BURNET— Enjoy two days of cultural exhibits, weapons demonstrations and Native American dances at the Hill Country Heritage Expo hosted by Inks Lake State Park. The event is free to the public with park entry fees and runs Oct. 5-6.

The fun is kicking off Friday with a teepee talk interpretive event at 6 p.m., then visitors can groove into the weekend at a historical dance from 7:30 p.m.- 9 p.m.

Saturday’s festivities begin at 10 a.m. with Dutch oven doughnuts and cowboy coffee and will continue until 5 p.m. Activities happening throughout the day include demonstrations of historic weapons such as the atlatl and flint knapping, displays of 19th century weapons, and Dutch oven cooking from 10 a.m. to noon. In Pioneer Town, visitors can learn the origins of tea, how to make rope, milk a cow and spin wool into yarn.

There will be specialperformances by the Comanche Nation Youth Dancers from Lawton, Oklahoma at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Don’t worry about leaving for lunch, Inks Lake has a new food truck and Kona Snow Cone stand that will be selling delicious food during the event.

Attendees also have a chance to visit with members of the Lipan-Apache Band, Buffalo Soldiers, Civilian Conservation Corps, National Wildlife Refuge system and Longhorn Caverns State Park, just to name a few.

A chili cookoff competition concludes Saturday’s activities. Visitors will be able to taste samples from the contestants and pick their favorites. Tasting will begin at 4 p.m. and winners will be announced at 5 p.m.

For more information about the event, contact Lindsay Pannell, 512-793-4689, [email protected].