North Carolina’s 12th Annual Blue Ridge BBQ Festival is Worth the Trip

As summer starts to warm up the foothills of North Carolina, thousands of people – young and old – will travel from near and far to enjoy a Southern delicacy….BBQ!!! Yes, the 12th Annual Blue Ridge BBQ Festival will be held June 9 – 10 this year at Harmon Field at the foot of Warrior Mountain in Tryon, NC; and in case you didn’t know, Southerners take their BBQ almost as seriously as their views on the War of Northern Aggression.

An admission fee of $5.00 for adults and children over 12, those under 12 are free, will get you into the Festival, where you then purchase tickets which you use to pay for your food and sample the cooking of some of the 90+ teams that will come from all over the US to compete for over $20,000 in prize money. I told you we take our BBQ seriously in the South. BBQ beef, pork and chicken are not the only culinary delights you’ll find at the Festival; you can also indulge yourself with grilled corn-on-the-cob, ice cream, frozen lemonade, cotton candy and funnel cakes.

After you’ve gotten your food, you can sit under one of the large tents to eat or you can sit in the sun on a hay bale outside the tents and listen to live music. Continuous music will be performed for the entire two-day event provided by 27 performers on two stages. The Main Stage will showcase both regional and national bands and the Riverside Stage will house acoustic acts. You can enjoy these acoustic acts as you stroll through the Foothills Craft Fair which runs in conjunction with the BBQ Festival and is set under the trees along the Pacolet River. The Foothills Craft Fair is not your run-of-the-mill craft fair; it is a juried event which is attended by artisans from as far away as Oklahoma, New York and Florida. These artists exhibit paintings in every media, drawings, sculpture and photography, and are happy to take the time to discuss their work with you. In the 40+ booths you will also find crafts made of wood, gems, glass, metal, clay and many other materials. If you’re in the market for some stained glass, handmade furniture, outdoor garden sculpture or feel a burning need to buy yourself or a loved one some new jewelry, you’ll find it in the shade of the trees.

Other attractions include Beach Bingo from 1-4 and 6-10 pm, these games are held in the shade of the tent and prizes of either cash or a Festival t-shirt will be awarded. If you’ve got little ones with you, don’t worry because they haven’t been forgotten, there is a carnival park for children with games and rides to keep them happy and busy. And you can cap off your days at the Festival by enjoying fireworks on both Friday and Saturday nights.

Whether you live near Tryon or not, a visit to the Blue Ridge BBQ Festival is well worth your trip; Tryon is one of a string of small cities along both Highways 26 and 176 which are filled with wonderful shops and restaurants. After enjoying yourself at the BBQ Festival, you can wind your way up the mountain to Saluda, Hendersonville or Asheville and enjoy the beauty and hospitality of the North Carolina Mountains. This area of the mountains is also home to Lake Lure, which offers a municipal golf course and a golf and beach resort, an RV park and campground, fishing, horseback riding and white water rafting; log onto http://www.lake-lure.com/ to find information and links to any of these activities.

You can also visit Chimney Rock State Park which is a 45-minute drive from Tryon and offers points of interest such as the 404-foot Hickory Nut Falls, the Needle’s Eye Passage, which will have you climbing 185 stairs to get through it, and for those experienced hikers, Exclamation Point which at 2,480 feet is the highest place in the park, topping Chimney Rock itself by 200 feet. On the weekend of the Blue Ridge BBQ Festival, Chimney Rock Park will be offering hammered dulcimer music featuring John Mason, a Flower Power Guided Walk hosted by botanist Elisabeth Feil on June 10 and Bark in the Park, also on the 10th, for dog lovers of all ages. For those of you who would like to see the sights without all the hiking, there is also an elevator that will take you up to the Sky Lounge gift shop and snack bar; wheelchairs and baby packs are also available. The site for the park is http://www.chimneyrockpark.com/ and will provide you with more information on admission, available packages and other visit-planning guides.

If you should decide to make your way to Asheville, NC, a 60-minute drive from Tryon, then plan to make a visit to Biltmore Estate and Gardens part of your trip. Known as “America’s Largest Home”, Biltmore Estate offers a four-star inn, a winery, and gardens designed by Fredrick Law Olmstead. Visit http://www.biltmore.com/ to get more information on activities such as biking, hiking, horseback riding, fly fishing or carriage rides through the estate, as well as admission rates and special events going on through the season.

If your appetite has been whetted and your interest has been piqued and if you need a place to stay, Tryon is home to six Bed & Breakfasts and there are an additional 21 B&B’s near Tryon; http://www.bbonline.com/nc/tryon.html, is the site to visit for more details and information. There are also a number of hotels in the area, and if you’d like more details and information on them you can go to http://www.google.com/local?hl=en&lr=&q=hotels&near=Tryon,+NC+28782&sa=X&oi=local&ct=title>. If you live too far from the area to drive then you’re still in luck as this section of the North Carolina mountains is located about 30 minutes from either Asheville Regional Airport in NC, http://www.flyavl.com/, or the Greenville-Spartanburg International Airport in SC, http://www.gspairport.com/.

So mark your calendar and plan your trip to the North Carolina Mountains to take part in the 12th Annual Blue Ridge BBQ Festival and to enjoy all the other entertainments offered by the area. For more information on and directions to the Festival itself as well as links to area attractions, go to http://www.blueridgebbqfestival.com