"On June 5 - 8, the premier barbecue and music festival in the state celebrates its tenth anniversary in downtown Winston-Salem. The Texas Pete Twin City RibFest continues to be one of only a handful of legitimate barbecue festival s in the state of North Carolina. What!? This state has a barbecue festival almost weekly. It’s true, hundreds of so-called barbecue festivals take place around the state, but according to RibFest promoter Allen McDavid of AKA Entertainment & Media most of them are actually barbecue cook-offs, or even street festivals with barbecue in the name. TV shows like BBQ Pitmasters have generated tremendous interest in the subject of barbecue but at the same time created confusion about the terms barbecue cook-offs and barbecue festivals.
Allen McDavid the producer of the Texas Pete Twin City RibFest claims to know the difference. Says McDavid, “It’s really quite simple, a barbecue cook-off is for cookers whereas a barbecue festival is all inclusive.” In other words, the barbecue at a cook-off is prepared for judges from a sanctioning body (usually KCBS), not the public. Anyway, at cook-off most of the pitmasters don’t have the capacity, nor desire to feed the public. Their cookers are relatively small, and they are focused on winning prizes. Sure, you can get barbecue at a cook-off, from a vendor or two, who usually are not even in the competition.
Barbecue festivals like the Texas Pete Twin City RibFest have the requisite competition but that takes a back seat to satisfying the appetites of thousands of festival attendees who appreciate the choice of barbecue from several nationally renowned pitmasters with the necessary equipment necessary to feed thousands of hungry attendees. According to McDavid, “Our BBQ teams generally go through a tractor trailer load of meat every RibFest. If we don’t have rain, it’s more.”
Despite the fact that he is producing six BBQ festivals in 2014, the Texas Pete Twin City RibFest is still the festival most near and dear to McDavid’s heart and he’s assembled a fine collection of BBQ teams for the early June celebration of both BBQ and the beginning of summer. This year’s RibFest features eight teams including longtime crowd favorite King Solomon the Rib King of South Carolina who finished in the top four on BBQ Pitmasters just a couple of years ago. Joining Williams will be the Big Boned team, also from South Carolina, perennial Best Sauce winner Pigfoot from Ohio, former Grand Champion Camp 31 from Alabama, Florida Skin and Bones, 108 B Grill Team from Georgia, Poor Piggy’s from Wilmington, NC and Dirty South BBQ from Florida.
Barbecue is great, but what’s a festival without attractions and the 2014 Texas Pete Twin City RibFest has them. For its 10 anniversary the RibFest is pulling out all the stops. As always it will feature an eclectic mix of outstanding music on the main stage. This year’s line-up includes Whitey Morgan and the 78s from Detroit, The Damn Quails from Austin, Bombadil and the Avett Brothers’ dad Jim Avett, Seven Handle Circus from Georgia and many more.
The RibFest will also have a singer/songwriter’s stage and the Shady Lady Saloon, a big hit last year. The marketplace returns along with a big carnival for the kids. New this year will be a Side Show tent featuring traditional mind-blowing acts and finally, Lucha Libre wrestling makes it first appearance at the RibFest.
The cost of admission is the same it has been for over five years now, $7 for adults, kids 12 and under get in free. There is a $2 discount on Sunday if a church bulletin is presented at the gate. There are also many special deals available on the website and in the Winston-Salem Journal.
About AKA Entertainment & Media, LLC.
Allen McDavid, owner of AKA Entertainment & Media, LLC. is an experienced marketing professional. In a 22+ years advertising career, Allen has worked for many major clients and brands including Hanes, Jefferson-Pilot Financial, AIG, eDiets, VoiceGlo, NoNonsense Hosiery, Purolator, Regal Boats, Burlington Socks, NC State Athletics, and more. Allen co-founded and helped build four companies prior to forming AKA Entertainment & Media - McDavid & Holbrook Advertising, SpyderByte Communications, Stratapult Studios, and Emisare, Inc.
AKA has expanded its barbecue and music festivals to six cities across the state. In addition to Winston-Salem and Greensboro AKA will put on festivals in Wilmington (second year), Raleigh, Charlotte and Asheville where AKA is taking over control of a ribFest that is in its eighth year.
The six events and dates are as follows:
June 5-8 - Texas Pete Twin City RibFest in Winston-Salem www.twincityribfest.co
July 11-13- Carolina West RibFest in Asheville www.carolinawestribfest.com
August 15-17 – Carolina Farmin’ Port City RibFest in Wilmington www.portcityribfest.com
August 22-24 - The Raleigh RibFest in Raleigh www.raleighribfest.info
September 5-7 – East West BBQFest in Greensboro www.eastwestbbqfest.com
September 18-21 – Queen City BBQ and Music Festival www.queencitybbq.net
In addition to the six bbq festivals AKA produces the Greater Greensboro St. Paddy’s Party. AKA festivals of the past have included the ArtsAlive! Series in downtown Greensboro which earned McDavid a spot in GoTriad’s "20 who shaped the Triad arts scene in 2003.” In 2004 AKA’s MysticKarnival was named one of the Top 10 new cultural events in the Triad by GoTriad and the AKA- produced 2006 Eden RiverFest was awarded "Best Downtown Event of 2006" by the NC Department of Commerce Main Street Program."
A Press Release
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