It was all about barbecue October 23, 2010 in Lexington, North Carolina at the annual Barbecue Festival which is ranked as one of the best hometown festivals in the southeast.
Where the Heck is Lexington, North Carolina?
Lexington is located in the central piedmont area of North Carolina – about 20 miles from Winston Salem off I85. The city population runs under 20 thousand, but the Barbecue Festival pulls in about 100 thousand each year – give or take. It’s hard to measure the crowd, since this is a traditional street festival with no entry fee or tickets.
With the weather fabulous this year – sunny and in the 70s – the Lexington BBQ Festival 2010 likely ran as a banner year. It’s likely that this was a record breaking year in terms of numbers. Unofficial estimates on attendance run 120 to 125 thousand for 2010.
Lexington Barbecue History - It's a Tad Complicated
Lexington is considered the birthplace and reigning city of western style barbecue. Rowan County would argue that the shoulder style barbecue low and slow technique actually started in Salisbury, North Carolina, but Lexington claimed it, and visitors to North Carolina will find the western style 'que called “Lexington style.”
North Carolina barbecue is pork chopped (not to be confused with pulled pork) and served on buns or white bread with spicy slaw. To the east, they smoke whole hog while Lexington and other western variations do shoulders or Boston butts.
Eastern sauce is vinegar with spices while eastern or Lexington style barbecue adds a little red or some type of tomato based product – often ketchup.
As far as the festival, this is the 27th year and definitely one that should go down in history as one of the biggest and best. After two rainy years, it was great to see the sun out for the festival in 2010.
Lexington Barbecue Sandwiches at the Festival
Various barbecue restaurants in Lexington, NC come together for the Barbecue Festival and smoke shoulder or butt which is chopped and trucked in to the various barbecue tents. The restaurants also send in sauce with various recipes but all including some type of tomato additions.
Festival visitors can order trays which include meat and barbecue slaw or barbecue sandwiches with curly tail French fries. It’s not a barbecue competition, so all key tents are the basic festival barbecue sandwiches.
Beyond Barbecue in Lexington - No - It is NOT Just BBQ
Yes. Barbecue is the focus at the Lexington Barbecue Festival, but visitors can get a range of foods and lots of small batch sauces, homemade goods, and crafts.
As far as food, the fried apple pie booth is always a hit. The church ladies and men come in and make the fried pies from scratch right there where you can watch. The lines can get long, but it is worth the wait for the festival fried apple pies.
This year the fried booth with all manner of sinful fried foods was another top runner. Festival fans were lining up deep to get fried Snickers bars, fried bacon, and even fried butter on a stick.
On the crafts, the Tin Can Man rocks. He makes all kinds of great art from aluminum cans. His coolest creations are still his airplanes, but they are all terrific. This was his 8th year at the festival.
As far as new offerings for 2010 at the Lexington NC BBQ festival, the chip folks who had healthy chips that tasted just like pork rinds came in strong. It would take a really top notch palate to note that the chips really were not pig fat.
Entertainment at the Barbecue Festival In Lexington NC
There are always several stages with various types of entertainment at the Lexington festival. Shows range from local to gospel to headliners. They always run a kids’ stage as well.
Sara Evans was the feature at the Lexington Barbecue Festival. It is traditional that a country star headline. But, there was something for everyone throughout the day.
Verdict on the 27th Lexington NC BBQ Fest
This may well go down as the biggest and best festival for Lexington in terms of attendance and receipts. Certainly, the weather could not have been better. The crowds were there, and it appeared that festival fans were shelling out the bucks even if this is a recession year.
In the end, it’s about the fun. Those who like a more laid back experience may not rate a banner year as high. Around mid day, festival visitors were backed tight. But, on the flip side, it did appear that locals and outside vendors were getting good business flows. And, those who can handle a crowd likely had a blast at the North Carolina Lexington Barbecue Festival 2010.
Cyndi Allison - Southern born and fed, Cyndi Allison is a college lecturer and newspaper advisor as well as being a freelance writer. She writes on ...
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