(2023 party-goers | Photo by Bill Jorgens)
Get ready to put on the Ritz! Friday, January 19, the High Desert Museum will host their much-anticipated Prohibition Party for the third time since its inception in 2019.
Exploring the rich history of Prohibition in the High Desert and providing a fun night-out for Museum goers ages 21 and older, the Prohibition Party fills the minds and martini glasses of the Central Oregon community year after year.
This year’s celebration includes craft beer, spirit and wine tastings examining how beverages were made “then” as a lens to appreciate how they are made “now,” hard-to-find speakeasies dispersed throughout the Museum, live 1920s-era music, a no-host bar featuring signature cocktails, a 1920s-era costume parade and more.
Crux Fermentation Project, a Bend craft brewery, will share Prohibition-inspired beverages including their pub-only Pre-Prohibition Lager. The brewery describes their “Pre Pro” beer as one that “harkens back to the early days of American Lager brewing when European immigrants started using the available ingredients (corn, U.S. hops) to approximate German/Czech Lagers.”
Guests will also have the chance to sample another beer from Crux that was inspired by a recipe from over 100 years ago.
Crater Lake Spirits, a Bend-based distillery, will also share their spirits. Guests can anticipate tasting their award-winning Crater Lake Prohibition Gin, inspired by American gins from the Prohibition era. Crater Lake calls their Prohibition Gin a “no-nonsense gin that (looks) back to the rule-breaking revelry of the Roaring Twenties” with its “definable single-botanical flavor” from wild handpicked juniper berries.
Signature cocktails crafted with Crater Lake Spirits as well as Crux beer, wine, fun non-alcoholic beverages and food will be available for purchase. Much of this year’s celebration will take place in the Museum’s central Schnitzer Entrance Hall, complete with live music by the Michelle Van Handel Quintet, featuring trumpeter Brian Owen. Dancing is sure to ensue, and partygoers are encouraged to wear their finest 1920s-era inspired threads.
As the evening proceeds, attendees are invited to hop in the 1920s-era costume parade followed by a costume contest. All the while, vintage textiles, newspapers, photographs, books and more from the Deschutes Historical Museum will further reveal Central Oregon’s interesting and complex history during the Prohibition era.
This party is the cat’s meow — and it’s not one to be missed. Learn more about and purchase your tickets for the Prohibition Party at: highdesertmuseum.org/prohibition-party.
The Prohibition Party is a 21+ event.
