Inside Festival of Dark Arts at Fort George Brewery

So I have to be upfront about something: I am a Fort George regular and I had somehow never been to the Festival of Dark Arts. In my defense, I don't love stouts. I don't even really like stouts. But I've always wanted to go because I love Fort George and everything they do, and those two things were always going to win out eventually.

Early in 2025 I started working with Fort George Brewery and since then I've photographed three festivals alongside their staff photographer Kacey, basically just wiggling my way into the Fort George fam one event at a time. And then finally, finally, I got to do the Dark Arts.

It's different. I don't know how else to say it. The music, the outfits, the way the entire brewery shifts into something moodier and louder and just... darker. It feels like stepping into a completely different world for one day only. And even as someone who would not normally reach for a stout, I was fully in it. Not even a little bit fighting it.

The Festival of Dark Arts isn't really just about beer, though the beer is obviously the centerpiece. It's about atmosphere. It's about a brewery taking real creative risks and building the kind of cult event that people put on their calendars in January. Fort George does this better than almost anyone, and FoDA is the proof.

From a photography standpoint, it was honestly a dream. Moody light, fast movement, packed rooms, real reactions. Nobody posing. Just people fully living in the thing they showed up for. It's the kind of environment that forces you to trust your instincts and shoot for the story instead of the perfect frame, and those are usually the shoots I leave feeling the best about.

Scroll down and see for yourself.

xoxo Chelsea