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Whiskey Rebellion Festival ’15 priming for bigger audience

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For the past four years, the annual Whiskey Rebellion Festival has drawn throngs to downtown Washington to celebrate – in a sometimes raucous way – the area’s impact on early American history.

This year, as the event enters its fifth year, officials are turning up the volume a little louder and earlier, with a goal of attracting more people to the festival to be held July 9 to July 12.

Since its original incarnation in July 2010, the event has celebrated the July 1794 uprising of 400 whiskey rebels, mainly from Washington County, whose acts protesting the taxation of their whiskey caused President George Washington to send a force of 13,000 militia troops to the area.

“It’s a cornerstone as the midsummer celebration in the city of Washington,” said city Councilman Joe Manning, festival co-chairman.

During a kickoff event Monday night at The Meadows Casino, Manning and festival co-chairman Tripp Kline laid out a schedule of events for the celebration – which drew 15,000 last year – as well as plans for expanding its promotion to the tri-state area and beyond.

The festival opens from 3 to 10 p.m. July 9 on South Main Street with the Washington Health System Health Fair, the Main Street Farmers Market and a performance by the Washington Symphony Orchestra.

On July 10, from 4 to 10 p.m. is the annual “Blues, Brews and BBQ” event featuring a blues music concert with performances by Ruby Red and the Dirty Devils and Billy the Kid, as well as games, prizes, food and drinks.

The Blue Eagle Tavern, located in the heart of the festival, will be open to serve adults Jim Beam and Maker’s Mark whiskey, along with Miller Beer products. It also will feature games and giveaways sponsored by The Meadows Casino.

Saturday, July 11, is the grand celebration of the festival, with a parade, carriage rides, entertainers, re-enactors, arts and crafts and a children’s area. The day also will feature visits to historic homes and talks with historic interpreters.

Festival board member Lee Stivers announced a music lineup that includes headliner The Black Lillies, a Nashville-based group playing country, roots, rock and blues that recently made Rolling Stone magazine’s list of “10 artists you need to know” in 2015.

Also appearing will be Jakob’s Ferry Stragglers, a Southwestern Pennsylvania string band formerly known as the Weedrags, drawing from a variety of influences ranging from old-time, bluegrass, country, jazz, rock and 1930s-style swing; and Callán, a Celtic quintet popular for many years on the Pittsburgh music scene.

The festival closes out on Sunday, July 12, with the “Classics on Main” car show, as well as historic re-enactments at the Washington Park Frontier Fort site.

Kline said the park’s festivities also will include games of “stool ball,” a Colonial-era game that was a precursor to cricket and baseball.

Kline and Manning said the event has now reached the stage where it is ready to move to a new level of promotion.

“The next step is to grow the festival by making it a regional event,” Kline said Tuesday.

To make that happen, they outlined several pre-festival events designed to spread the word and create additional interest in the event.

• On April 27, festival officials will host an exclusive bus tour for Jim Beam VIPs that will feature tours of Whiskey Rebellion historic sites, as well as dinner and whiskey-tasting at West Overton Village, the home of Old Overholt Rye.

• On May 22, iHeart Radio, which includes Pittsburgh FM stations WDVE, Kiss, 3WS, TheX and Big104, will present “Toast to the Rebellion,” an interactive contest inviting participants to pen the best toast featuring Beam whiskey products and the Whiskey Rebellion.

• Also announced is the June 7 Whiskey Rebellion Festival “Schuetzenfest,” inviting some of the country’s best flintlock shooters dressed in 18th century attire and firing the weapons from the area at the Dormont-Mt. Lebanon Sportsman’s Club.

Kline said Tuesday the festival hopes to draw shooters from the Mid-Atlantic region, with the long-term goal of making the outing a standalone event.

• On July 17, the annual Whiskey Rebellion Dinner, the premier fundraiser for the David Bradford House museum, will be held at the Hilton Garden Inn, Southpointe, with keynote speaker Bill Samuels Jr. of Maker’s Mark. All proceeds from ticket sales support the museum, a nonprofit organization.

“It’s a week after the celebration of what we contemplate will be another successful event,” Kline said.

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