Fort Ligonier Twelfth Night party will bid farewell to holiday season

Fort Ligonier will bid farewell to the holiday season with its sixth annual Twelfth Night Celebration.

The revelry, planned for 7-9:30 p.m. Jan. 7 in the fort’s Center for History Education, will hark back to similar Colonial-era events.

“The Twelfth Night celebration at Fort Ligonier is a fun event to learn about 18th-century history and traditions through food, drink, music and dancing,” director of education Matt Gault said.

The evening is centered on the dance floor. English country dance caller Peg Patterson of the Country Dance and Song Society of Pittsburgh will give attendees instruction in popular period dances.

Music is provided by the Wayward Companions, a Pittsburgh-based ensemble of classically trained musicians, who play tunes and instruments that would have been familiar to the Founding Fathers on strings, flute and drum.

The food is influenced by what guests would have eaten in the 1700s, including wassail, ham, homemade bread, relishes and a Twelfth Night cake, made from the recipe for Martha Washington’s “Great Cake.”

“The Latrobe-based Confections by Christina Elizabeth bakes Fort Ligonier’s cake by measuring the ingredients to scale, while following the original recipe — which included 40 eggs, 4 pounds of sugar and butter, 5 pounds each of flour and dried fruit, along with wine and brandy,” said Julie Donovan, the fort’s director of marketing and public relations.

Two guests who find a surprise token, such as a bean or a coin, baked into their slices of cake, will be crowned Twelfth Night king and queen.

Fort Ligonier’s new Forbes Road Rum will be served in a punch.

“We’re adding something new this year,” Donovan added. “(Fort director Mary Manges) researched and discovered a 1700s version of a Twelfth Night jello tower that we are going to try to replicate.”

The dance caller, musicians, historical re-enactors and many fort staffers will don period costumes for the event. Guests are invited to do the same or to come in modern cocktail attire.

“I love to see what everyone wears,” Donovan said. “Some of the costumes are so elaborate, especially the ones worn by the musicians and re-enactors. But then, you will see plenty of khaki pants dancing among the ball gowns.

“We love it that so many attendees dress in period clothes and wigs for the event, but we do not want any guest to feel that they have to dress in 18th-century clothes to attend and have fun,” she added.

In the 18th-century, Twelfth Night celebrations occurred Jan. 6, marking Epiphany — the twelfth day after Christmas and the date in Christian tradition that the three wise men, or magi, are said to have visited the baby Jesus. Donovan noted that the fort’s celebration occurs on the Saturday closest to that date.

Event fee is $50, or $40 for fort association members. Reservations are due by Dec. 30. For more information, call 724-238-9701 or visit fortligonier.org.