Published: October 11, 2009 12:25 am      

Food, crafts and history on display at Fort Ligonier

LIGONIER — Its parade, craft vendors, food booths and lineup of entertainment around the diamond could make Fort Ligonier Days seem like any other community festival.

Thousands of visitors filled the business district streets for the annual festival, which continues today.

A walk down to the celebration’s namesake reminded visitors what makes the event unique, taking them back almost 250 years to a turning point in American history.

Lines of soldiers in authentic period uniforms faced off near Fort Ligonier’s buttress above the museum building and encampments, as the re-enactment of Oct. 12, 1758, Battle of Fort Ligonier began.



That was the day French troops came to Ligonier from their headquarters at Fort Duquesne, in what is now Pittsburgh, attacking the British fort.

About 1,500 British troops successfully defended what was then Fort Loyalhanna.

“They wanted to keep the British here and not lose Fort Duquesne to them,” said Martin West, Fort Ligonier director.

“There was a two-hour battle. Basically the French defeated the troops that came out to face them, but they couldn’t take the fort.”

Barely a month later, the British moved an army of 5,000 to the fort and went on to take the weakly defended Fort Duquesne on Nov. 25, 1758, without firing a shot.

“This defeated the French in Pennsylvania,” West said. “The following year, they pretty much removed themselves from western Pennsylvania. Finally, in 1760, Montreal surrendered, and the French and Indian War was over.”

The annual re-enactment and Fort Ligonier Days festival is the private, nonprofit Fort Ligonier Museum’s major event, West said.

“It has grown into a very large community celebration,” West said. “It is an important weekend for us, not for all the people who visit, but also because we can tell our story at what we consider to be one of the best sites of the period.”

About 150 re-enactors from several states are on hand for re-enactments, which will be repeated at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. today.

A performance at 12:30 p.m. by Troma Music, up-and-coming Christian performers, will highlight today’s events at in the Diamond, said Rachel Roehrig, Ligonier Valley Chamber of Commerce director.

Morning rain Saturday made for a soggy parade, but a mild, sunny afternoon brought thousands of people to the vendor booths and activities, Roehrig said.

“The lines were very, very long at the food booths,” Roehrig said. “The crafters are doing very well today. There are three sanctioned lots, and all are reporting good sales.”