Fort Ligonier Days to feature return of fireworks, new history-themed games

As many as 60,000 people are expected to pack Ligonier’s Main Street on Saturday morning to watch the parade that is a central feature of the town’s Fort Ligonier Days festival.

Those who remain on hand later that day, after more than 200 crafter and food vendor booths close, will enjoy a spectacle that has been reintroduced to the annual three-day event — a fireworks display.

Set to begin at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, the fireworks show should be easily visible from downtown Ligonier, according to Jack McDowell, chairman of the festival committee.

This year’s festival will offer an array of other activities from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and Saturday and from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Sunday. Live music performances are slated each day, and an area has been set aside for sampling and purchasing wine and spirits.

Rising costs were among factors that caused the pyrotechnics to be dropped from the festival schedule several years ago, McDowell said.

“The cost part went up crazy,” he said, indicating the price tag for such a display increased from about $5,000 to $15,000.

This year, the fireworks are back by popular demand.

“A lot of the people who are going to see it are the locals,” McDowell said. “We’re trying to do something that benefits the people who live here.”

He said response was positive on the Fourth of July, when festival planners had a trial run with a fireworks show — in that case, sponsored by the law office of Edgar Snyder and Associates.

“It was very well-received,” McDowell said.

The festival parade will move west on Main Street beginning at 11 a.m. Saturday. With a weather forecast calling for dry skies and temperatures in the upper 60s, “It sounds like Mother Nature is going to cooperate,” McDowell said.

Units will include high school marching bands from Butler and Morgantown, W.Va., as well as a team of mighty Percheron horses pulling a large wagon.

Features at fort

Visitors will find much to explore at Fort Ligonier, a reconstructed British outpost from the French and Indian War that provides the town’s and the festival’s link to history.

The festival commemorates the events on Oct. 12, 1758, when forces at the fort successfully repulsed a raid by French foes and their Native American allies. Visitors will get a sense of that 18th century combat when the fort hosts military reenactors Saturday and Sunday.

Each day, a battle demonstration will be staged at 2 p.m. followed by firing of cannon at 3 p.m.

Added to the program this year will be 4 p.m. skirmishes that more closely follow the 1758 confrontation.

The fort museum features a new exhibit detailing an incident on Nov. 12, 1758, when George Washington, then a colonel leading Virginian forces from the fort, is credited with stopping “friendly fire” among troops marching through the fog.

“The whole reason that the festival exists is the history of the fort,” said Julie Donovan, director of marketing and public relations at Fort Ligonier. “For all the thousands of people who attend, our goal is to connect them to that history.”

The fort will offer free admission for ages 17 or younger on Saturday and Sunday.

Other fort activities that are free to all include a Saturday-only appearance by artist Robert Griffing, who specializes in historically-themed paintings, and a stop in the fort parking lot by the America250PA mobile experiential unit, from noon to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

Griffing, who has several works featured in the fort museum, will be at its entrance selling and signing copies of “Journey of a Lifetime,” a book reproducing 65 of his paintings.

250th anniversary kickoff

The mobile unit is an outreach effort meant to kick off next year’s observance of the nation’s 250th anniversary.

“There are cool games that people can try to test their knowledge of history and learn about Pennsylvania history,” Donovan said.

The mobile unit also features backgrounds for taking selfies, a storytelling booth, a prize wheel, Westmoreland County-themed giveaway items and a contest that offers a chance to win tickets to a 250th anniversary celebration and a FIFA World Cup match in Philadelphia.

The museum’s front lawn will include a returning sutlers area featuring artisans demonstrating and selling wares based on 18th century methods.

“Mount Vernon’s resident baker, Justin Cherry, will bring his wood-fired beehive oven,” Donovan said. “He makes bread using all heirloom grains. He always sells out.”

McDowell said new improved barriers will be in place to detour traffic around festival areas during the weekend event.

Parking will be available in some outlying areas.

Visit fortligonierdays.com for additional festival details, including maps and a schedule of performances.