Jammin’ at the Amp and Pre Pig Shindig concerts will precede festival
Born and raised in Lexington, Michelle Moore has missed only one Barbecue Festival in and that was because she was nearly 9 months pregnant with her second child.
When the pandemic forced the cancellation of the traditional festival for the past two years, Moore, like many who can’t wait for the festival every year, spent a sad day in late October 2020 and 2021 remembering the food, music and crowds from previous festivals . She won’t be sad this year, however, as the full-scale festival is back.
“It’s the people, what it does for Lexington, the food, vendors and music,” she said, explaining why she loves the Barbecue Festival. “It helps celebrate our barbecue heritage.”
Moore’s jobs for most of her life have had her involved in some way with the festival. She worked at The Dispatch newspaper for more than 20 years helping lay out the special barbecue festival sections and since going to work at the Lexington Tourism office, she helps out-of-town guests learn about the festival. But even if her job wasn’t tied in some way to the festival, Moore said she would always be among the 125,000-150,000 people who were in the downtown Lexington streets on festival day.
“I love Lexington and I love what the festival does for Lexington,” she said. “I enjoy the visitors coming here and getting to experience what Lexington has to offer. They return all the time. We have people come in here and tell us they come back to experience Lexington after coming to a festival. Yes, it makes me proud to be from here.”
Those are the stories and experiences that made Barbecue Festival Director Stephanie Saintsing Naset determined to be sure the festival came back from its pandemic interruption.
“During the last two years, we’ve had virtual concerts and the Lift Up Lexington Initiative,” she said. “It’s incredible to be back this year with the full festival.”
Much of the usual will be part of the 38th festival, but some things will be different. This year would have been the 39th if the 2021 festival had not been canceled.
There will be barbecue, of course at three tents located on the Square and the intersections of Main and Center streets, Third Street near Sam’s Car Wash and Third Avenue near the festival pig-themed sand sculpture. However, only barbecue sandwiches and hot dogs will be served this year. No french fries or barbecue trays will be served from the tents.
This is a move to help the four official barbecue restaurants — The Barbecue Center, Smokey Joe’s Barbecue, Stamey’s Barbecue and Speedy’s Barbecue — that operate and staff the tents. The are concerned they may not be able to hire as many people as in year’s past to work the tents and don’t have enough staff to send over to the work tents and have their restaurants operational. In addition, some of the supplies, such as paper containers, are not always readily available since the pandemic began.
“It (the change) was because a lot of the labor shortage and a lot of uncertainty in out supply chain,” said Cecil Conrad, one of the owners of The Barbecue Center. “A lot of the paper products we need to do this are not always readily available. It’s not our suppliers’ fault, like Orrell’s. It’s above them. It’s the manufacturers who make these products.”
Six stages of entertainment will once again be art of the festival. A separate story with the line-up of performers on each stage will appear next week online and in the newspaper.
“We’re having a new dinosaur show,” said Naset. “We’ll have eight to 10 life-size dinosaurs and five shows with Ed’s Dinosaurs Live where the lumberjack show used to be between Fourth and Fifth Avenue. We found some of the shows and attractions we used to have, such as the lumberjacks, have either gone out of business or retired.The Hogway Speedway will not be here either.
In addition, the Family Fun Zone will have games and inflatables this year instead of mechanical rides. The Antique Car Cruise-In will return to the festival in the parking lot of Davidson Funeral Home and the Corvette Show will take place on West First Avenue. Also, the Purina Incredible Dog Show will return to Standell Properties across from the Breeden Insurance Amphitheater on East Third Avenue.
Instead of just a Wine Garden featuring local wineries at the amphitheater stage, this year there will be a Cork and Craft Hospitality Garden.
“We’re proudly incorporating local craft beer and cider with the local wineries,” Naset said, referring to Lexington’s Goose and The Monkey Brew House and Bull City Ciderworks. They will join Davidson County wineries, Childress, Old Homeplace and Curran Alexander, and Rowan County winery, Douglas.
Tickets for the Cork and Craft Hospitality Garden are $15. Attendees will also need a valid ID to prove they are at least age 21.
Other attractions include the Zim Zoom Photo booth with props for photographer’s, the blood drive at the J. Smith Young YMCA, 250 food, arts, crafts and commercial product vendors and Pepsi beverage booths with 2022 commemorative cups.
The Barbecue Festival will all kick off at 9 am Oct. 22 on the Grand Stand, located near the intersection of Center and Main streets with the opening ceremonies. Lexington Mayor Jason Hayes will accept the first barbecue sandwich.
Some of the attendees will arrive by train thanks to NC By Train and Amtrak. Eight stops will be made bringing people to the Barbecue Festival and taking them home, Naset said. As of Oct. 10, 355 people had already purchased tickets for the train.
But even before the festival on Oct. 22, there will be concerts to get fired up for the big event.
On Oct. 20, Jammin’ at the Amp concert will feature Jukebox Rehab and Too Much Sylvia performing from 5:30-9 pm at the Breeden Insurance Amphitheater on East Third Avenue.
Admission is free with a donation of 5 cans/boxes of food. All food collected will be donated to Pastor’s Pantry. Food vendors will be on site to purchase items and beverages.
Also, the Pre Pig Shendig will take place at Childress Vineyards from 6-10 pm Oct. 21. Ticket prices start at $35. Up and coming country music artist Alexander Kay wants to perform.
The festival will end at 6 pm. Then the Grand Final Concert, which is free, will kick off with Davidson County’s Simerson Hill and then On the Border – The Ultimate Eales Tribute Band will take the stage at the Breeden Insurance Amphitheater.
But none of it would be possible without all the sponsors and volunteers, Naset said.
“We’re grateful to all the festival sponsors for their commitment and support of Lexington’s Signature event” she said. “We’re especially proud to have Egger on board as a new main sponsor with Truist. And we are also want to recognize sponsors Pepsi, Orrell’s and RH Barringer, formerly Tri Distributors, who have been with us for ore than 30 years.
Jill Doss-Raines is The Dispatch trending topics and personality profiles senior reporter and is always looking for tips about businesses and entertainment events, secret and new menu items, and interesting people in Davidson County. Contact me at jill.doss-raines@the-dispatch.com and subscribe to us at the-dispatch.com.