A student works a plow during a visit to the Peinhardt Living History Farm. The public is invited to the annual Farm Day event Saturday.

The third Saturday in October may be known around Alabama as the day when the Tide and the Vols square off, but in North Alabama, it’s also known as a more locally-flavored harbinger of fall: the day when thousands of residents and tourists descend on the Peinhardt Living History Farm for the annual Peinhardt Farm Day.

Set to kick off at 9 a.m. Saturday, the one-day event features tons of hands-on activities and demonstrations that take guests back to the way agricultural life used to be. From milking cows to making brooms to watching a blacksmith hammer out a plow blade at the farm’s old-time forge, Farm Day is a museum in motion; a way to experience an earlier era that simply can’t be duplicated by looking at pictures or reading a book.

And it’s popular, too — really popular.

“We have grown, grown, grown,” said Sabrina Hudson, who helps coordinate the activities that fund the nonprofit Peinhardt Living History Farm Foundation. “Last year, close to 4,000 folks came through. “We’ve been having the school days part of our calendar for the past three weeks, which enlists almost 50 local volunteers who show the children how 1930s and 1940s farm life used to be.

“It’s geared mostly toward third grade, and we’ve had classes not just from Cullman County, but from all over North Alabama come through. We show them how people sustained themselves; how they lived: how they used animals to help with the farm, and how they picked crops in the field and went to the forest to harvest trees and make shingles for their houses.

“It’s very hands-on, and a lot of kids end up saying it’s the best field trip they’ve ever been on.”

This year’s Farm Day runs from 9 a.m. until 3 p.m., with children ages 4 and under admitted for free. Adult admission is $7 per person; children ages 5-12 get in for $5.

While Farm Day raises money for the Peinhardt Living History Farm Foundation each year, the nonprofit welcomes donations — which can be sent to P.O. Box 1938, Cullman AL, 35056 — at any time. For more information about Farm Day, as well as much more on the history of the Peinhardt Farm, visit peinhardtfarm.com.