Tavern Night: After-Hours Event to Highlight How Colonial Taverns Sparked the Fight for Independence

How did the Revolution’s drinkers, eaters, and leaders raise a glass 250 years ago — and to which causes around the world? Inspired by  The Declaration’s Journey  and the role of taverns in sparking America’s experiment in liberty, equality, and self-government, join the Museum for a themed after-hours program with special exhibit access, talks, and activities.

At 6:15 p.m., the program will feature an interactive presentation by Boston-based historian and Ye Olde Tavern Tours co-founder Dr. Brooke Barbier, author of King Hancock, to discuss the historic taverns, cocktails, and brews familiar to those who first heard America declare independence and preview her upcoming book, Cocked and Boozy: An Intoxicating History of the American Revolution (forthcoming June 2026). Hosted by Museum staff, Barbier will join a conversation on tavern life, then and now, with Philadelphia-based food industry expert Benjamin Devon of SUCCESSION Fermentory, who manages the colonial bar at A Man Full of Trouble Tavern, only blocks away from the Museum and Philadelphia’s historic waterfront. Tavern owner and Museum of the American Revolution board member Dan Wheeler will introduce this event to discuss its unlikely survival, recent preservation, and reopening in time for the nation’s Semiquincentennial.

This themed night at the Museum will conclude with an invitation to view Washington’s War Tent, where Washington served madeira in silver camp cups, and to see historic drinking vessels, among other archaeological discoveries, in Trash Tells the Truth, the second-floor exhibit highlighting the illegal 18th-century speakeasy formerly on the site of the Museum. All tickets include a themed happy hour with light refreshments available from 5:15 p.m. to 6:15 p.m., the 6:15 p.m. featured program in Lenfest Myer Theater, and select exhibition access to The Declaration’s Journey on Level 1 and Trash Tells the Truth and Washington’s War Tent Theater on Level 2.