By Katie Scarvey
kscarvey@salisburypost.com
Are you ready for some barbecue?
If the answer is “yes,” then they’re ready for you in uptown Lexington this Saturday, which is hosting the 28th annual Barbecue Festival.
The festival, which is free, gets underway at 8:30 a.m. and runs until 6 p.m. More than 100,000 people are expected to attend this celebration of slow-cooked pork barbecue. Slow cooked pork barbecue began in Lexington in the early 1900s and quickly made the town a destination. Today, there are more than 20 barbecue restaurants in the Lexington area — more than one per each thousand residents.
Pork purveyors at this year’s festival expect to go through about 15,000 pounds of chopped barbecue, or about 1,000 cooked shoulders.
Besides offering some of the best pulled pork you’re going to eat, the festival also offers plenty of arts and crafts vendors, six entertainment stages, street performers. And if you don’t like barbecue, then you’ll find other kinds of festival food as well.
The grandstand will feature country stars Jason D. Williams, Chris Cagle, James Wesley, Corey Smithand Love & Theft, along with Tim Dugger and his band.
Activities include the “Hogway Speedway” racing pigs, a cornhole tournament (a festival first), a 50-ton pig-themed sand sculpture, juried art and craft show, antique car show, Corvette exhibit, bicycle stunt show, Festival Chop Shop Lumberjack Sports Show, rock climbing wall and more.
For more information, go to www.barbecuefestival.com.