Laurel Highlands event promises to be full of warmth

They could have called it Fire, Flannels and Foam, this fall festival on a farm featuring flowing beers and other drinks made in the region.

But the organizers at the GO Laurel Highlands Pour Tour called it Bonfires, Barrels & Brews, and last year’s first one was, well, fire.

It’s back again, set for noon to 5 p.m. this Sunday at the same cool event space and cidery, Yinzer Valley Farm in Mount Pleasant, Westmoreland County.

They just gave the name a Halloween tweak: Bonfires, Barrels & Boos.

A scary number of craft beverage makers from those mountains will be pouring their ciders, beer, wines and, well, spirits for attendees, who must be 21 or older.

Nearly 800 people came last year, and the crowd is expected to be even larger this weekend, says the tourism bureau’s senior director of marketing, Jennifer Benford, in a news release. “Add in live music, food trucks, vendors and the chance to cozy up beside a bonfire on a fall day in the beautiful Laurel Highlands countryside, and it’s easy to see why folks are so excited about it.”

Tickets are available online for $44.52 or $33.85 for designated drivers. Regular admission includes an event sticker that participants can put in their Pour Tour passport — a guide to the region’s beverage makers with which travelers can earn rewards — a tasting glass and beverage check for purchases from the long list of beverage makers in addition to Yinzer Valley:

• Bushy Run Winery, Harrison City.
• Chapel Hill Wines, Dawson.
• Crooked Creek Distillery, Irwin.
• El Diablo Brewing, Greensburg.
• Four Seasons Brewing, Latrobe.
• Glades Pike Winery, Somerset.
• Greenhouse Winery, Irwin.
• Laurel Highlands Meadery, Greensburg.
• La Vigneta Winery, Greensburg.
• Own Brook Winery, Scottdale.
• Park Family Farms Distillery, Stahlstown.
• Ponfeigh Distillery, Somerset.
• Rusty Musket Distilling, Boswell.
• Quinn Brewing Company, North Huntingdon.
• Tall Pines Distillery, Salisbury.
• Whitehorse Brewing, Berlin.
• Winslow Winery, Perryopolis. 
• Wye Beer Co., Trafford.
• Yellow Bridge Brewing, Greensburg.

Everybody can purchase food and more from vendors, which are to include a half dozen eateries — 3 Stone Merchant Gastropub, 512 Coffee & Ice Cream, Jessi’s Chickens, The Lunch Lady on Wheels, Millie’s Homemade Ice Cream and Sun Dawg Café — and 14 artisans. The music will be provided by Josh Jams as well as Ukulele Eva.

The hard part is picking what flannel shirt and/or sweater you want to wear.

For more information, visit https://www.golaurelhighlands.com/articles/post/bonfires-barrels-and-boos-event.