LAKE VILLAGE, AR – The Lake Village Fall Fest has hit the ground running, with its sights set on a full day of festivity Saturday.
Lake Village’s Chamber of Commerce wants to make sure no one misses out. Jacob Moon of the Chamber says there’s plenty to come: “One of our big events is the MBN Barbeque Cookoff we have taking place. We have a lot of cooks here that will be going on all day. We have a dog show tomorrow, we have a DJ all day tomorrow, and tomorrow night we’ll have live music, two different bands.”
Friday saw vendors selling food and souvenirs and a DJ setting up to play music – and teams of contestants for the Memphis Barbeque Network, already starting hours of prep work to see who can cook the best pig.
For some teams, the commitment will leave them with barely three hours of sleep, as they cook meat throughout the night. Danny Smith of Indirect Fire BBQ says that “we’ve been cooking MBN since 2018. It’s our third season cooking this contest, we really love this contest. It’s one we look forward to on the circuit.”
Dylan and Sonya Birkenstock of Anonymous Swine say that they’ve been prepping since Thursday. “It’s a lot of work for two of us. So try to get here as early as we can. Matter of fact, we were the early birds! And we’ll try to leave out of here Sunday morning.”
Even as the barbeque teams spend hours prepping their pigs, the Chamber spends hours prepping for festival guests… but Moon says it’s a worthy trade, to give back to the community and put the town on the map. “I love being a part of the chamber. Giving back to my community.”
Dining and Cooking