BBQ, Boogie and Blues to return this fall
The BBQ, Boogie and Blues festival, a popular downtown event that brings food and live entertainment to the community each year, will return for the ninth time on Sept. 24-25 in compliance with health and safety recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Governor’s Office of the State of Georgia.
Sponsored by the Gordon County Chamber of Commerce and the Calhoun Downtown Development Authority, the highly anticipated festival will run from 6-10 p.m. on Friday and from 10 a.m.-5 p.m. on Saturday.
The 2021 program promises to provide entertainment for the whole family with live performances from talented musicians, a professional-level barbecue competition, grilling competitions for both children and adults, a dessert cook-off and arts and crafts.
The barbecue competition is nationally sanctioned by the Kansas Barbeque Society, and the theme for this year’s dessert cook-off is ‘Anything Apple.’
As in previous years, the annual Amazing Race fundraiser will also take place during the festival.
Sponsored by the Chamber’s Young Professionals Committee, the Amazing Race mimics the popular reality show by pitting four-person teams against one another in competition. Revenues are generated through team registration fees and sponsorship fees, and those funds are later distributed to a local nonprofit or organization selected by the committee to serve as beneficiary.
The beneficiary for the 2021 Amazing Race has not yet been announced.
According to the website for this year’s festival, the schedule of events for the weekend includes:
♦ Live bands on Friday night from 6 p.m. — 10 p.m. and on Saturday from noon — 10 p.m.
♦ The ‘Kid’s Que’ barbecue competition on Friday evening at 5:30 p.m.
♦ The $10 ‘People’s Choice BBQ Tasting’ at 11 a.m. on Saturday
♦ The Amazing Race kick-off at 10 a.m. on Saturday
For more information on vendor registration, to register for any of the cooking competitions or to learn more about the Amazing Race, visit bbqboogieblues.com.