From This Day Forward Outdoor Drama

This is a story of our heritage, our roots, our incredible history to defend at any cost the right of freedom. It portrays the sacrifices and principles and struggles to defeat poverty, to defend personal convictions, to protect personal freedoms. It is a nationally-recognized outdoor drama that portrays our ancestors’ journey to create a better life for themselves and their descendants.

From This Day Forward follows the emigrants, who crowded into steamship steerage quarters and traveled to America. Those who found their dream of a new life in the ten-thousand acres of land in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina. They had a dream of living in large stone houses overlooking cultivated fields of wheat, corn, tobacco, and flourishing vineyards. But they soon learned that survival in this promised land would not be easy. They felt the cold winter winds blowing through the cracks of their crude cabins. They saw not green, fertile fields, but rocks and tree stumps that must be cleared from poor soil by their families.

“From This Day Forward” is a story of sacrifice for principle and a unique struggle to overcome poverty. Between your tear-filled eyes and heart-felt laughter, you will relive with these Waldenses, their glorious heritage.

"From This Day Forward," is a drama performed in an outdoor amphitheater between mid-July and mid-August that depicts the story of the Waldenses. This production has been held annually since 1967 at the Outdoor Amphitheatre in Valdese.

 Dates for the 2008 shows are Fridays and Saturdays, July 11tth through August 16th, beginning at 7:45pm.

Please contact our Tourism Director, Barbara Hefner, anytime with questions about any facet of visiting Valdese. Phone 828.879.2126 or e-mail at bhefner@ci.valdese.nc.us.

Visit www.oldcolonyplayers.com for information on OCP and other performances.