Visitors from as far away as China walked the grounds Monday at Steinbach's Mennonite Heritage Village.

Executive Director Gary Dyck says their annual Fall On The Farm drew an average attendance of 1,626 visitors.

"It was a beautiful 'fallish' day and the people came out," says Dyck.

Dyck notes he sensed a very positive feel on the village streets, with people getting ready for school and fall by marking the passage of time. He says there were all kinds of demonstrations including threshing, sawing, pickling and baking bread in the clay oven. Dyck notes it was great to see the sawmill in operation, something that also happened at Pioneer Days after being out of commission for two years.

Monday's visitors included some Quakers from Iowa, travellers from the southern United States and then a few people from China.

"There is a culture here that they didn't realize," says Dyck, referring to the visitors from China. "It's not just like the wild west what they see in the movies."

Dyck adds these visitors got to understand and appreciate a deeper culture, family cohesiveness, spirituality and economics.

With this being the last event of the season, Dyck says it is also time to say farewell to the many animals who have called the museum home this summer. He notes the pigs and chickens were butchered as part of Fall On The Farm demonstrations. Some of the other animals, including horses and donkeys will be returning to their winter homes later this month.

"They all leave except the mice," says Dyck. "And then of course we have some cats that stay all winter long."

Dyck says it was a good festival season with a positive vibe on the grounds.

"We had a lot of good attendance and the weather was good and I think the programming was great," he says.