When a retired brewmaster gets the idea for a festival at an underutilized park, good things start to bubble up.
At least that’s the hope of Ray Parrish of the Fredericksburg Parks, Recreation and Events department.
Former brewer Ray Parrish is the mind behind the first-ever Fredericksburg Fermentation Fest (submitted photo)
Parrish, former owner of Maltese Brewing Company, has been into fermentation for most of his adult life. Fermentation is the process by which carbohydrate is broken down by a microorganism in the absence of oxygen.
“Pickling, making kimchi, sourdough — I’ve sort of dabbled in all of that,” he said.
After he left Maltese (“I got an offer I couldn’t refuse,” he says), Parrish retired from industrial brewing but needed something to keep him busy. He eventually took a position with the city in 2022, managing the Motts Run Reservoir recreation area.
All that space gave him room to dream up ideas on drawing more residents to the park. And the idea for Fredericksburg’s first fermentation festival began to grow.
On Saturday, Motts Run will host the first Fermentation Festival, a chance to sample fermented foods and drinks, hear live music, explore the park, learn about home brewing and fermenting, with activities for children and a souvenir tasting glass.
“When this idea was first pitched, I was excited about such a unique event. I haven’t heard of anything like it,” said Callie Brown, Fredericksburg’s superintendent of recreation. “Fredericksburg and the surrounding area has tons of makers and brewers that use their creativity and science to craft tasty treats.
“This event is all about highlighting those creators. The hope is that guests will try out new vendors, and some of our local small businesses can get some attention.”
Fermented foods used to be relegated to places like natural food stores or farmers’ markets. Now they can be found in just about any grocery store or kitchen.
This includes foods like pickles, yogurt, sauerkraut, tempeh, cheese and olives. The beverage industry is full of fermentation, too — cider, beer, kombucha and wine are all made by fermentation.
Two examples of our cultural love affair with fermented foods? The newfound popularity of kombucha and the pandemic-induced sourdough craze of 2020.
“Part of it is the wellness movement, probiotics, prebiotics,” Parrish said. “It’s a health thing, plus I think the whole COVID shutdown…people were looking for something they could do in their home without having to show their face and tons of people got into sourdough, tons of people got into kombucha brewing, home winemaking, and so that all of that time caused people to be fans, and I think those two things have come together to sort of make fermentation culture a great deal bigger than it was 20 years ago, or even five years ago.” 
And Parrish isn’t alone in his love for the fermenting culture. He had no trouble rounding up contacts in both the food and beverage fermenting industries to put a festival together.
Despite Motts Run being a large park, there is only a small amount of space for a festival, so Parrish capped the number of vendors at 18 and was forced to turn away several.
“But I can always call them up next year,” he said.
Parrish selected producers that are all based in Virginia. Saturday’s event will include two cider makers, two wineries, two breweries, kombucha, pickles, kimchi, tempeh, hot sauce, sourdough, and a cheesemonger. Admission is free but tasting tickets are $50 (after Sept. 24) and include a souvenir glass.
“It’s not every single fermented item you could possibly buy in the state,” he said, “but I tried to get almost everything.”
Parrish hopes the festival will draw people from near and far, not just to enjoy the wares but maybe spark interest in the culture.
“I’d love to have people adopt this as maybe not a lifestyle, but as a sustainable hobby,” he said. “I mean, it’s a thing that’s been a great part of my life for pretty much my entire adult life, and I think it’s made my life better, and I want to share that.”
