There’s more whiskey and a lot of rebellion in this year’s Whiskey Rebellion Festival, which is marking its 10th year in Washington, Pa., and the 225th anniversary of a pivotal period in America’s history.
The fest — Thursday through Sunday — celebrates the spirit and the spirits of the area’s frontier forebears, who turned the rye they grew into whiskey and rebelled in the early 1790s when the young federal government wanted to tax them on it.
Centuries later, distilleries in and around town are part of a revival of rye whiskey, which will pour not only in the festival food and drinks areas, but also at businesses that are part of a first Rebellion Distilleries Tasting Tour.
From noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, for $25 (or $30 purchased after noon Friday), participants can visit downtown businesses and try spirits from a Pennsylvania distillery at each. Hosting are Washington’s own Liberty Pole Spirits and Red Pump Spirits, and 14 other distilleries also will be sampling their wares. If tourists choose to buy a bottle or two, they don’t have to carry it for the rest of the tour, as “whiskey runners” will deliver them to a central location to pick up later.
Otherwise, the festival has a full schedule of historic activities, downtown and at the frontier fort site at nearby Washington Park, including historical street theater shows that happen about every hour after Saturday morning’s parade. Organizers warn visitors that the re-enactments “contain violence, aggressive actions and gunfire, which may not be suitable for young children or those sensitive to such actions.”
Tripp Kline, who could be called the father of this festival, says the No. 1 question at its information booths is, “When is the tar and feathering?” It’s at 5 p.m. on Saturday.
Kline says the writers and actors take pains to properly portray what was at the time a true occurrence but also a terrible torture. The re-enactors don’t use hot tar, but all he’ll say about what they do use is, “There is a true recipe, and it’s much more than chocolate syrup.” Everybody’s smiling when it’s over.
Other hot tickets are the Bradford House Museum, Lemoyne House and Washington County Courthouse, which will be open for tours. Some programs happen inside the landmark George Washington Hotel.
There are children’s activities, several walking tours, LOTS of live music (with a strong emphasis on Americana such as bluegrass), art, crafts vendors, even a Sunday morning church service that helps tell the story of the Whiskey Rebellion — as Kline notes, “Even churches took sides” — and then more live music, including church choirs. There’s a festival gift shop, too.
The festival is one of the attractions on the Whiskey Rebellion Trail that launches this weekend, connecting distilleries and museums from Pittsburgh to Washington, D.C., to Philadelphia.
There’s still time to order what remains of the Whiskey Rebellion Special Reserve rye that Liberty Pole, Red Pump and five other Pennsylvania distilleries blended this spring as a first-time fundraiser for the fest. You must complete the $79.94 purchase online, but you can pick up your 375-milliliter bottle at the fest.
If you want to get the essence of the what it’s all about, have at least a sip of local rye whiskey, either downtown at one of the distilleries or the “Blue Eagle Tavern” area, or better, at the Washington Park’s log house, which this weekend, becomes the Hangman’s Noose Tavern.
Get the full schedule, map and all the details at http://whiskeyrebellionfestival.com.
Bob Batz Jr.: bbatz@post-gazette.com, 412-263-1930 and on Twitter @bobbatzjr.
First Published: July 11, 2019, 4:00 a.m.
