Travel back in time to October 1777 and experience the Battle of Germantown at the Revolutionary Germantown Festival on Saturday, Oct. 3, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
The free festival will take place at Cliveden (6401 Germantown Ave.), the summer home built by Benjamin Chew that was the epicenter of the deadly conflict, and will feature plenty of hands-on activities, learning opportunities, tasty food, and more.
Visitors can interact with craftspeople and try their hand at various trades such as candle dipping, papermaking, and basket weaving. Awbury Arboretum will have a station for making ink out of pokeberries, which can then be used to sign a copy of the Declaration of Independence. There will also be a blacksmith on the grounds, giving a glimpse of 18th-century manufacturing.
Another highlight of the Revolutionary Germantown Festival is the costumed reenactors, many of whom come from the Museum of the American Revolution. Meet both the British and the Continental armies to learn about their experiences at the Battle of Germantown, where there were hundreds of casualties on both sides, and visit Ned Hector, an African American teamster who fought in the battle. Visitors also can meet Dinah, a once-enslaved woman at Stenton, and Elizabeth Oswald Chew, wife to the wealthy lawyer and judge Benjamin Chew.
According to Jocelyn Rouse, marketing and development coordinator at Cliveden, one highlight of the festival will be a reenactment with Gen. George Washington, British Gen. William Howe, and a dog.
“They will be reenacting the dog exchange that happened at the Battle of Germantown, when William Howe’s dog — in the midst of the conflict — got lost and ended up with the Continentals,” Rouse explained. “When Washington realized who the dog belonged to, he had the dog returned.”
There will also be a children’s book reading about the dog exchange.
Guests can tour Cliveden to see the house that survived the Battle of Germantown. Tickets for tours are $5 for adults and free for children.
Although the day is largely celebratory, there also will be time to reflect on the battle, which ended in defeat for the Continentals. During the festival, there will be moments of silence for the lives lost at the Battle of Germantown, and for those who lost their lives to gun violence in 2026.
For visitors who have worked up an appetite, there will be plenty of food vendors at the festival, including Boomers Kitchen Catering, the Frosted Fox Cake Shop, Malelani Cafe, and Young American Hard Cider. There also will be coffee and pastries from High Point Cafe, and chocolate with a commemorative wrapper from Asher’s Chocolates. Discuss 18th-century baking with Justin Cherry of Half Crown Bakehouse and purchase your own fresh loaf of bread.
For Rouse, the festival is an exciting opportunity to experience history firsthand and learn more about the Germantown neighborhood in which she grew up.
The Revolutionary Germantown Festival “gives a greater sense of what was actually happening right here at home in 1777,” Rouse said. “It helps put your town in a little bit more context. …It’s amazing what we have in our backyard.”
The Revolutionary Germantown Festival will be on Oct. 3 from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at Cliveden (6401 Germantown Ave.), rain or shine.
Maggie Dougherty can be reached at Margaret@chestnuthilllocal.com.
