Buffalo Bill Historical Center launches summer season

From the museum's Plains Indian exhibit.

Expanded Hours, New Family Festivals

CODY, WY (April 27, 2010) - The Buffalo Bill Historical Center (BBHC) celebrates the launch of summer season with expanded hours and events honoring the spirit of the American West. The Center is located on Circle the Continental Divide Driving Tour, which is one of the Top 10 Scenic Drives in the Northern Rockies (www.DrivetheTop10.com).

The Center's expanded hours will begin on Saturday, May 1, and will be open to the public from 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. daily through Sept. 15, 2010. To commemorate the first day of summer season on May 1, BBHC will host a "Family Fun Day." The event features gallery presentations, interactive demonstrations and an unveiling of "Splendid Heritage: Perspectives on American Indian Art" exhibition. Family-friendly admission rates are available and children 17 and younger admitted free.

The Historical Center will host additional programs, exhibitions and events throughout the summer, including:

   Traces of Tradition Festival: How we live, work, and play in the West, features western music, demonstrations, folk arts, western cooking, family entertainment and a traditional Sunday gospel music session, "Trail to Glory." The festival is May 7 - 9, and ages 17 and younger are admitted free on May 8 and 9.
   Art of the Horse: An Invitational Western Gear Makers Show kicks off the Traces of Tradition Festival and features 33 saddle and horse equipment makers. The show runs from May 7 - June 6 and opens at 6 p.m. Friday with a free public reception featuring keynote speaker Bill Reynolds, noted cowboy scholar, writer, and editor of the Paragon Foundation's journal Cowboy Way. After the reception, the Center will host a western dance with Wylie and the Wild West; tickets are $5 for BBHC members and $7 for non-members.
   Buffalo Bill's Wild West Warriors: Photographs by Gertrude Käsebier exhibition, in cooperation with the Smithsonian Institution, will be on display from April 10 - August 8.
Splendid Heritage: Perspectives on American Indian Art exhibition, will be on display from May 1 - October 31.
   Quilters, a play produced and directed by Lynne Livingston Simpson, will run from July 17 - August 7.
   Plains Indian Museum Powwow, will take place on June 19 - 20.
   National Day of the American Cowboy Celebration, is on July 24.
   Buffalo Bill Invitational Shootout, which occurs on August 12 - 14.

The City of Cody also holds summer celebrations including, Cody Wild West Days, Buffalo Bill Top Notch Horse Sale, Wild West Show concert series and a variety of community activities. For more information on Buffalo Bill Historical Center's events, exhibitions, membership benefits, admission rates and more, please visit www.bbhc.org.

About Buffalo Bill Historical Center
Committed to connecting people with the Spirit of the American West, the Buffalo Bill Historical Center weaves the varied threads of the western experience-history and myth, art and Native culture, firearms technology and natural history-into the rich panorama that is the American West. The Center, an Affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution, operating its spring schedule of 10 a.m. - 5 p.m. through April 30, moves to summer hours of 8 a.m. - 6 p.m. May 1. For general information, call 307.587.4771 or visit www.bbhc.org.

About The Top 10 Scenic Drives in the Northern Rockies
The Top 10 Scenic Drives in the Northern Rockies' initiative began in 2005 after the International Selkirk Loop and Northwest Passage Scenic Byway joined the Beartooth Highway and Hells Canyon Scenic Byway in achieving All-American Road (AAR) designation - the highest designation in the U.S. National Scenic Byway system. The destination is built upon its four AARs, four connecting Historic Trails and 19 National Parks, Monuments and Recreation Areas, and includes more than 100 key partners, including State, Provincial, Regional, Local and Tribal organizations, as well as State and Federal Agencies and private businesses, organizations and individuals. For more information about The Top 10 Scenic Drives in the Northern Rockies, please visit our Web site at www.drivethetop10.com.

This is part of the online edition of Henry's Fork Country.

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