PRAIRIE DU ROCHER, ILL. (April 1, 2026) This annual event features 18th century market and camp life (1750-1790). The event is open and free to the general public.
Fort de Chartres State Historic Site presents Village du Fort de Chartres, in ‘Le Pays du Illinois’ (The Illinois Country) 1750 – 1790, a bustling community of shops and craftspeople. Visitors can visit and shop with merchants and blanket traders or buy something from one of the strolling peddlers hawking wares. During the event on Saturday and Sunday, the public can observe camp life demonstrations by juried reenactors, a period stickball game, watch participants test their skill or luck at a game of billiards, dice, cards, or various 18th century board games, shooting demonstrations, and/or watch foodway demonstrations in the event’s cooking camp or at the Fort’s stone oven.
The Fort de Chartres Colonial Market Faire is hosted by Les Coureurs des Bois de Fort de Chartres and sponsored by Les Amis du Fort de Chartres. Both organizations welcome visitors, participants, and volunteers to this first special event at held at Fort de Chartres in 2026- https://fortdechartres.net/events/colonial-market-faire/. Please check out the Fort de Chartres website, www.fortdechartres.net, for information and the list of the Fort’s special events and dates. For additional event information, please email [email protected].
Fort de Chartres State Historic Site, which includes its historic Powder Magazine structure, widely considered the oldest building in Illinois, is located only an hour from downtown St. Louis, at 1350 IL Route 155, 4 miles west of Prairie du Rocher, Illinois.
Additional support for the Fort de Chartres Colonial Market Faire and other 2026 site demonstrations and interpreter programming will be provided through a recent Illinois DCEO Tourism Attraction Matching Grant award to LAdFdC through Discover Downstate Illinois (ILLINOISouth Tourism), the Convention and Visitors Bureau for 21 counties, and 2 cities, in South Central Illinois. This grant opportunity is awarded to counties, municipalities, units of local government, not-for-profit organizations, local promotion groups and for-profit businesses for the development or improvement of tourism attractions and festivals in Illinois. We thank the Illinois DCEO Office of Tourism and Discover Downstate Illinois for this grant opportunity supporting history and tourism at Fort de Chartres State Historic Site.
The site is operated by the Illinois Historic Preservation Division of the Department of Natural Resources. IDNR protects the state’s historic resources, which contribute to education, culture and the economy. IDNR sites include ancient burial mounds, forts and buildings erected by settlers, and homes connected to famous Illinoisans. For more site information, call Fort de Chartres State Historic Site at 618-284-7230 or visit www.fortdechartres.us.
Les Amis du Fort de Chartres, “Friends of Fort de Chartres,” is a not-for-profit organization made up of volunteers striving to preserve, protect, and interpret the physical structural and cultural heritage of Fort de Chartres in the 1700s. More information about Les Amis du Fort de Chartres and its efforts sponsoring special events at Fort de Chartres, can be found at http://www.fortdechartres.us/les-amis-du-fort-de-chartres/ and at https://www.facebook.com/LesAmisduFortdeChartres/.
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