawk tricks and a pair of horses who also entertain the audience.

Mink has interwoven his “world-class skills, horsemanship, signature cowboy humor and knowledge of Old West lore into a show full of music, laughs and audience participation,” information reads.

Also headlining the weekend will be the Bandera Cattle Company, which is a group of re-enactors who perform various skits and weave humor into their performances.

Blanco’s own Rebecca Henricks, a fifth-generation Texan, also will sing throughout the weekend. She combines a unique blend of bluegrass and traditional country.

“She will make you feel right at home with her charm, talent and southern hospitality,” information about Henricks from the Buggy Barn states.

“She just released a new CD,” Smith said. “The cover for it was shot right here at the Buggy Barn.”

Other scheduled performers during the two-day showcase are Texas singer, songwriter, historian and musician K.R. Wood; cowboy poet Geoff Shaffer; and country singer, musician and yodeler Mikki Daniel.

A specific schedule of performances will be released closer to the actual showcase dates.

“All of our entertainment will be great,” Smith said.

But entertainment will be only a portion of the festivities at the Buggy Barn Museum over the two days. Tours, carriage rides, demonstrations, vendors and good, old-fashioned chuckwagon cooking also highlight the slate of activities.

On Saturday only, lunch will be served for $10 a plate and will be cooked chuckwagon style using Dutch ovens and open fires.

“It’s a big draw,” Smith said, adding that the meal “normally sells out.”

The menu will be announced later in October.

Tours of the museum and western town on the grounds will be available both Friday and Saturday as will chuckwagon, blacksmith and taxidermy demonstrations. Rides will be available on some of the Buggy Barn’s historic carriages, and children will enjoy traveling throughout the grounds on JJ’s barrel train.

Several vendors also will set up shop and sell various items, including clothing, jewelry and other crafts and products. Smith said about 10 to 15 vendors participated last year, and she expects about the same number this year. The museum also has its own gift shop.

On Friday, children from schools throughout the Hill Country will visit and tour the facility. Smith said she sent invitations to a plethora of schools, both public and private.

“We invite them for free,” she said. “We want children to experience everything we have here, as well as educate them about the history of what we have here. Education is our main focus, but they also will have fun.”

Smith said the Hill Country Western Showcase was started five years ago because “we wanted to bring something to the community.”

“We’ve always wanted to be involved with Blanco and the surrounding area,” she said. “And, we’ve always wanted to give something back. We want to keep this kind of history alive and prove it’s fun.”

The cost to attend the showcase is $5 per person. Children under age 5 are free.

Some of the money raised will help fund scholarships the Buggy Barn presents to students at the end of the academic year.

“We’re growing,” Smith said. “This (showcase) is one of the many things we do. It will be a fun weekend for the entire family.”

The Buggy Barn Museum is located at 1915 Highway 281.

The Buggy Barn Museum is family owned and operated. It houses more than 140 buggies, carriages and wagons, many of which are unique.

Some of the carriages have been featured in movies and television shows.

The facility is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization that is “dedicated to providing a unique educational opportunity to step back in time to the late 1800s and early 1900s and view the carriages wagons and buggies that played such a significant role in the country’s history, development and heritage.”

Expanding the museum’s collection and promoting the preservation of these modes of horse-drawn transportation and commerce are two of the museum’s primary goals.