Sip 8 styles of old fashioneds, test bartending skills at annual cocktail fest

Since opening in 2021, Simple Goodness Sisters Soda Shop in Wilkeson has hosted a sell-out event celebrating the whiskiest of whiskey drinks, featuring its own syrups made right up the street at its Buckley farm. This year’s celebration, on May 16, is the fifth rendition of the popular Old Fashioned Festival, but it lands amid a tenuous moment for this small town in the foothills of Mount Rainier.

A few miles south, the Fairfax Bridge has been closed for more than a year, as the Washington State Department of Transportation determined the 1920s-era structure was unsafe. The decision has left residents on the other side of the bridge even more disconnected and the towns of Wilkeson and Carbonado just north of it struggling without the typical crush of tourists en route to the Mowich Lake entrance to the national park as well as a popular campground and ATV trail network.

The soda shop’s co-owners, sisters Venise Cunningham and Belinda Kelly, said their sales plummeted by half since the bridge closure.

Over the past five years, they have hosted frequent events at their unique, all-ages bar and restaurant, from live music to holiday bonfires. The loss of visitors forced them to make the difficult decision to pivot from being a cafe to being an event venue. Old Fashioned Fest is, in a sense, their signature hurrah, and they hope it can stand as a kickoff to a new era for the 19th-century building, 533 Church St., they purchased in 2017 and thoughtfully restored.

“Opening for key events that have served our community remains important to us, and we’re excited to bring back Old Fashioned Fest,” said Kelly in a news release. “This year we’re letting this new perspective guide the event to be even better — by highlighting local restaurants and bars as well as distilleries in the tasting lineup.”

The May 16 event will offer guests the chance to try versions of the iconic cocktail from eight vendors and put their own skills to the test in an “amateur hour” contest. The DIY winner will be crowned by the pros through a blind taste-test award. A special VIP session includes appetizers, bartender demos and two educational seminars. Kids are welcome in this family-friendly space and don’t need a ticket to enter.

What is Old Fashioned Fest in Wilkeson?

Simply put, Old Fashioned Fest is a day to celebrate the simply awesome concoction of aged whiskey (traditionally bourbon but sometimes rye or otherwise), sugar, bitters and probably an orange peel. You’ll need a D.D., but luckily they sell discounted tickets for that lucky friend!

In past years, each vendor has been a local distillery. For the bridgeless Wilkeson of today, Kelly and Cunningham thought it made more sense to also highlight fellow local bars and restaurants. Four distilleries will join four other nearby business for the indoor-outdoor festival.

Dry Fly Distilling from Spokane, Monson Ranch Distillers from Prosser and Enumclaw’s Pursuit Distilling will whisk up their versions alongside Seattle’s 2Bar Distilling and Westland Distillery.

Also from Enumclaw, Casting Iron and Roaring Underground will bring their bartenders, while Barrel Dogs, a new bar and hot-dog haven in Buckley, will round out the bar/restaurant list.

Whiskey Strut, an Olympia-based honky-tonk band, will play on the patio stage all day. To keep you nourished, the venue’s kitchen will offer mac and cheese plus other snacks, and a new hot dog stand, Peenies Weenies, will have dogs aplenty. Vashon’s Electric Lady will be prepped for flash whiskey-themed tattoos.

There are two, 2-hour sessions: general admission 1-3 p.m. and VIP 4-6 p.m. Tickets for the first round are $60 (plus taxes and fees) and include seven tasting tickets; the “NA” ticket is $30, but $10 goes toward the purchase of food or drinks from the soda shop. VIP tickets are $117 (plus taxes and fees) with the addition of a happy-hour grazing board and other snacks, plus demos and classes. The “NA” ticket for the latter includes everything but the cocktail tasting.

Wilkeson’s fellow restaurants, pizzeria The Carlson Block and The Pick & Shovel, will be open. The event has drawn around 500 people in years past, according to Simple Goodness Sisters, doubling the tiny town’s population for the day to over 1,000.

Whether the Fairfax Bridge can be restored or rebuilt remains an open question, but months of activism by residents and business owners including the sisters has led to a commitment from the state to fund a viability study.

“Its closure threatens local businesses,” said Cunningham in the release. “Events like the Old Fashioned Fest are vital for sustaining momentum and keeping our town vibrant while the bridge remains closed.”

Old Fashioned Fest 2026

• Simple Goodness Soda Shop, 533 Church St., Wilkeson, oldfashionedfest2026.eventbrite.com
• May 16, 1-3 p.m. and 4-6 p.m.
• Tickets: $30-$117, plus taxes and fees; includes cocktail tastings, live music and commemorative glass, plus food for VIP session (kids enter free)