The 25th Annual Batteau Festival runs from June 19 through 26, 2010. Boats begin arriving in Scottsville in mid-afternoon on Wednesday the 23rd and tie up at Scottsville's Ferry Street public boat landing. The public is welcome to come see the boats and their crews, who wear authentic costumes.
Scottsville Museum will be open on the 23rd from 1-8 pm.
For the history buffs among us, a batteau is a type of flat-bottomed boat invented here in Central Virginia by farmer Anthony Rucker (and named by Thomas Jefferson). The boats were flat-bottomed so they could navigate the Rivanna and James Rivers, which were shallow at certain times of the year. A batteau could normally carry about eleven hogsheads (a barrel that could contain about a thousand pounds of tobacco) to Richmond for sale.
The Batteau Festival begins each year at Lynchburg and ends at Richmond.
For more information on the Batteau Festival, see the website: http://www.batteau.org/
