The Genealogy Jamboree and Pioneer Days, an annual event celebrating its ninth year, is gearing up to take over the Cumberland Gap on Oct. 19-20.

The Jamboree posts up on Colwyn Avenue and offers a variety of genealogy related tents and vendors. Everything from genealogical societies, historical societies, crafters and re-enactors will be attending the event. The event specializes in local history and it offers guests a chance to learn how to begin research into their own genealogy. There are also genealogy and history lectures for the Cumberland Gap slated.

Other activities will include demonstrations on how local ancestors lived day to day, such as how they made soap, various clothing, baskets, chairs and even blacksmithing.

This years Jamboree will also celebrate an important milestone for the region — the 250 year anniversary of Daniel Boone’s first passage through Cumberland Gap and into Kentucky in the year of 1769. This passage is known to history buffs as The Gateway to the West.

The most prominent genealogists who will be attending the event will be the Boone Society, a nonprofit association of historians, descendents and genealogists who dedicate their time to studying the Boone family. They were formed as a reference service for other historians and genealogists as well as a clearing house for bibliographies.