PADUCAH — BBQ on the River is a month away, and leaders say they are bringing back old traditions and new experiences to this year’s festival.
This year’s festival will be held from Sept. 24 through Sept. 26 and will be led by new leadership: Paducah Main Street and festival director Tyler Parker. Blaine McDonald, executive director of Paducah Main Street, said organizers have been preparing for this year’s festival since last year.
“Thirty-two years is a very long time to have an event that continually occurs and something that people want to come back to. You kind of have to think about, ‘OK, what do we do to make it bigger, and what do we do to make it better so that people want to continue to come back year after year,” McDonald said.
She said they have planned new experiences and activities for attendees this year.
“We’ve been able to create a VIP experience. One thing that really hasn’t been tapped into before is kind of integrating what our downtown brings every single day,” McDonald said. “We’ve got several new distilleries in downtown, so we’ve been able to kind of create an alcohol tasting experience in our VIP tent.”
Parker said there will be more than 100 barbecue vendors — the most they have ever hosted — with some of them being from out-of-town.
“We’ve got some from Nashville. We’ve got some from Madisonville [and] surrounding areas that have been trying to get in the festival for years. This year we’ve made it happen,” Parker said.
Although organizers are adding new events and vendors, they are also bringing back some of the original BBQ on the River culture: rock ‘n’ roll and country music artists and bands. McDonald said the festival’s headliners include Houston Kelly from The Voice, Johnny Mac and The Remedies.
“We just wrapped up Fridays After Five. We’ve had amazing music in downtown Paducah all summer long, so we wanted to continue that ball rolling there,” McDonald said. “We’ve got amazing artists that are coming from here and there and everywhere to play. We’ve got hour-long to two-hour-long sets, so you’re getting a lot of music in the span of three days.”
Parker also said they are continuing to move the festival back to its original spot.
“It’s been kind of spread out over the years, and so this year we’re trying to bring things back to the parking lots across from Broussard’s and across from the Quilt Museum — just kind of tighten everything up to make it more of a family atmosphere to where everybody’s together,” Parker said.
McDonald said moving the festival back to its original location was successful last year, and they plan for the layout to continue growing.
“What we want to do is make people want to continue to come back, and what that means is continuing to grow it and bring different trucks of different food experiences. We talked earlier about some of our original barbecuers from the very beginning, and then some new ones as well. We want you to be able to come back every year and have a different experience, but an amazing experience,” McDonald said.
The kids zone and Porkstock will also return this year. Porkstock is the official kickoff of BBQ on the River on Wednesday evening, Sept. 23, providing attendees a BBQ meal, live music and a good time with community members. McDonald said Carson Byer will headline the event, and tables can be purchased online.
Proceeds from Porkstock will go toward Paducah Main Street’s year-round efforts.
“This summer you got to see that we had Fridays After Five, but that’s the promotional side of things. We’re also working on the historic preservation side [and] the economic vitality of our downtown. We want to continue that history and storytelling in our downtown, and fundraising opportunities like this are how we’re going to do that,” McDonald said.
Parker explained what it will be like over the next 30 days before BBQ on the River opens on Sept. 24.
“It’s pretty much an everyday, all hands on deck at this point. We’re finishing up T-shirt orders. We’re working on finalizing maps [and] all of our run-throughs with the city for safety checks,” Parker said.
Both Parker and McDonald encourage the community to come out and see this year’s BBQ on the River to hang out and eat good food, while supporting local charities.
“It’s nice to win the barbecue awards. It’s nice to come in and have a unique experience in downtown Paducah that you don’t normally get, but when you think back on it, at the end of the day, it’s also amazing to be able to give back to so many people and so many organizations that make our community what it is,” McDonald said.
For more information about this year’s BBQ on the River, visit bbqontheriver.com.
Dining and Cooking