The sixth annual BBQ & Blues Festival in Lawrence has migrated a short distance, from inside Fort Harrison State Park to just a little ways outside, allowing people to attend without having to pay a gate fee at the park entrance.
Other than that, the festival is pretty much as it’s always been, with lots of barbecue to sample while listening to hours of blues music. The festival starts at noon Sept. 14 at Lawrence’s Fort Ben Cultural Campus, 8950 Otis Ave.
City of Lawrence Director of Communications for City Events Jami Weirich said the Friends of Fort Harrison State Park, which had been planning the festival each year, asked the city to take on the annual event.
“It’s been so much fun,” Weirich said of organizing the festival. “I’ve been getting the opportunity to talk to a lot of different people. I’ve been here since March, so (we’re) using quite a few vendors that I’ve never used before. It’s (also) been fun getting to listen to new blues bands and figure out which will be best and how we can bring people and exposure to our Lawrence community with these different bands.”
Among the bands are King Bee and the Stingers from Bloomington and Indianapolis-based Mississippi Raglips and the Riverdogs.
Jeff Shriver — aka Mississippi Raglips — said the band plays a variety of blues, but for the festival, they plan to keep things lively.
“We kind of like to do a rock-and-blues kind of thing,” he said, adding that they will play some slower tunes and plan to include their original song, “Hit it Early.”
“It’s what we like to do on vacation,” he said, laughing as he explained the song title. “But most of what we like to do, we like to get things moving a little bit, you know — we like to have fun. We’re a high-energy kind of band. For instance, I’ll be showing up with a bunch of what we call Riverdog beads. We pass those out to dancers. So, you want beads? You just dance. I’ll throw them right at you.”
Shriver said the band has been together about a dozen years, but he’s been playing blues music for much longer. The group has played in Lawrence previously, most recently during the Arts for Lawrence Fridays at the Fort free concert series.
“We have a lot of fun out there,” he said. “That’s actually one of my personally favorite (shows). That’s the one show I kind of go a little overboard. One of the things that I do because — you know, I wear the hat and sunglasses — so, I bring a bunch of plastic hats and sunglasses and I go out and buy a bunch of little harmonicas for the kids. We do a song and it’s a lot of fun.”
Shriver said they like to make their shows a party.
“A lot of people can play music, but it’s got to be entertainment, you know,” he said. “And then, hopefully, what you’ll see is that we don’t necessarily just play a lot of these songs — we feel them.”
Food is an important element to the BBQ & Blues festival and Weirich said the city has a great lineup of vendors for participants. For barbecue options, confirmed vendors are MJ’s Backyard BBQ, Wild Boar BBQ, Scratch House Kitchen, Real Slab Masterz and Colonel Mustard Catering. For something sweet, Lawrence-based Moo & Lou Frozen Treats will be on hand as well.
“There’s going to be some chicken wings, some pulled barbecue, some ribs and some rib tips — It looks like there’s going to be a lot of options and I usually get yelled at for the amount of options and people have to make decisions,” she said. “I’ll take that feedback.”
For those who want to try everything, Weirich has some advice: “It’s six hours, so eat right at the beginning and then every two hours.”
If participants get a little thirsty, Arts for Lawrence will be serving beer, wine and nonalcoholic beverages at its beverage tent. AFL Program Director Lecia Floyd said the nonprofit also will be holding a small raffle fundraiser during the festival to benefit local arts programming.
IF YOU GO
What: The 6th annual BBQ & Blues Festival
When: Noon to 6 p.m. Sept. 14
Where: Fort Ben Cultural Campus, 8950 Otis Ave., Lawrence
How: Admission is free and registration isn’t required
