A free festival celebrating Virginia craft beer, cider and wine is drawing crowds back to Henricus Historical Park in Chester, with organizers pitching it as both a party and a fundraiser for area schoolchildren. Hops in the Park mixes brewing demonstrations, a crafts market, live music and food trucks with living-history elements unique to the riverside site in Chesterfield County.
The event is free to attend, according to the Henricus Foundation, which organizes the festival at 251 Henricus Park Road. The foundation describes the gathering as a hops and harvest festival that has become a national award winner, built around Virginia craft beers, brewing demos, marketplace vendors, food, live music and the park's signature Virginia history. As the Richmond Times-Dispatch notes, the festival is held at Henricus Historical Park itself, tying the craft-beer event directly to the site's historical setting.
What sets Hops in the Park apart from a typical beer festival is the chance to step back nearly 400 years between pours. The foundation's events page says visitors can talk with historical interpreters about what it was like to live on the banks of the James River in the early 1600s, giving the festival a living-history backdrop alongside the local ciders and wines on offer.
Where the Money Goes
Beyond the beer and the history lessons, organizers are framing the festival as a direct investment in local classrooms. Proceeds from Hops in the Park benefit the Henricus Foundation's Children's Education Fund, which the foundation says supports the personnel and programs that enable it to teach up to 10,000 area schoolchildren each academic year.
Hops in the Park pairs craft beverages with Henricus Historical Park's educational mission.
The Festival's Formula
The festival's formula combines free admission, a lineup of Virginia craft beverages, live music and a crafts market, all set against the backdrop of one of the region's most distinctive historical parks.
