DC Historical Society Hosts Root Beer Festival July 8

Celebrate all things root beer during the Door County Historical Society’s Root Beer Festival at Heritage Village at Big Creek in Sturgeon Bay on July 8, 10 am – 3 pm. The festival highlights root beer history, floats, food, sampling root beer varieties, and fun.

In the 1870s, pharmacist Charles Hires began selling Hires Root Tea and promoted it as “The Great Health Drink.” He experimented with flavorings from trees and plants like sassafras and sarsaparilla, wintergreen, birch bark, herbs and juniper berries, mixing and boiling until he developed the perfect combination. In 1876, he presented Hires Root Beer at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition, the nation’s 100th anniversary celebration. The Library of Congress has cookbooks that contain recipes from 10 or 20 years before he began to sell his version. But Hires gets credit as the first person to produce and market root beer throughout the country.

Guests may purchase a flight of Frosty Top, Petosi, Stone Cellar, A&W, Mug and Baumeister. There will also be Brown Cows (root beer floats), cakes and cupcakes available. Consider joining them for lunch of root beer glazed ham or pulled pork sandwiches, root beer barrel candy and root beer popcorn, too.

Soda experiments will illustrate fun with soda pop, science and illusion and feature cleaning a penny and making play dough. Admission to the Village’s historic buildings, Root Beer Festival, blacksmith demonstrations, and experiments is $6 for adults 18 years and older; no admission fee is charged for children. Sampling tickets, food, and floats are available for purchase.

The Heritage Village at Big Creek is located at 2041 Michigan Street in Sturgeon Bay. For more information, visit doorcountyhistoricalsociety.org or call 920.421.2332.