For the 5th year, the city of bridges will host Barrel and Flow, the country’s premier craft beer festival.
What is the Barrel & Flow Fest?
Did you know that Pittsburgh is home to the largest festival celebrating Black breweries? Over the past five years, the Barrel & Flow festival has grown beyond a beer festival. In addition to highlighting Black brewers and breweries, the Barrel & Flow festival celebrates Black artists and businesses.
More than just beer, the annual beer festival in Pittsburgh wants to continue to utilize the brewing industry to connect opportunity, accessibility, and artistry in ways that empower the Black community.
Explore more Pittsburgh breweries with the organizers of the Barrel & Flow Fest
You may notice some familiar faces on the Barrel & Flow Fest team! Ed Bailey and Day Bracey are also the hosts of our show “Ed and Day in the ‘Burgh.” On each episode of “Ed and Day in the ‘Burgh” Ed and Day visit a different neighborhood to meet local business owners, try out some new activities and visit some local breweries.
You can stream all eight episodes of Season 1 of “Ed and Day in the ‘Burgh” for free on the Very Local channel! Download the Very Local app for your phone, streaming device or TV to start watching.
Black brewers & collaboration beers
Pittsburgh does not currently have any Black-owned breweries, so how do you plan a festival celebrating Black brewers? Barrel & Flow Fest has a unique solution to this problem. Each year the festival pairs Black artists, business owners and nonprofits with local brewers to create collaboration beers. Check out the list of all of the Black breweries plus more than 50 collaboration beers that will be featured at the festival.
Interested in learning more about some of the collaborations? Check out our profiles on some of the collaborations from the 2019 festival here.
A brief history of the Barrel & Flow Fest
- August 10, 2018 – the first festival, Fresh Fest, was held in Pittsburgh at Nova Place. You can read more about the first festival on NPR here.
- July 2019 – Very Local co-hosted “Very Local, Very Fresh: Meeting The People Where They’re At” a panel and beer tasting. You can watch a recap of the panel discussion here.
- August 2019 – the 2nd annual festival was held at Nova Place. Read more from Afro Beer Chick, Northside Chronicle and Brilliant Stream.
- 2020 – USA Today includes Fresh Fest in the #2 slot on their list of best beer festivals in the country.
- August 2020 – Fresh Fest Digi Fest, due to COVID-19, Festival organizers put together a virtual festival. Take a listen to our podcast interview with Day Bracey about the Fresh Fest Digi Fest to learn more about how the organizers worked to create community during a virtual event.
- August 2021 – The festival returns to an in-person format with as the Barrel & Flow Fest at South Side Works.
Bigger than a beer festival – Music, Black artists, food and more
The Barrel & Flow festival offers more than beer and beverages.
Live music & DJs
Musicians performing at Barrel & Flow Festival include:
DJs performing at Barrel & Flow Fest:
Eat and shop local at the Barrel & Flow Crafters Market
- EAT: From BBQ to rice bowls and vegan eats to sweet treats, there will be more than 20 local businesses selling food at this year’s Barrel & Flow Fest.
- SHOP: This year’s Barrel & Flow Fest also features a craft market with goods and services from Black owned businesses and artists.
- LEARN: Stop by the tables to learn more about some local nonprofits that are working to support Pittsburghers.
You can see the entire list of Barrel & Flow Fest vendors here.
When & Where: Barrel & Flow Fest Details
| Date: | Saturday, August 13, 2022 |
| Time: | VIP: 12:00 pm (noon) – 9:00 pm EARLY ACCESS: 3:00 pm – 9:00 pm GENERAL ADMISSION: 5:00 pm – 9:00 pm |
| Location: | The Stacks at 3 Crossings, 2875 Railroad St, Pittsburgh, PA 15222. |
Barrel & Flow Week: Even more Barrel & Flow Fest events
In addition to the main festival on Saturday, the Barrel & Flow Fest organizers have put together a week of events to celebrate Black arts, music and food.
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Watch all of the episodes of “Ed and Day in the ‘Burgh” for free on the Very Local channel. Available on Amazon Fire, Roku, Apple TV, & Android.
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