Colonial Pemaquid State Historic Site in New Harbor is hosting a 17th-century encampment on Saturday, July 29 and Sunday, July 30. Visitors are invited on this special weekend to take a step back in time and explore 17th century life on Maine’s coast at the 12th annual living history encampment on the site of one of New England’s earliest English settlements.

The encampment is open to the public from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday, with a special musical performance by Castlebay from 7 to 9 p.m. on Friday evening, July 28. Admission is free.

Reenactors will portray the lives of the English, French and Native people who lived, worked, and fought on these lands. Demonstrations will include fish processing, blacksmithing, coopering, rope making, cooking, and provincial militia firearms drills.

To open the weekend, the celebrated local duo Castlebay will present a program of music and songs popular in 17th century New England on Friday evening from 7 to 9 p.m. at the Contented Sole, located dockside at Colonial Pemaquid: 2 Colonial Pemaquid Drive.

Listen to the history of the Salem witch trials and their connections to Pemaquid and the Maine Frontier through a talk by renowned historian and historical archaeologist Emerson “Tad” Baker on Saturday, July 29 at 11 a.m. in the Colonial Pemaquid Museum. Drawing from his recently published book, A Storm of Witchcraft and the American Experience, he will explore the many connections between the Salem witch trials and the Maine frontier.

Find the full schedule on Maine’s Bureau of Parks and Lands web site www.parksandlands.com or for more information call Colonial Pemaquid State Historic Site at 207 677-2423; www.maine.gov/colonialpemaquid.

For a calendar listing: 17th Century Encampment, July 29 & 30, at Colonial Pemaquid State Historic Site, 2 Colonial Pemaquid Drive, New Harbor, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m. on Saturday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Sunday. Living history re-enactors will present a look back into the early Colonial history of the mid-coast through crafts demonstrations, firearms displays, maritime activities and more. And, on Friday evening, July 28 listen to early English music by Castlebay at the Contented Sole to open the weekend events.  www.maine.gov/colonialpemaquid.