Organizers of the Blue Ridge Barbecue and Music Festival met earlier this month to hammer down details of this year’s North Carolina State Barbecue Championship.
The group began its meetings back in November to plan for the two-day event that will be held Friday, June 8 and Saturday, June 9 at Harmon Field in Tryon.
Chairman Chuck Britton said organizers are looking forward to a special 19th year of the event.
“We’re changing things up every day to make it a better festival. One of the big things we’re focusing on this year is making sure families get a better value for their money,” Britton said.
This year, in an effort to make the event more affordable for families, organizers plan to offer free admission for all ages from 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. Friday, June 8.
Students in Polk County Schools get out of school at 11 a.m. that morning because of graduation ceremonies that weekend. Organizers said they hope families can take the opportunity to enjoy a day at Harmon Field.
Britton said they expect attendance to rise during that time frame compared to last year, when about 320 people came for the midday festivities.
During the festival families can also purchase ride bracelets for their children. The ride bracelets will be a set price that will allow kids to ride as many rides as they want for one four-hour sessions.
“It gives the local community an opportunity to come out without spending a ton of money,” Britton said.
He also pointed out that anyone who volunteers for a four-hour shift at the festival gets free admission for both days. Admission for kids 12 and under is always free.
The barbecue festival is also currently accepting applications for crafters and BBQ cookers. Interested individuals and teams can get an application at www.blueridgebbqfestival.com.
Organizers are also working on rounding up any returning or new banner sponsors interested in having their company or organization’s name available for all to see around the festival. Returning sponsors get a discount if they pay for their sponsorship by March 1.
Entertainment chair Benton Wharton is also working to line up an exciting list of bands to grace the two stages at this year’s festival.
“We’re going to work to bring the national level talent that we have here locally to the stage during this year’s festival,” Wharton said.
For more information, contact festival organizers at 828-859-7427 or by email at brbbq@blueridgebbqfestival.com.