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PRESS RELEASES
Country Stars, Racing Pigs and Fireworks Highlight Barbecue Festival
September 29, 2009
Lexington, NC -- Country music singers Richie McDonald, Joey + Rory, Chris Young, Megan Mullins and David Nail will be the featured WTQR Guitar Pull entertainers during the 26th Annual Barbecue Festival on Saturday, October 24.
The WTQR Guitar Pull will be followed by a special full band performance by country music star, Big Kenny.
Held in historic Uptown Lexington from 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m., the Barbecue Festival will feature juried arts and crafts vendors, roving entertainers, a lumberjack sports competition, pig races, bicycle stunt shows, whimsical pig sculptures, festival food, beer tent, children's activities, a 50-ton sand sculpture, 32-foot climbing wall, and 6 stages of music – country, beach, blues, gospel, children's, calypso steel drums, rock 'n roll and more. Eddie Miles, Chairmen of the Board, Band of Oz, Matt Walsh, Jim Quick & Coastline and The Bahama Mamas featuring Tracy Thornton are some of the scheduled acts.
The Barbecue Festival continually receives accolades and prestige. It has repeatedly been recognized by the Southeast Tourism Society as one of the Top Ten Festivals in the Southeast. It has been included in the book, 1,000 Places to See in the U.S.A. and Canada Before You Die. USA TODAY recognized the Barbecue Festival as "One of Ten Great Places to Celebrate Food." And the prestigious Travel & Leisure Magazine claimed the event as "One of the Top Ten Food Festivals in the U.S.A."
Barbecue tents will open at 10 a.m. serving chopped pork shoulders, red barbecue slaw and hush puppies all day long to thousands of people. "The barbecue is the reason the festival exists," explains Stephanie K. Saintsing, festival director. "After Joe Sink, who was the publisher of our local newspaper, The Dispatch, and BB&T bank officials formed the festival as a means of recognizing our world-famous barbecue, they hired my late mother, Kay Saintsing, to coordinate and promote it. More than a million people have attended since – by car, plane and train." Amtrak will be providing a one-day stop in Lexington to riders from Charlotte and Raleigh. Tickets are available by calling 800-872-7245.
Organizers have established remote parking areas and a shuttle transportation service to accommodate festival goers from the Wal-Mart Super Center parking lot off of I-85 Exit 91, Childress Vineyards on US Hwy. 64 and the Davidson County governmental complex on North Main Street in Lexington. Round trip tickets will be $2 per person and free for children 12 and under.
Bob Timberlake, who created the bottle label artwork for the 2009 edition of Fine Swine Wine, and Richard Childress will be signing bottles of Fine Swine Wine at the Childress Vineyards tent, located at the square, from 9:30-10:30 a.m.
Nickelodeon character SpongeBob SquarePants will make special appearances at 10 a.m., noon, 2 and 4 p.m. at the Barbecue Carnival, a family-oriented area with children's games, music and activities. It will be located on South Main Street between Second and Fourth avenues.
The Barbecue Carnival, featuring rides & games for children, will also include the Barbecue Festival Chop Shop, a competition featuring some of the best lumberjacks in the world. The final round will be held at 4 p.m. The craftsmen's finely-tuned skills of sawing, chopping and cutting wood are spectacular.
And at that same location crowds will find the Barbecue Festival Hogway Speedway- with specially bred and trained pigs to town to race around an oval track. The racing pigs have been a festival hit throughout the years. The determined little pigs take their racing seriously!
Members of the Furnitureland Antique Automobile Club are planning to bring a mix of antique, classic and street rod cars to fill the parking lot at Davidson Funeral Home.
Visitor amenities will be available throughout the day. A baby-changing station will be set up in the Barbecue Carnival. A parking lot reserved for vehicles with handicapped permits will be located off of State Street, which runs parallel with Main Street. Restrooms for visitors with disabilities will be located in the parking lot and other designated restroom areas throughout the festival.
Lexington is located 20 miles south of Winston-Salem off US Hwy. 52, 45 miles north of Charlotte and 30 miles south of Greensboro off I-85. For more information, log onto www.barbecuefestival.com or call 336-956-1880.
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