Past Event
Bluegrass BBQ: Niall Toner Band & Gormacha
Sunday 21st June
This summer, our Bluegrass BBQs bring together live Irish music and great American BBQ for a celebration of music and food.
This event has passedthe stories of us
Date
Tuesday 2nd June to Sunday 27th September 2026
Time
10:00 to 17:00 (Closed Mondays)
This year is the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence and the 50th anniversary of the Ulster American Folk Park. To reflect these important occasions, we’re introducing a wide range of exciting events, exhibitions and activities for visitors.
The story of migration from Ulster to America that we tell here at the Ulster American Folk Park is not just history - it is a living connection between two nations and ‘the stories of US’.
Join us as we bring the diverse and compelling stories of Irish and Ulster-Scots emigrants and their impact on the development of the United States more vividly to life.
The STORIES OF US
During your visit, step into the stories of the people from here connected to America's founding era. Stories of historical figures that the Ulster American Folk Park exists to tell - including Thomas Mellon, John Joseph Hughes and Robert Campbell.
You'll also discover the experiences of women such as Thomas Mellon's mother, alongside the stories of the Bad Bridgets, as well as those of Indigenous and enslaved peoples whose lives were impacted by migration.
STORIES OF US is also a chance to bring new stories to life, including James McGavock, who played a role in the move towards US Independence; Charles Thomson from Maghera, one of the first signatories of the Declaration; and John Dunlap, a printer from Strabane who later went on to print the first copies of the Declaration.
These are all our stories, and without them, our understanding of our history is incomplete.
The rest of the visitor experience
As part of General Admission you can view a new Presidential Portraits display in our Emigrants exhibition and visit the newly opened Under the Hawthorn Tree exhibition, which tells the story of the Great Famine based on the book of the same name by bestselling Irish author, Marita Conlon-McKenna.
From hearing all about the 'Irish Wake' to sampling freshly baked soda bread and pancakes daily at the Mellon Homestead, and cornbread, fritters and apple butter on the Frontier. There'll be even more demonstrations in our exhibit buildings - blacksmithing, printing, quilting and spinning. Plus, you can pick up a special anniversary souvenir in our gift shop.
EVENTS
The STORIES OF US programme is part of the wider USA-NI250 commemorations and made possible thanks to funding from:
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Watch: A Tavern Fae Liberty
This short film, produced by Londonderry-based Blue Eagle Productions with funding from the Northern Ireland Screen Ulster-Scots Broadcast Fund, Ulster-Scots Agency and National Museums NI, dramatises the events around the 1775 Fincastle Resolves signed by the immigrant Ulster-Scots community in this small settlement in Virginia.
Filmed entirely on location at the Ulster American Folk Park, A Tavern Fae Liberty tells the story of local blacksmith William Crockett and the conflict he faces in the choice of loyalty to his community or his government. The film shows the groundswell of opposition in smaller communities that led to the drawing up of the American Declaration on Independence in July 1776 and subsequent American Revolutionary War.