When Joe Sink, Jr., publisher of THE DISPATCH, discussed his love of festivals with BB&T officials in 1983 he had no idea that it would lead to Lexington hosting one of the Country’s most popular food festivals.

BB&T and THE DISPATCH agreed to hire Kay Saintsing, a local organization developer and manager, to complete a feasibility study on a new community event. With Saintsing’s research and recommendations in hand both companies felt it was time to launch the first annual Barbecue Festival in Lexington on October 27, 1984. Event specialist, Kay Saintsing and her staff at Saintsing Management Services (now Preferred Events) produced the festival. Preferred Events now works throughout the year planning Lexington’s largest event. Tragically, Kay Saintsing unexpectedly passed away at age 53 on June 7, 2002. Continuing with the family tradition, Kay’s daughter Stephanie will continue to plan this very important community event.

Critical to the success of the event has been the special cooperation given the festival by the City of Lexington, Davidson County, as well as the owners of the popular barbecue restaurants throughout the area. This support, coupled with sponsorships provided by area businesses, has ensured the continued vitality and growth of the Annual Barbecue Festival.

Today, the festival has become an annual tradition that is held on one of the last two Saturdays in October. The 30th Anniversary Barbecue Festival will be held on Saturday, October 26, 2013. In addition to the festival, the City of Lexington and Davidson County has officially declared October as “Barbecue” month. Events are held throughout the month of October which lead to the grand finale, the Barbecue Festival. Events that are held during the month of October include the Tour de Pig-the annual cycling event benefiting the Mental Health Association in Davidson County. Also included is a golf tournament, soccer tournament, softball tournament, and the Hawg Run 5K and 1-Mile Run and Fun Walk. All of these events draw talented athletes from across the Southeast. There is also a contest for creative writers, the Pepsi “Pig Tales” writing competition. The event is open to children and adults. Professional staff at the Lexington Branch of the Davidson County Public Library serve a judges for the competition. Winners in all divisions win a year’s supply of Pepsi.

In 1984, the Barbecue Festival attracted approximately 30,000 people and the barbecue chefs cooked 3,000 pounds of barbecue. In 1994, the crowd was in excess of 100,000 people and 11,000 pounds of Barbecue were served. In 1995, some of the literal and figurative distance between East and piedmont was bridged when the state pork producers association voted to accept the city’s invitation for the annual North Carolina Championship Pork Cook-Off to be held in Lexington in conjunction with the Barbecue Festival. Piedmont residents, accustomed to seeing pits full of pork shoulders, were able to watch the state’s top whole-hog cooking experts- nearly all of them from the coastal plain-demonstrate their craft. In 2000, crowds were estimated at more than 140,000 visitors to Lexington. In 2011, an estimated 160,000 people celebrated the biggest-, and by many accounts, the best Barbecue Festival in the city’s history. Certainly, everyone is proud of the growth and success the festival has accomplished over the past twenty one years. The City of Lexington and festival planners are preparing for a record-breaking attendance, and will be ready for over 160,000 “barbecue lovers” on Saturday, October 26, 2013. We invite you to be one of them!

The Festival is held in Uptown Lexington. A nine-block stretch of Main Street is closed to traffic, with banners at either end announcing the Festival with a logo featuring four dancing pigs. Over four hundred exhibitors sell everything from handmade crafts to handmade fudge. Also a juried competition includes artists and craftsmen from across the country. This competition, sponsored by Carolane Propane Gas, Inc., is held throughout two blocks of Main Street in front of the headquarters for Arts United for Davidson County and the Davidson County Museum of Art.Six stages of entertainment showcase local and national artists. The festival is for people of all ages and includes a special section of rides and games for children, the Barbecue Carnival & Family Area.. Other special attractions this year will include an antique car show, the “Hogway Speedway”- Racing Pigs, Bicycle Stunt Show, 50-ton pig themed sand sculpture, Corvette display, “Festival Chop Shop”- Lumberjack Sports show, rock climbing wall, and much more! Barbecue is served out of three main tents, one at the square and the two others on the North & South ends of the festival. The tents are amazing places where no fewer than 35 people work beneath each red and white tent chopping barbecue, fixing slaw, and serving pigtail french fries. Here from “Mission Central”, the heart of the Festival, comes the special Festival barbecue, which is a result of the combined effort of seven masters of the trade. The Barbecue Festival is especially proud that many civic and non-profit organizations are able to raise funds by providing parking or selling concessions, raffle tickets, etc., during the Festival. This is also, an excellent opportunity for the organizations to present information and educate the public. A special section of information booths are located beside Davidson County’s historic courthouse.

 

History of Barbecue

As any connoisseur knows, Lexington, North Carolina is the Barbecue Capital of the world. The barbecue is legendary. Lexington’s first barbecue restaurant opened in 1919-a tent in the middle of town set up by Sid Weaver. Soon after that, Jesse Swicegood opened a stand, too. Business was good, and both men trained other barbecue chefs, including Warner Stamey. Now there are over twenty barbecue restaurants in Lexington (city of some seventeen thousand people). The development of barbecue in Lexington reads like a family tree, with today’s chefs using methods only slightly different from the ones Sid Weaver and Jesse Swicegood used over sixty years ago. What makes Lexington barbecue so special? The fare is pork; of course-and shoulder is the cut of choice in Lexington. The pork shoulders are cooked long and slow-about an hour a pound-over hickory wood until it is fall apart tender. The shoulders are basted with “dip”, a mixture of vinegar, water, salt, and pepper. As the dip and fat drip onto the coals, smoke is created that rises up, surrounds and permeates the meat, and gives it a rich, smokey flavor. The meat is served chopped, although sliced can be requested, with more of the basting sauce on the side. Barbecue from Lexington is so famous that Craig Claiborne included it on the menu of the Williamsburg Economic Summit, where the world’s leaders got a taste of real American food. Some restaurants offer “air-express” barbecue delivery, where they overnight barbecue requests all over the United States.

The Annual Barbecue Festival has been recognized nationally, regionally, and state wide for its excellence. The event has been recognized as one of the “Top Ten Food Festival in America” by Travel & Leisure Magazine, designated as a Top Twenty October Event by the Southeast tourism Society, is a part of the Library of Congress’ Local Legacy Event, and has received won more than fifty awards through The N.C. Association of Festivals and Events Excellence Awards program. The festival was also named “One of Ten Great Places to Celebrate Food” by USA Today.

Lexington is located in the Piedmont, just 20 miles south of Winston-Salem at the intersection of US 29/70 and US 52. Lexington is also accessible off of Business and Interstate 85 between Greensboro and Charlotte. For additional information on The Barbecue Festival, contact Stephanie K. Saintsing Naset at The Barbecue Festival, P.O. Box 1642, Lexington, North Carolina, 27293, phone (336) 956-1880. The official web site of the Annual Barbecue Festival is www.barbecuefestival.com