Barrel & Flow grows, bringing more community involvement to Pittsburgh festival
The annual Barrel & Flow Fest will return to Pittsburgh on Aug. 12.
Buzzy Torek
The annual Barrel & Flow Fest returns to Pittsburgh on Saturday, and will include beer, music and art.
Buzzy Torek
Eighty brewers will attend Barrel & Flow Fest in Pittsburgh this weekend.
While Pittsburgh’s Barrel & Flow Fest has received national accolades as a beer festival, organizers said it is about way more than just brews.
“We’re really about community building,” said Cat Bruno, festival co-owner and director of communications.
The event, originally called Fresh Fest, started in 2018 and was the nation’s first festival for Black-owned breweries. Bruno said its goal was to increase diversity in the growing craft beer industry.
Coming out of the pandemic, Bruno said they rebranded as Barrel & Flow Fest, incorporating art, music and more community involvement. The additions allowed the festival to grow, and further highlight Black artists, musicians and business owners.
This year, it will take up two blocks on The Stacks at 3 Crossings on Railroad Street to accommodate all of the participants, Bruno said.
“(The festival) absolutely got bigger and more impactful,” she said, noting Barrel & Flow was voted the top beer festival in the country this year by USA Today’s Readers’ Choice Awards.
This Saturday, 80 breweries will attend, and joining them with be five DJs, seven musical acts, eight artists providing live demonstrations, and dozens of vendors ready to sell food, art or provide community resources. Additionally, 13 speakers will give presentations on everything from live beer brewing to learning more about business and industry.
This year’s beer offerings will come from local vendors — but the festival also brings in brewers from across the U.S., from Maine to California. And, attendees will be treated this year to a brew made specifically for Barrel & Flow.
“Once you have that beer, you will not have beer like it anywhere else,” Bruno said.
Organizers are expecting between 3,500 to 4,000 guests this year, topping last year’s attendance of 3,000.
Along with artists and business professionals joining the festival, Bruno said they’re working with the Carnegie Science Center to have an area for families and children to have hands-on learning experiences in science, technology, engineering, arts and math.
The community aspect of the festival can also be seen with how it welcomes artists: Barrel & Flow keeps its vendor fees low to better help the first-time vendors at the event.
“We really want to let people know we’re more than just beer,” Bruno said.
She said another important aspect of the event is the friendly nature of the festival, which has produced a welcoming environment that has an anti-harassment policy.
“It’s the vibe of meeting new people and drinking new beer and shopping at different vendors,” she said.
Barrel & Flow Fest will be at The Stacks at 3 Crossings, 2875 Railroad St, Pittsburgh, on Saturday, Aug. 12 with general admission from 5 to 9 p.m., early admission from 3 to 9 p.m. and VIP admission from noon to 9 p.m.
Ticket prices vary and can be purchased at www.barrelandflow.com where additional information can be found on the festival, the brewers, the artists, the speakers, the organizations and events leading up to the festival.
Barrel & Flow can be found across social media at @barrelandflow.