Log cabins, a large teepee and people dressed in period attire wandering about Northbridge Mall this weekend might make people feel as if they’ve entered the Big Island Rendezvous & Festival.

And that’s exactly the point as the Big Island Rendezvous hosts its 18th annual Historical Faire Saturday and Sunday in the mall.

“This is the only chance other than the Rendezvous to see these people and get a taste of American history,” said event organizer Perry Vining. “It’s kind of a reacquaintance.”

The Historical Faire will feature more than 50 tables of vendors from four states peddling wares of the 1800s, including pottery, woodwork, colonial crafts, jewelry and clothing, just to name a few.

In addition to the vendors and several live demonstrations, including the New Ulm Battery cannon drill, the event will offer up a handful of new exhibits, as well.

Bruce Lanseth of Houston will present a log cabin building workshop at the homesteader’s cabin, located near the mall’s food court. Adults can learn about building homes of the 1800s and children will be invited to get in on the action, helping assemble and disassemble a smaller log cabin, with pieces cut to fit like together like very large lincoln logs.

Candle dipping classes will allow youngsters the opportunity to make, and take home, their own candles.

Also new to this year’s event are Ron Meyer, co-owner of Piggy Blues in Austin, selling hot loaves of freshly baked bread along with Kim Olson of Albert Lea, selling homemade preserves and salsa. A lifestyles demonstration of how Native Americans lived from day to day and Dennis Souba of Omaha displaying quill and leather work are also new to this year’s event.

Those with a hankering for kettle corn will be in luck, as the Knights of Columbus will be selling this popular snack of yesteryears outside the mall entrance by Plaza Morena.

A preview of what’s to come at the Big Island Rendezvous and Festival, slated for Oct. 1 and 2, Vining is already planning for the big event, which will celebrate 25 years this fall. For the first time in several years, Larry Veltiz, who made the teepees seen in the classic film, “Dances With Wolves,” will be at the festival in October with his buffalo hide lodges.

If you go

What: Historical Faire

Where: Northbridge Mall

When: 10 a.m. until 6 p.m. Saturday and noon until 4 p.m. Sunday

Who: All ages

Cost: Free