Decatur Turns Out For BBQ, Blues, Bluegrass and Rain
Decatur Metro | August 16, 2009
Michelle Malone Performs Prior to the Downpour
The rain held off almost long enough for Decatur’s BBQ, Blues and Bluegrass Fest to conclude on an amplified note last night. But a late night downpour – the area’s first in weeks – cut power to the stage halfway through headliner Michelle Malone’s set.
However, that seemed the only hiccup of the evening, as Harmony Park and it’s surrounding parking lots were filled with area residents drinking cold Sierra, meeting city commission candidates, and eating hundreds of pounds of BBQ before I could get any.
Hopefully once Swanny recovers from what must have been a very intense evening, he can provide us with a head-count.
Twas a heck of a turnout. Glad we got there early to get decent, albeit, sunstroke-inducing seats
Left just in time to miss the downpour.
Good time.
Top notch bands this year.
I love this festival every year, but have one suggestion – either drop the BBQ from the festival title, or provide more than a single BBQ vendor tent. The title implies that there’s going to be A) a decent sampling of BBQ and B) enough to last beyond 6:30 pm.
There were three BBQ tents I personally hit in order to make sure baby Nelliebelle & Mr. Nelliebelle were satisfied. One had BBQ chicken, shrimp and corn; one had pulled pork; one had ribs. They were set up in kind of a triangle and pretty easy to find. I was there at 6:30 and they seemed to have plenty of food.
That was a common complaint heard last year – the single source of BBQ. This year they expanded to the 3 vendors that Nellie mentioned, but required each to serve a different version of BBQ. My hope for next year is that they’ll bring in at least three (maybe more?) and let them make whatever they want. If we end up with three different versions of pulled pork or ribs, that’s OK by me.
Otherwise, big props (do the kids still use that term?) to the event organizers – absolutely great festival and a real asset to the Decatur community.
Not a kid, but what does “props” stand for?
It’s shorthand for “propers”, which is shorthand for “proper recognition or respect”. I’m not a kid either, but I watch way too much TV meant for a teen audience.
Not only a single source last year, but not good and too $$$
Thanks everyone for coming out! It looks like attendance was off by 890. Not bad considering we were up against Sir Paul, Def Leopard, Poison, and the Braves. 4,500 is a pretty accurate number for attendance. I guess that says we can still compete with the big boys as long as we can put together a quality musical lineup.
As far as the BBQ…. There is no doubt the most common critique of the festival last year was the single BBQ vendor. I heard you all loud and clear,and it was my mission this year to get multiple vendors, increase the choices and quality. I feel confident we were able to accomplish that. For an event this size, its just not that easy to add BBQ vendors. They don’t like paying sponsor fees AND having competition . We approached several vendors (including local ones) through out the year and were turned down by some as they feel they can’t make money.
Hopefully another year of this festival being successful will convince more of them that there is plenty of business to go around. Since pulled pork is obviously the most popular item, we will work on getting multiple vendors to agree to compete for your taste buds at next year’s festival!
Despite the lower attendance, the preliminary numbers looked like we did better than last year. Remember this is a non-profit event. 100% of the proceeds are given back to the community! We could never pull it off with your support. Thanks again, and mark your calendar’s for August 21, 2010 for the 10th Annual Decatur BBQ, Blues and Bluegrass Festival!
Thanks for another great festival, and to the board members of the Community Center of South Decatur at the Solarium for managing this important event so well. So many volunteers helped as well.
It was a great event Bryan- you and Kara and the rest of the committee did a fabulous job. I enjoyed the BBQ and the music very much