BBQ Fest, Royal Rosé coming to casinos in June
The weekend of June 11-12, Connecticut’s two casinos will hold festivals to celebrate food and drinks. Mohegan Sun will hold its two-day annual BBQ Fest, and Foxwoods Resort Casino will hold a daylong salute to rosé wine.
BBQ Fest: Mohegan Sun’s BBQ Fest will be held June 11 from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and June 12 from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., rain or shine. The event will have sales of chicken, pork, ribs, brisket, beer, wine and cocktails, as well as pizza, kettle corn, fried Oreos, jerky, macaroni and cheese, baked goods, fried dough, sweet corn, poutine, hot dogs, soup and tater tots.
Bears Smokehouse BBQ and six other BBQ vendors will offer $2 pig roast samples, to compete for the People’s Choice award. Participants in the rib and wing challenges will offer tastings — $5 for five tastings — and guests can vote on which is the best. A portion of the proceeds from the challenges benefit Operation BBQ Relief, which provides meals to disaster-stricken communities across the country.
The festival will have ax throwing, chef demos, a people’s choice contest at every vendor and fireworks to end the day Saturday at 9:15 p.m.
A cornhole tournament, on Sunday from noon to 4 p.m., costs $20 per entry. The winning team gets a free hotel stay and two tickets to a show at Mohegan Sun arena.
Private fire pits can be rented by groups of six to eight guests. The fire pit area is 21-and-over only.
Music will be provided by DJ E@ZY from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday, Davey Blues from 3 to 6 p.m. Saturday and Zac Brown tribute band Zac N Fried from 6:45 to 9 p.m. Saturday. On Sunday, 1:30 to 3:45 p.m., Bruce Springsteen tribute performer Alex Shillo will sing.
Admission is $8 per day, $10 for the entire weekend, and free for those 6 and younger. Details: mohegansun.com/sun-bbqfest. html.
Royal Rosé: On June 12, Foxwoods Resort Casino will hold a Royal Rosé festival in its Premier Ballroom and Fox Tower Lawn and Terrace. The sampling festival offers tastings of wine, seltzers, spirits, cocktails and food, as well as sales of additional drinks and food.
The 21-and-over event will feature two DJS and Instagrammable selfie spots.
The event will be from 2 to 6 p.m., with last pour at 5:30 p.m. Admission is $45. Bags and purses will be limited to 8x5x2 inches. foxwoods.com/entertainment/ nightlife/royalrose/.