Fort Ligonier offers virtual 12th Night celebration

The band will play on for Fort Ligonier’s Twelfth Night celebration, just not in person.

One of the most popular programs at Ligonier’s reconstructed 18th-century fort, the fourth-annual Twelfth Night event will be held virtually on Jan. 9 because of covid-19 pandemic restrictions.

“It’s one of our most favorite events,” said Julie Donovan, the fort’s director of marketing and public relations. “It’s great to have this opportunity to make it virtual. We knew how much everyone was going to miss it.”

Participants will be able to enjoy the event’s period music and recipes at home this year, by paying a fee and registering to receive an online link.

Wayward Companions, a regionally based group that has performed period music in matching attire for the fort’s Twelfth Night and Cannon Ball festivities, is taping a concert performance that will be available to registered participants beginning at 7 p.m. Jan. 9. They can choose to watch at a later time using the provided link.

Band member William Lockard, a retired music instructor in the Fox Chapel Area School District, plays several string instruments and will host the performance in front of a fireplace at his 1815 home in Glenshaw.

The setting is reminiscent of an 18th century tavern, he said, and the vocal and instrumental numbers the group will perform — including “The Skye Boat Song” — could have been heard in many Pennsylvania inns of that era.

“Our mission is to take people back and let them try to get a glimpse of what things were like in that time period, and that’s just what Fort Ligonier does,” Lockard said. “We’re really happy as a band to do our part of preserving the history of our area.”

Latrobe-based Confections by Christine Elizabeth will prepare cupcake versions of the Twelfth Night cake that has been served at past fort events and is based on a recipe used by Martha Washington.

The cupcakes will be included in a colonial treat box that is available for an additional fee and can be picked up at the fort. The box also contains bayberry candles, said to provide good luck for the new year if “burned to the socket,” and tea that can be used to create a rum punch often served at Fort Ligonier events.

As part of the virtual Twelfth Night, Erica Nuckles, Fort Ligonier’s director of history and collections, will demonstrate how to prepare the punch and will explain the history of such celebrations during the colonial period.

Donovan noted Twelfth Night was the final celebration of the holiday season in the 1700s. “It was the most festive night of the year and also the luckiest day of the year,” she said.

In past years, an instructor showed participants how to perform the steps for English country dancing, a throwback pastime appropriate for the period music.

“It was before square dancing,” Donovan said, noting the fort regularly offered lessons in the colonial entertainment before being suspended because of the pandemic.

She encouraged this year’s virtual viewers to “push the coffee table out of the way and dance to the music.”

“Even when we cannot be together in person at Fort Ligonier, our virtual programming can reach any home that has internet access,” said Nuckles. “We look forward to offering additional virtual programs throughout the winter.”