New Phoenixville Festival to Create Buzz for Honeybees

Peter Bruckner, organizer of the newest festival coming to Phoenixville, likened the idea to the creature the event celebrates.

“The idea is it’s going to be a symbiotic relationship between many different organizations,” Bruckner said. “The bee has that quality of pulling all the different parts of the landscape together and unifying it, fructifying it, pollinating it.”

The Spring Festival for Our Honeybees will create awareness for bees at the official opening of the Phoenixville Farmers’ Market May 7. Many area organizations are joining together to pitch in.

Bruckner, who’s behind the Marionette Theater of the Stars, came up with the festival idea and pitched it to his friends. It was a hit.

“Everybody I spoke to offered a new dimension to it,” Bruckner said.

His idea grew into an event spanning not just the 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. window for the first spring Farmers’ Market of the year, but spilling over to include much more.

The Colonial Theatre will show the movie Queen of the Sun, a documentary about the problems honeybees face, throughout the week. On the day of the festival, world-renowned bee expert Gunther Hauk will sit in for a question and answer period with the audience.

Additionally, a teacher from The Kimberton Waldorf School is offering to go to different classes and community groups in the area to let kids and others have a hands-on bee experience. That will happen in the weeks leading up to the festival and after it.

“We’re hoping that we’re going to be invited into various schools,” Bruckner said.

During the May 7 Farmers’ Market, artists and crafters will sell bee-themed wares and beeswax candles, ceramic honey pots, cosmetics, honey cakes, honey tea and—of course—regular honey. The festival will feature demonstrations, children’s art activities and live music. Bruckner and his group are planning a marionette show, too.

“Marionette Theater of the Stars is working on a performance that will have a bee theme,” Bruckner said. “We’re still looking for our story.”

The festival will take place mostly at the market site, under the Gay Street high bridge. Some of the activity will be down by the creek.

“Phoenixville Borough is clearing the path along French Creek,” Bruckner said. “Along there, that’s where we want to have the booths and the special presentations and so on.”

He pointed out that the festival also happens right before Mother’s Day, and those hitting it up can pick up handmade goods that would make ideal gifts. Bruckner hopes the festival will bring people to the market who never checked it out in the past.

“The first time I went, I realized how wonderful it is to have a hot cup of coffee and croissant Saturday morning and chat with friends,” Bruckner said.

In addition, Bruckner hopes to raise awareness for the honeybee crisis.

“I have confidence that at least one person is going to be inspired to start keeping bees,” Bruckner said.

Plenty of information will be on hand for those who want to learn more about the effects the dwindling bee population can have. Members of The Chester County Beekeepers Association will be at the festival. Baues’ Busy Bees, Spikenard Farm Bee Sanctuary and Kimberton Whole Foods round out the list of sponsors on board, in addition to the organizations bolded above.

Bruckner wouldn’t think of having the first honeybee festival anywhere besides Phoenixville, which he calls home. He’d like to see the idea spread to other towns, but the nature of Phoenixville makes it a great fit for the festival.

“Phoenixville is a very creative place,” Bruckner said. “And in a lot of creative places, things can happen.”

Five Ways to Get Involved with the Spring Festival for Our Honeybees:

1. See about a presentation: Contact Peter Bruckner at PBWindrose@aol.com or 610-935-6871 if your class or community organization would like a presentation on honeybees.

2. Sign up to sell. Liz Cominsky of the Phoenixville Farmers’ Market is handling the merchant side of things for the festival. Contact her at info@phoenixvillefarmersmarket.org or 610-310-7873.

3. Check out more information on the importance of honeybees: Spikenard Farm Bee Sanctuary has a great page full of links to articles and videos.

4. Perform or share what you know. If you’re interested in performing as a musician or helping with event planning, contact Bruckner at the e-mail address or phone number above.

5. Go! The festival will be held May 7 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Phoenixville Farmers' Market, with a showing of Queen of the Sun and the Q&A with bee expert Gunther Hauk at The Colonial Theatre at 2 p.m.