A Nassau County museum in Glen Cove is setting aside a full weekend for hands-on history. Garvies Point Museum and Preserve in Glen Cove holds its Native American Fall Festival on Saturday, November 14, and Sunday, November 15, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days.

What visitors can do

Most of the festival is built around doing rather than watching. Every half hour from 10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., visitors can work with natural clay and make pottery. The museum notes that the natural clay stays at the museum, so this is about the making, not a piece to carry home.

Throughout the day there are hands-on history stations: using a fire bow, grinding corn, pump drilling, working on a dugout canoe and spear throwing. Campfire cooking demonstrations run alongside them.

At 11 a.m., 1 p.m. and 3 p.m., Chief Redfeather of the Montaukett Tribe leads storytelling and history sessions. The Montaukett are one of the Indigenous nations of eastern Long Island, and the sessions are the festival's scheduled centerpiece.

On display

The festival adds special displays to the museum's regular exhibits: wood and stone working tools, clothing and adornments, dried Native foods with popcorn and sampling, and medicinal and wild edible plants. The permanent galleries are open too, including the Native American exhibits, the geology and mineral exhibits, the Art of the Zuni Fetish showcase and a shell exhibit, Seashells: Nature's Inspired Design.

About the museum

Garvies Point is part of the Nassau County Department of Parks, Recreation and Museums. It is a research center for Long Island geology and for the Island's Native American archaeology, and it keeps reference collections of original artifacts and geological specimens used in its exhibits and school programs. The museum sits on a preserve with nature trails and a picnic area, and the Garvie family cemetery is on the grounds.

Tickets and directions

Festival admission is $15 for adults, $10 for seniors 62 and older and $8 for children 5 to 12. Children under 5 get in free with a parent. Parking is free. No dogs, and no collecting anywhere on the preserve.

Note the Sunday date: the museum is normally closed on Sundays, and the festival schedule opens it on November 15. Regular hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Garvies Point Museum and Preserve is at 50 Barry Drive in Glen Cove. The festival runs Saturday, November 14, and Sunday, November 15, 2026, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Questions go to the museum's education desk at 516-571-8011, and the full schedule is on the festival page.

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