Chicken wings, beer aplenty at Verizon’s first Wingstock
Battered, breaded, sizzling and seasoned, wings by the ton are landing at North Little Rock’s Verizon Arena on Saturday for Verizon’s first-ever Wingstock.
Essentially, explains Verizon Arena Sales Manager and the event’s organizer Jeremy Flynn, “Wingstock is a chicken wing and beer festival.”
The idea for the festival came, Flynn says, from a staff scouting trip to Intrust Bank Arena in Wichita, Kan., which had a similar event: “We thought it would be really cool if we could do that in North Little Rock. So far, we’ve had a great response.”
More than 30 central Arkansas restaurants, caterers and food trucks have signed up to prepare and present their very best wings. And in anticipation, Verizon has ordered over three tons of chicken wings for the contestants to cook up however they see fit.
The lineup includes a diverse collection of food vendors including Chicken Wangs Cafe, Two Sisters Catering, Dugan’s Pub and Table 28. All will compete for the Golden Wing Award — chosen by a panel of judges — and the People’s Choice Award, determined by patrons.
Flynn says, “Our main goal for this is to give some of these restaurants an avenue to promote their various forms of chicken wings.”
Wingstock may be about the wings, but that’s not all there will be. In honor and anticipation of the forthcoming football season, there will be tailgating-style games like Baggo, “big Jenga” and pingpong, as well as a free-throw shootout competition. They’ll also have ticket giveaways for Verizon Arena concerts.
A ticket to Wingstock gives the patron access to the games and the all-you-can-eat wings. While there will be a selection of domestic, imported and local craft beers plus water and sodas, there will be additional fees for those.
Holding the festival indoors with cover and air conditioning means patrons won’t be at the mercy of the mid-August weather.
So with food, drinks, games and a tailgating atmosphere indoors, Flynn and the other organizers feel this will be a back-to-school, back-tofootball celebration with its own twist.
“We think it will be a pretty unique event,” Flynn says, adding there have been “a lot of food festivals in town, but to my knowledge, I’ve never seen a chicken wing festival.
“I think this is going to be a really fun start to football season.”