Tomatoes are ripening, and that's a good reason to celebrate at the West Overton Village & Museum in East Huntingdon.

The sixth annual Heirloom Tomato Festival, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, will feature old-fashioned bumpy, lumpy, purple, striped, yellow and nearly black varieties that are seldom seen in supermarkets.

"The festival is something different," said Alisa Barnhart of Mount Pleasant, administrative assistant to director Christopher Kline. "And when you say tomatoes, a lot of eyes light up."

The heirloom theme plays out in a historical village that helped to develop the local community. In 1800, along what is now Route 819, Henry Overholt, who came from Bucks County with his wife and 12 children, built a distillery to make Old Overholt Straight Rye Whiskey and Old Farm Pure Rye Whiskey. A self-sufficient village grew around it.

In 1846, John W. Frick married Overholt's granddaughter, Elizabeth. Their son, Henry Clay Frick, grew up to found H.C. Frick Coke Company in East Huntingdon, one of the country's largest coke producers. He later partnered with Andrew Carnegie and led Carnegie Steel Company, only to have a falling out that left the men bitter enemies.

The 18 remaining buildings include the homestead, outbuildings and a distillery that serve as museums, and a row of small red brick buildings that are undergoing restoration and new usage.

White picket fences surround flower, herb and vegetable gardens tended by the West Overton Garden Society. For this festival, the society is growing small Yellow Pear tomatoes and the large Mortgage Lifter, named by a Depression-era grower who sold enough to make a dent in his mortgage. Other varieties will be brought by The Heirloom Tomato Company from Avella, Washington County, and garden society members.

The first tomato festival was a tasting event that drew 25 people.

Mrs. Barnhart and a friend, Julie Giacopeti of Scottdale, volunteered to turn the event into a bigger festival. Vendors came, and Mrs. Giacopeti added homemade tomato dishes that she learned how to make when she lived in Italy. Two years ago, attendance peaked with 825.

"People will be able to taste tomatoes and buy them," Mrs. Barnhart said. "There will be products, too, like sauces, Bloody Mary mixes and tomato wine."

Vendors will bring nature photography, corn husk crafts, botanical drawings, paintings, needle felt sculptures, art glass, portraits, contemporary art, bakery products, artisan cheeses and-old fashioned soda. Other attractions will include Mountain View Blue Grass Band, a blacksmith demonstration and products of Native American culture.

The $10 admission (under 16 free) will include tours of the homestead, outbuildings and distillery, and an exhibit of 18 quilts from the National Quilt Museum in Paducah, Ky.

On Sept. 10 through 12, the village will host Operation Market Garden, a re-enactment group focusing on the largest paratrooper drop in Europe in World War II. A whiskey tasting is set for Sept. 25; a whiskey seminar, Oct. 15 and 16; and Other Worldly Weekends Oct. 22 and 23 and 29 and 30.

A Mystery Murder Dinner Theater will be held Nov. 20. Homestead For the Holidays House Tours will be on Dec. 4, 5, 11 and 12.

Information: www.westovertonvillage.org or 724-887-7910.

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