LEXINGTON, NC – Country music singers Lee Ann Womack, Adam Gregory, Randy Houser and Jamie Johnson will be the featured WTQR Guitar Pull entertainers during the 25th Annual Barbecue Festival on Saturday, October 25. Womack, the recipient of 19 nominations and 17 awards, and the others will take center stage on the Square at 1:30 p.m.
The WTQR Guitar Pull will be followed by the fun-loving five-member country group, The Lost Trailers.
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 – Latin, beach, swing/jazz, gospel, children’s and rock ‘n roll and more. Eddie Miles, Chairmen of the Board and The Bahama Mamas are some of the scheduled acts.
Streets will close at 6 p.m. Then at 7:30 p.m., the area between Second and Third avenues will re-open with lots of music – concluding with the 25th Anniversary Grand Finale - a spectacular fireworks extravaganza at 9 p.m.
All street festival events are free.
Country music fans can anticipate a special treat.
Living in Alberta, Canada, Adam Gregory was just 13 years old when he signed a record deal with Sony Canada. Ten years later, his song “Crazy Days” is reaching country fans across the United States. His first appearance in this country will be at the Barbecue Festival.
Jamie Johnson is known for “The Dollar” and “In Color” and co-writer of “Give It Away,” recorded by George Strait. Country fans will recognize Randy Houser for his ballad, “Anything Goes.” Trace Adkins recorded Houser’s song, “Honky Tonk Bandonkadonk.”
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.
Lexington potter Clyde Gobble will be autographing the official Barbecue Festival mug from 9-11 a.m. at the souvenir tent. Bob Timberlake, who created the bottle label artwork for Richard Childress Fine Swine Wine, will be signing bottles at the Childress Winery tent from 9-10 a.m. Both tents will be located on the Square.
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 will 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 http://www.barbecuefestival.com/ or call 336-956-1880.
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The WTQR Guitar Pull will be followed by the fun-loving five-member country group, The Lost Trailers.
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 – Latin, beach, swing/jazz, gospel, children’s and rock ‘n roll and more. Eddie Miles, Chairmen of the Board and The Bahama Mamas are some of the scheduled acts.
Streets will close at 6 p.m. Then at 7:30 p.m., the area between Second and Third avenues will re-open with lots of music – concluding with the 25th Anniversary Grand Finale - a spectacular fireworks extravaganza at 9 p.m.
All street festival events are free.
Country music fans can anticipate a special treat.
Living in Alberta, Canada, Adam Gregory was just 13 years old when he signed a record deal with Sony Canada. Ten years later, his song “Crazy Days” is reaching country fans across the United States. His first appearance in this country will be at the Barbecue Festival.
Jamie Johnson is known for “The Dollar” and “In Color” and co-writer of “Give It Away,” recorded by George Strait. Country fans will recognize Randy Houser for his ballad, “Anything Goes.” Trace Adkins recorded Houser’s song, “Honky Tonk Bandonkadonk.”
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.
Lexington potter Clyde Gobble will be autographing the official Barbecue Festival mug from 9-11 a.m. at the souvenir tent. Bob Timberlake, who created the bottle label artwork for Richard Childress Fine Swine Wine, will be signing bottles at the Childress Winery tent from 9-10 a.m. Both tents will be located on the Square.
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 will 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 http://www.barbecuefestival.com/ or call 336-956-1880.
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