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PRESS RELEASES
THE BARBECUE FESTIVAL SELECTED AS SOUTHEAST TOURISM SOCIETY'S TOP 20 EVENT 2010
June 1, 2010
Atlanta, GA -- The Southeast Tourism Society has selected the 27th ANNUAL BARBECUE FESTIVAL as one of the top twenty events occurring in the region during October 2010.
The Southeast Tourism Society has selected the 27th ANNUAL BARBECUE FESTIVAL as one of the top twenty events occurring in the region during October 2010.
The 27th Annual BARBECUE FESTIVAL is set for Saturday, October 23rd, 2010. Magically the streets of Historic Uptown Lexington are transformed overnight into a great big playground with food, entertainment, shopping and lots of family fun. It all begins at 8:30 a.m. and runs 'til 6:00 p.m. The festival is free and plenty of parking will be available. Shuttles will provide transportation service from satellite parking lots throughout the city.
Amtrak trains, running between Raleigh and Charlotte, will stop in Lexington in the morning and afternoon. The Piedmont and Carolinian reserve the Festival day to make their only stop here during the year. More than 100,000 people are expected to attend and enjoy the flavor of slow-cooked pork barbecue, the kind that makes the city the "Barbecue Capital of the World."
Each year, an eighteen-block region of the downtown area is filled with arts and crafts vendors, entertainment stages, street performers, and fun festival food. Three large tents serve up thousands of pounds of barbecue sandwiches, freshly made from area restaurants. The Barbecue Carnival and Family area provides all kinds of fun activities for children. And, everyone loves the "Hogway Speedway" racing pigs!
The festival will have six stages of entertainment featuring a variety of great music. Because of the Festival's popularity, it typically draws regional and nationally recognized entertainment acts. Stay tunedÉthe complete entertainment schedule will be announced in early October.
The Festival includes a 50-ton pig themed sand sculpture, juried art and craft show, an antique car show, Corvette exhibit, a bicycle stunt show, "Festival Chop Shop" lumberjack sports show, climbing wall and lots more. Photo opportunities abound!
The annual celebration culminates a month-long series of events celebrating the local cuisine: Barbecue Festival Tennis Tournament, Oct.8-10; Tour de Pig Bike Ride, October 9; Barbecue Festival Golf Tournament, Oct. 16-17; Hawg Shoot Air Rifle Tournament, and the Hawg Run 5K & 1 Mile Fun Run, October 16.
The art of slowly cooking pork shoulders over beds of hot hickory coals began in the early 1900s. The meat was so tender and tasty, that travelers planned their trips around a stop for a sliced or chopped barbecue sandwich. Today, there are more than 25 barbecue restaurants in the Lexington area.
"The Top 20 Events represents the best festivals the Southeast has to offer. Events that win this honor benefit from the widespread exposure and prestige that being named a Top 20 Events affords," says Laura Guptill, STS Coordinator of the Top 20 Events Program.
Since 1985 the Southeast Tourism Society has published the Top 20 Events a where for each month of the year, twenty of the best events across the Southeast compete to be named a Top 20 Event. Each month, the Society selects 20 outstanding events and promotes them via more than 300 newspapers, magazines, and broadcast stations - as well as in 125 AAA publications. As a result, honored events benefit from free, widespread publicity they might not otherwise receive. STS Top 20 Events are also published on the Southeast Tourism Society web site at www.EscapetotheSoutheast.com.
To be nominated for a Top 20 Event, an event must be at least in its 3rd year and must have a minimum attendance of 1000. Nomination forms and a list of submission deadlines may be obtained from Southeast Tourism Society www.SoutheastTourism.org; 404-364-9847; Top20@SoutheastTourism.org.
Founded in 1983, and headquartered in Atlanta, the Southeast Tourism Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting tourism in 11 southeastern states from West Virginia to Louisiana. The membership includes state travel offices, attractions, hotels, motels, resorts, convention & visitors bureaus, airlines, bus companies, car rental agencies, newspapers, magazines and other travel related organizations.
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