Barbecue, brews and country music
Yuma festival brings together all three Friday and Saturday
What goes well with barbecue?
How about beer and country music?
All three will be served up Friday and Saturday in the BBQ & Brew Festival that takes place on Main Street in downtown Yuma.
Part entertainment and part contest, the twoday festival hosted by the city of Yuma will bring together professional barbecuers from around the nation vying in a cooking competition sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbecue Society. They will compete for points to advance to the society’s World Invitational later in the year.
While those competitors sear and smoke meat for a panel of judges, the public can savor a variety of barbecued fare offered by vendors, including briskets, ribs, chicken, specialty mac and cheese, smoked pork and grilled poppers.
“It will be a bunch of fun, different menu items,” said Joanne Fiser, the city’s heritage festival coordinator who is overseeing the festival.
The vendors will be lined up along the 200 block of Main Street and serving Friday from 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. and Saturday 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.
And as its name implies, the festival includes a beer garden where visitors can order their favorite brews.
Admission to the festival is free, and that means attendees don’t have to buy tickets to see country artists that include Andy Griggs and Ricochet, performing back to back in an outdoor concert Saturday evening. Also performing over the two days of the festival will be the Young Guns Band and local artists Faith Lynn, Downtime and Milepost 30.
For people looking for help with their backyard grilling, the festival will include a question-and-answer session at 5 p.m. Friday in which a panel of pros will discuss tips for better barbecuing.
New this year will be a petting zoo for youngsters’ enjoyment.
The city has made arrangements with Paradise Casinos to make its parking lot in Winterhaven available for overflow parking in anticipation that all spaces in the downtown will be filled during the festival. Shuttles will take the festival goers between the festival and casino lot.