'Witness' tours in Amish country
The Amish Experience at Plain & Fancy Farm is hosting two-hour "Witness" tours in September and October that take small groups of visitors past Pennsylvania Amish country sites seen in the 1985 movie, which stars Harrison Ford. Credit: Handout
For the first time in five years, Lancaster County visitors can spend time on the farm where "Witness" was filmed. They can also see and learn more about other nearby locations with ties to the 1985 movie, which earned Harrison Ford an Academy Award nomination and raised worldwide consciousness about the Amish lifestyle.
To celebrate the silver anniversary of the film's release, a handful of tours scheduled at 5 p.m. on Saturdays through October will visit the "Witness" farm. Each tour is limited to 14 participants.
"Witness" fans also will get an insider's list to six more obscure sites that have connections to the movie.
ABOUT THE MOVIE In the suspense drama, Ford plays a Philadelphia detective investigating a brutal murder. His key witness is an Amish boy. In his efforts to protect the boy and his mother, Ford gets shot and flees with the pair to their family farm in Lancaster.
Brad Igou, a Lancaster County native and sociologist, organized the tour as president of The Amish Experience at Plain & Fancy Farm. He says members of the Amish family who own the farm say cars often stop on the crest of the hill overlooking the farm to take photographs from afar.
WHAT YOU'LL SEE On the two-hour tour, visitors can see and photograph the farm from several locations. Although visitors can't go inside the farm's buildings, they may see or be greeted by members of the Amish family who own the farm, as well as see Amish craftsmen completing a new farmhouse for the family.
Tours will also include the village of Intercourse, the locale of the movie's fight scene, and a stop at Zimmerman's Store. Guests receive a small Amish-carved toy horse.
IF YOU GO Tours depart from Plain & Fancy Farm, along Route 340 in Bird-in-Hand, Pa. Tickets are $45.95, advance reservations strongly recommended (800-555-2303, amishexperience.com).
