“Everything’s goin’ up in Smoke” as the city of Alexandria hosts its 4th annual barbecue festival, Que’in on the Red, March 20 – 21, 2009.
This Memphis Barbecue Network sanctioned festival will offer friendly competition in six categories including pork, beef, poultry and sauce. Teams from across the United States, including Central Louisiana will gather to prove their secret sauces, rubs and grilling techniques have what it takes to be the Grand Champion of the “Red.”
To insure a fair and just competition, MBN will provide Que’in on the Red with knowledgeable and experienced judges who will judge teams on taste, tenderness and presentation. All teams are required to cook in at least one (1) MBN category; those being pork shoulder, pork ribs and whole hog.
Youth ages 8 – 17 will also have the opportunity to compete through the Que’in Kid’s Cook Off. Categories in this competition are “Chop Soooy” (pork chops) and “Chicken Little” (chicken). Each team may consist of four (4) members with one member being an adult. Trophies will be awarded to the winners.
The adult competition will offer $10,000 in cash and trophies to winning teams. A special designed art piece featuring the festival’s character and theme will be offered to the competition’s grand champion. Local artist Preston Gilchrist of River Oaks Arts Center will design the art piece to be awarded.
Festival gates will open at 4 pm Friday, March 20th to an impressive musical line-up. Beginning at 6:30 pm, The Tim Turner Band will take the stage. This blues/rock base band was formed in 2003 with original members, Tim Turner, Jed Smith and Dale LeBoeuf. This early line-up played around Louisiana and Texas for a couple of years until Tim and Jed moved to Nashville, TN to pursue their music careers. Reformed in Nashville with new bassist Rob Bratcher, The Tim Turner Band has recorded an all original album due spring 2009.
Headlining Friday’s musical line-up at 8:30 pm is jam band, Blues Traveler. For their new release (and Verve Forecast debut) North Hollywood Shootout, the quintet ventured out of their creative comfort zone to explore some adventurous new horizons. The resulting album is a landmark in Blues Traveler’s large and widely loved body of work, demonstrating the enduring strengths of the band’s songwriting while capturing the spontaneous spirit of their legendary live shows. The band’s best-known single, “Run-Around,” was the longest-charting radio single in Billboard history. Along the way, the band has played more than 2000 live shows in front of more than three million people
Saturday’s activities will begin at 10 a.m. with the opening of the festival gates. The musical line-up will begin at 2 pm with local country/rock band, Avery Michaels & Exit 209. Avery and Exit 209 add a bold visual excitement with their show and then toss in the occasional rock and party song just to make sure everyone is up! Contemporary, talented, polite, enthusiastic… these are all terms one might use to describe Avery and his crew, but shy definitely is not!
Vanguard/Sugar Hill Records duo Joey+Rory, the husband and wife team of Joey Martin and Rory Feed will take the stage at 4 p.m. The duo is among the rare breed of talent that lives and breathes what they write and sing. This duo, deeply rooted in a classic country sound, draws listeners into an intimate, close-knit community with their debut release The Life of a Song.
Making this Louisiana festival complete, Lake Charles zydeco favorite, Chris Ardoin and NuStep will perform at 6:30 pm. Chris blends traditional Creole music with R&B, rock, jazz, blues, country and gospel.
Headlining the evening’s entertainment is Frankie Beverly and Maze. Beginning at 8:30 p.m., this influential group in the world of contemporary music, will perform hits from their groundbreaking albums such as Golden Time of Day (1978), Inspiration (1979), Joy and Pain (1980), Live in New Orleans (1981), We are One (1983), Can’t Stop the Love (1985) and Live in Los Angeles (1986), all recorded for Capitol Records.
Carnival rides, games and a Coca-Cola monster truck display are also included in the festival’s entertainment.
An opportunity to taste competition meat will be given to festivalgoers through the Capital One People’s Choice Tent. Additionally, food and merchandise vendors will be on hand to sell barbecue and traditional festival food.
This year’s festival truly promises to be full of entertainment and excitement. General gate admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children 12 and under.
By: Lisa Harris, City of Alexandria, Louisiana
PUBLISHER'S NOTE: If you would like a team application, email LouisianaTrekker@gmail.com and I'll send you a copy.
