Barrel And Move Fest requires boycott of Hofbräuhaus Pittsburgh, alleges racism – CBS Pittsburgh

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) – Accusations of racism are mounting on the South Side.

The organizer of the Barrel and Flow Black Beer Festival calls for a boycott of the Hofbräuhaus Pittsburgh.

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On Facebook, the owners of the Hofbräuhaus Pittsburgh said they were looking for more information about what happened and would like people from “all levels and perspectives” to send them messages and share what they experienced.

But a witness that KDKA’s Royce Jones spoke to said something was wrong on Saturday. The witness worked for the security of the event and said the allegations were true.

“It was a fine day all round before that happened,” said the witness.

According to Barrel and Flow Fest, people said they had racist encounters with the Hofbräuhaus, including allegations that the general manager yelled racist slurs against artists and did not let colored people in to use the toilet or buy beer.

“I’ve seen a lot of people get upset. One of the first things I heard was that a gentleman from a local shop was using loud racist slurs that were derogatory to African Americans, ”the witness said.

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The owners of the Hofbräuhaus have published a statement that partially states: “We celebrate all facets of diversity, equality and inclusion for our customers, employees, the entire company, our neighbors of SouthSide Works and the greater Pittsburgh community.”

They said the incident is being investigated.

“People have a right to be angry,” said the witness, “especially when it came to someone’s skin color or because a black artist performed.”

But while the Hofbräuhaus is promoting the celebration of diversity, the Barrel and Flow Fest claims the restaurant declined an invitation to attend the event and instead decided to “harass” them.

The manager of the Hofbräuhaus could not be reached when Royce Jones from KDKA called on Thursday, and an organizer of the festival never contacted KDKA again.

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A company official said they are unrelated to the events allegedly taking place and referred any questions to the franchise.