Westmoreland County natives Mike Morelli and Justin Lilienthal are throwing the biggest party of their lives this weekend.
They are planners of the first-ever Whiskey Throttle Fair — featuring bands, car and bike shows, tattoo artists and food vendors — at the Westmoreland Fairgrounds in Mt. Pleasant Township this Friday through Sunday.
They began planning the event seven months ago, and expect as many as 10,000 attendees.
“We’ve really taken some awesome measures to make sure this is a safe event,” said festival founder and spokesperson Morelli of Hempfield.
“Our whole life we’ve always kinda did parties like this,” said Lilienthal of Latrobe, who co-founded the event with Morelli.
Preparations for the festival are underway despite the threat of rain, with 11 bands expected to play and other events — including the Eastcoastin stunt shows and the Burnout Bounty show — on tap, Morelli said.
The Whiskey Throttle Fair will feature the Captains Corner, an indoor car show featuring cars worth over $7 million collectively, according to coordinator Jon Harrison of McKeesport.
Additionally, attendees can go to Tattoo Alley, an indoor gathering of about 40 tattoo artists from around the world, where there will be tattooing available all weekend and 75 separate competitions.
Aaron Klingensmith, owner of Kings and Myths Tattoo in Latrobe, coordinated Tattoo Alley with his wife, Carmella. They invited every artist appearing at the festival and spoke about their avant-garde tattooing competition, a boundary-breaking style found primarily outside of the U.S.
“We’re the only one doing this,” Aaron Klingensmith said, highlighting the rarity of avant-garde tattooing at showcases like this one.
Lilienthal said he and Morelli are prioritizing safety and logistics before the “fun stuff.”
Safety measures, including three units of security, onsite UPMC officials and paramedics, a mobile hospital, water stations and shaded areas will be in place – in addition to crowd control measures at the gate – to ensure a safe and enjoyable experience for attendees, Morelli said.
“We plan on having a safe, successful year,” said Morelli, who is hopeful the event becomes an annual tradition for the area.
