SHELBURNE — Fabric of Life, a nonprofit that seeks to preserve traditional skills and knowledge, is welcoming people to its campus to enjoy free activities.

Starting on Friday from 3 and 6 p.m., students in the nonprofit’s eight-week textile class will host an exhibit of the work they created after learning designing, weaving and hemming skills. The class is a collaboration between Fabric of Life and the Vävstuga weaving school, which is also on the at 80 Bassett Road premises.

The fun will continue on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. with a working oxen demonstration. Melanie and Scott Brundage will start the day by leading a lesson on working with oxen. The two travel around the region demonstrating their skills.

“People will have a chance to meet the oxen and get some hands-on time with them,” said Marketing and Programs Agent Sara Davis.

Fabric of Life, which has been an official nonprofit for nine years, recruited pulling teams from across Connecticut and Massachusetts to come to the farm for the day to demonstrate how oxen were used in New England in the past. In the presentation, they will pull a stone boat, a type of sled used for moving heavy objects that played a role in the creation of New England’s stone walls; pull logs from the forest; and prepare a field to be planted with broom corn and pumpkins. The corn husks will be used in a broom-making workshop later in the year if the crop is viable.

There will be a free lunch, with donations accepted, at 1 p.m. and a chance to meet the oxen up close. To register, visit fabric-of-life.org.

Davis noted this is Fabric of Life’s first year offering an oxen demonstration, but the organization hopes to do so annually.

“They can be intimidating animals, but when you get up close they are gentle,” Davis said of the oxen. “Visitors will get to talk to people who have worked with them since they were babies.”

Barnfest, the popular summer event that Fabric of Life hosts every year, has been moved to the fall as a way to offer more of a harvest festival. The event will be held Oct. 14.

Should this weekend’s activities spark people’s interest in attending an earlier workshop, however, Fabric of Life will host a one-day singing and ukulele retreat with Stu Fuchs and Justina Golden on Sept. 10. More details are available at fabric-of-life.org.

Bella Levavi can be reached at 413-930-4579 or blevavi@recorder.com.

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