FAYETTEVILLE — A new festival hopes to remind people of Fayetteville’s actual history, especially about the Scot Highlanders who settled much of the Cape Fear Region.

The Carolina Caledonian Fest will take place Saturday and Oct. 29 at Fayetteville’s Campbellton Landing on the banks of the Cape Fear River. Its focus will be on the Argyll Colony, America’s most significant community of Highlanders, which was established in the 18th century.

According to festival producer Allen McDavid,“The Highlanders who came to North Carolina by the thousands were ethnically different from their English neighbors, and even spoke a different language, Gaelic,” said Allen McDavid, festival director. “Fayetteville is the most appropriate location for a Highland festival in North Carolina, not the mountains, because it was the Germans and Scots-Irish who settled the southern Appalachians.”

After the Revolutionary War, the mainly Scottish towns of Campbellton and Cross Creek were merged. The resulting township was named Fayetteville in honor of the French Revolutionary war hero, Marquis De La Fayette, despite there being no connection between La Fayette and the area. The name choice has been described as an effort to help secure the state capital, which Fayetteville had a legitimate shot in getting, but ultimately did not. Years of promoting La Fayette and French symbolism has blurred the line between truth and fiction as it pertains to Fayetteville’s history.

The Carolina Caledonian Fest will include Highland games, pipes bands, Celtic music and more. It will be different than most Scottish festivals in that it will have an 18th century theme, so attendees are encouraged to dress in Colonial era garb. There also will be historic re-enactors, exhibits, historian presentations and special features for the kids, such as pumpkin carving and trick or treat in the Marketplace.

Adult admission is $10 at the gate, $7 in advance. Children 12 and under are free. Seniors and active military admission is $8 at the gate, and $5 in advance. Advance tickets can be purchased online at NCScots.com. Attendees who bring at least one canned or nonperishable food item for the Second Harvest Food Bank of Southeast North Carolina will receive $2 off regular “At Gate” adult admission, per person.