Pittsburgh's Barrel & Flow Fest Showcases Black Brewers and Artists
By Olivia Miller
Pittsburgh's beer scene will be on display on August 12th at the greatly anticipated Barrel & Flow Festival taking place at Stacks at Three Crossing in the Strip District. Now in its third year, this is not a typical beer festival as it combines flavorful brews from over 80 breweries with live music, good food, and an opportunity to shop goods from local vendors.
Rated the third best beer festival in the United States, the purpose behind this festival runs far deeper than just sipping spirited libations from some of the country’s best breweries. One of Barrel & Flow’s core missions is to amplify Black voices in both the beer industry and the creative arts. They proudly say their mottos are “Keep Black arts on tap” and “We pay Black people.” The combination of these two values let them achieve their mission “to support, promote, and amplify Black artists of all kinds and Black small business owners.”
Though the main event takes place on August 12th, events take place the whole week leading up to Saturday. The City of Pittsburgh has even decreed it to be Barrel & Flow week. The festivities kick off on August 6th with a 27+ event at Art’s Tavern in the Strip District. Then, from August 8-10 there are events at bars around the city featuring local artists and food trucks.
August 11th is a day full of informational conferences at the Marriott City Center in Downtown Pittsburgh. Divided into two different rooms aptly named “Barrel” and “Flow”, lectures run from 9am -4pm and focus on topics like starting a business, sustainable procurement, and the role of relationships in entrepreneurship.
After the festival, they will hold their Overflow afterparty at the Marriott City Center from 10pm- 2am. This free event features music from Slim Tha DJ, free beer samples, and cigars from The Steel City Cigar Lounge.
For a complete list of libations available at the event or to buy tickets to any of the above events, visit their website here.
