Old Sturbridge Village, CowParade
June 21
The Cows are Coming Home June 21st!
Visitors at Old Sturbridge Village love seeing our heritage breed cattle at the Freeman Farm, and this summer, visitors can also enjoy artistically decorated cows throughout our scenic, historical landscape! Cows featuring designs focused on life in New England, American 250, and more will go “on parade” at the Village this summer. In addition to seeing the one-of-a-kind cows across the Village campus, visitors to the Village will have the opportunity to learn about the importance of cattle in early 19th-century New England, meet our heritage breed cows and oxen (including Devons, Shorthorns, and Randall Linebacks), and learn about the dairying process.
CowParade runs June 21st – September 28th; The Village is open Wednesday – Sunday plus Labor Day.
Purchase Tickets
As the season winds down in September, these unique artworks will be rounded up for a special auction. Proceeds from the sale will benefit Old Sturbridge Village, ensuring that this vibrant public art event continues to support our commitment to living history, animals, agriculture, trades and arts, and early life in rural New England.
Join us as we celebrate community, culture, creativity, and cows on the beautiful grounds of Old Sturbridge Village.
Stay tuned for more details about Opening Weekend on June 21st and 22nd, Dairy Days on July 19th and 20th, Artist Highlights, and Cow Teasers!
Fun Facts:
- CowParade is an international phenomenon featuring life-size cow sculptures painted by artists around the globe. 250 million people on 6 continents and 32 countries have seen CowParade!
- Past CowParades have been held in Austin, Barcelona, Boston, Bucharest, Chicago, Kansas City, Florence, London, Madrid, Milan, Monaco, Rio, Sao Paulo and more.
- A middling farm like the Freeman Farm at Old Sturbridge Village might have been 75 to 100 acres and had four to seven cows.
- According to records from the Massachusetts Board of Agriculture, there were more than 148,000 dairy cows in Massachusetts in 1855, plus oxen, steers, and heifers.
- A fair quality cow in 1830s New England would produce enough milk to make approximately 100 pounds of butter and 150 pounds of cheese a year.
