Kings Landing to celebrate 50 years this summer

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For decades, Kings Landing has been a portal back in time to as far back to the 19th century, a time capsule of the greater Fredericton area. This summer, the living history museum will celebrate a historic milestone of its own.

Kings Landing is celebrating its 50th anniversary this season from June 1 to October.

Chelsey Gould, communications and marketing specialist for Kings Landing, said staff have lots planned for this summer, including an official celebration on July 20.

“Being here for 50 years, we built quite a legacy in New Brunswick. We’re a destination that many New Brunswickers and people from elsewhere have visited, absolutely fallen in love with, and have spent wonderful visits here with us,” said Gould. “We spent a lot of time telling the stories of New Brunswick’s past (and) New Brunswick history, but this year, we’re really taking the time to tell our own stories of our own past.”

Kings Landing has yet to release details of its July 20 festivities, but plans have been in the works for the past two years.

One big change coming this season is that Kings Landing will return to a seven-day-a-week schedule. It’s spent the past few years operating five days, following the COVID-19 pandemic.

Every weekend, it will have themed events based on the families and buildings in the village, covering history from 1820-1925, said Gould. The overnight camps will also return.

“We’ve been basically interviewing people who have been involved with King’s Landing’s past,” she said. “Then we’ll also, in the exhibit, have a real background on how Kings Landing came to be.”

That story started with the building of the Mactaquac Dam, when several heritage buildings were under threat to be sunk below the new river height, so were moved to the new spot.

It was eventually decided to turn the place into a museum of living history, opening in 1974, 20 minutes west of Fredericton.

Queen Elizabeth ll and Prince Philip visited Kings Landing in 1976 during their royal visit to New Brunswick. Over the years, it’s become a major tourist attraction in New Brunswick and the greater Fredericton area with over 90,000 artifacts, costumed interpreters, and various farm animals.

Gould said going forward, one thing they’ll be focus on to continue operations down the line is the continued hiring of people, and keeping folks involved.

“You step back into the past, you’ll leave modern life, and you walk into the village,” she said.  “It’s a beautiful place to be on the river.”