Inside Rhythm & Brews: The Festival Bringing Afrobeats and Craft Beer to Hennessy Creek

Rhythm & Brews returns to Brandywine September 25th and 26th, bringing Afrobeats, craft beer, food and independent businesses to Hennessy Creek, the 41.8-acre property owned by Dr. Tracey and Dr. Vaughn Wallace.

Now in its second year, the festival opens Friday afternoon with a free agricultural workshop before Rhythm Before the Brews begins that evening. Saturday is the main festival, when brewers, winemakers, food businesses ,and vendors take over the grounds. The Wallaces describe this year’s theme simply as “beer meets Afrobeats.”

It is a change from the inaugural Rhythm & Brews, which ran for three days in 2025. This year’s festival has been condensed into two days, with agriculture taking Friday afternoon and music and beer carrying the weekend into Saturday.

“Every year we just kinda wanna build on that,” Tracey Wallace told DC Now Events during a September 15th interview.

Music was part of the thinking behind Rhythm & Brews from the beginning. The Wallaces’ daughter, Alex Vaughn, is an R&B recording artist, and the family wanted music to have a place in what they were creating at Hennessy Creek. This year, Afrobeats moves further into the festival.

Beer was a more deliberate business decision.

When the Wallaces considered what to develop on the property, Vaughn said they were already surrounded by several wineries. Opening another one would have placed Hennessy Creek in an established field. They chose brewing instead.

Tracey readily admits that beer wasn’t necessarily her drink of choice. During the interview, she discussed developing radlers, which combine beer and juice, and nonalcoholic drinks for guests who may come for the property, food or music rather than what’s on tap.

That helps explain why Rhythm & Brews isn’t confined to beer. Winemakers and food businesses are also part of the weekend, along with vendors and DJs. Premium ticket holders will have access to a separate area with food and an open bar, according to the Wallaces.

There is another story unfolding beyond the festival itself.

Hennessy Creek was historically known as Rosemount. The property was once part of a plantation of more than 240 acres before the land was divided among different owners. The Wallaces purchased the remaining 41.8 acres in 2018.

During the interview, the couple did not avoid that history. They acknowledged that enslaved people had lived on the property.

Today, the acreage is used for farming, weddings, family reunions, birthdays, public events and other gatherings. Hennessy Creek isn’t currently a brewery where visitors can simply arrive during regular business hours. Much of the public’s access to the property comes through scheduled events.

Rhythm & Brews is one of them.

So are outdoor movie nights such as Love on the Lawn, which the Wallaces said have drawn enough interest for some screenings to be repeated. Private events fill another part of the calendar.

“We want you to know us,” Vaughn Wallace said.

He described an operating style in which guests may find the owners making pizzas, driving around the property or working alongside staff rather than remaining out of sight during an event.

One of the biggest changes underway is inside a former tobacco barn.

The roughly 3,200-square-foot structure is being converted into Hennessy Creek’s brewhouse, with portions of its original wood and other features being retained. Vaughn said plans also include two beer gardens and a kitchen. The brewhouse is expected to open in 2027.

The Wallaces are also developing overnight accommodations around a farm-stay model, where a visit could include activities connected to agriculture and brewing.

The businesses appearing at Rhythm & Brews aren’t incidental to those plans.

Vaughn Wallace’s doctoral research examined strategies associated with minority-owned small businesses in the Washington metropolitan area. When discussing vendors at Hennessy Creek, he spoke less about how many businesses the festival could fit and more about whether those businesses could make money once they got there.

He said the team looks at expected attendance, vendor fees and how many businesses selling similar products should be admitted. A festival can have hundreds or thousands of people on the grounds, but that doesn’t necessarily help a vendor if too many businesses are competing for the same customers.

“We don’t hit ’em over the head for vending fees,” Wallace said.

That is a more revealing detail about Hennessy Creek than simply calling it small-business friendly. The owners are talking about margins, competition and whether participating makes financial sense for the business on the other side of the table.

Rhythm & Brews begins Friday, September 25th, with the agricultural workshop from 2 to 5 p.m., followed by Rhythm Before the Brews from 5 to 9 p.m. Saturday’s festival runs from 2 to 8 p.m. at Hennessy Creek, 13201 Martin Road in Brandywine.

Those hours tell people when to arrive. The two days also catch Hennessy Creek at an unusual moment: the festival is returning before the brewhouse is finished, while a former tobacco barn is still being converted and the owners are preparing to open another part of the property in 2027.

For people who first find Hennessy Creek because they heard about an Afrobeats and craft beer festival, Rhythm & Brews may be their first look at everything else happening on those 41.8 acres.