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Organizers look on opening of Festival Season in Lincoln with excitement
Pigs & Swigs this weekend
Part one: About the Pigs of Pigs and Swigs

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[June 02, 2015]  LINCOLN - It has been a topic of discussion for over a year now. For some, it was not a good conversation as they viewed a plan to “break up” the annual Lincoln Arts and Balloon Festival. But, for others it was a new opportunity to showcase the community, bring visitors into the community for multiple events, and it narrowed the focus of each event so as to attract a specific audience.

For organizers, the change is not a ‘break up’ but rather an expansion. The expansion has two primary components. The first goal is to “expand” a one time a year event into something that draws visitors to Lincoln throughout the summer. When this was first discussed in 2014, local businessman and airport event coordinator for the Balloon Festival, Patrick Doolin, noted what he wanted to see. Doolin said that he wanted Lincoln to be the place where there was always something going on. He wanted folks who were looking for a weekend getaway to think; “we can go to Lincoln. There is always something to do in Lincoln.”

The second goal is to take each major component of the old festival, make it more of a stand-alone event, then grow it again by adding new activities and attractions.

This weekend, the new Pigs & Swigs event will encompass a few components of the old festival - the Up in Smoke Barbecue competition, - the Oasis Flea and Craft Market, - and the Railsplitter Antique Auto Club Car Show and will add some new components.

Added to the old will be the new Craft Beer event and the Taste of Logan County local agricultural products showcase. The Taste of Logan County, sponsored by the Logan County Farm Bureau, premiered last year as a stand-alone event with great success. This year it will round out the weekend on Sunday when local producers showcase products that are produced in Logan County. The event will be paired with the Auto Show and is expected to bring in as many, if not more visitors than last year.

Those traveling in the downtown area should expect there to be street closures starting on Thursday evening as the food vendors arrive and get set up for the weekend. It is expected that some of the Kansas City Barbecue Society competitors will also arrive Thursday evening, and there will be an early registration between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. for those early birds.

The weekend will officially begin on Friday with barbecue competitor registration starting at 8 a.m. and running until 4:45 p.m.

On Friday evening the first competition - Anything Goes - will take place in the Arcade area on the south side of the Lincoln square. This has in the past been a great event that allows KCBS competitors to showcase their artistic talents with food. Judging will take place at the Arcade, and the winners will be announced at 9 p.m. The display area will be open to the public and visitors are encouraged to come down and see the masterpieces that will be created. The event does have some requirements for the competitors. Their dishes must feature barbecue of course, but it must also incorporate the signature fruit of Lincoln, watermelon.

In the past, this event has been held at the Lincoln Fire Station, and last year it was in the wine tent on Broadway Street. Logan County Alliance Event Coordinator Cara Barr said the decision to change the location was made in order to open the area up and allow spectators to have a better opportunity to see the finished products.

On Friday evening, there will also be a cook’s dinner for the competitors. The event will be catered by Guzzardo’s of Lincoln.

On Saturday, the KCBS competition will get underway, as well as the Backyard Barbecue competition; and a new competition, the KidsQ.

The KidsQ will take place on the north side of Scully Park near the main entrance. The competition will be open to two age levels; seven to 11-year-olds, and 12 to 15-year-olds. Barr said last week that there were currently four competitors signed up in each age bracket. Each entrant will be given a free grill to keep courtesy of Royal Oak Charcoal. The cooks’ final product will also be judged, and a winner will be announced at the Saturday evening awards program at 5 p.m.

Chris Graue of the BBQ committee said recently that the KidsQ will operate ‘loosely’ under KCBS rules. Each entry will be provided one pound of ground beef and a container for submitting their entry. The competitors may bring any seasonings they wish, condiments, and garnishes to use in their submission. They may cook any dish they like, but it must fit inside the container provided.

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The KidsQ competition will commence at 1:30 p.m. and submissions are due to the judges at 2:30 p.m. with a 10 minute window where submissions will be accepted between 2:25 and 2:35 p.m.

The Backyard BBQ is a returning event designed for local competitors. The competition will be held on South Kickapoo Street between Pulaski and Clinton Streets. As in the past, this is a great event for those who love to BBQ, and want the opportunity to see how well their cooking stacks up against their friends and neighbors. This event was designed to draw local cooks into the weekend, and in the past has been very successful. Again, during the cooking, visitors can walk the area and watch and root for their favorite competitors.

The backyard competition has two classes; Chicken, and Ribs. Turn in times for the entries will be 2 p.m. for the chicken and 2:30 p.m. for ribs.

The official KCBS competition is the Up in Smoke competition. As of last week, there were approximately 40 competitors signed up to attend. The staging area for these competitors will be Broadway between Kickapoo and North McLean Street, North McLean between Broadway and Pulaski, and Pulaski Street from west of Kickapoo eastward to Hamilton Street.

For the KCBS, most of the cooking will start on Friday night or in the wee hours of Saturday morning. Turn-in times will begin with chicken at noon, ribs at 12:30 p.m., pork butt at 1 p.m., and brisket at 1:30 p.m.

Of course with all these foods on the grill on Saturday visitors are going to be tempted to grab a bite. According to KCBS rules, competitors do not provide samples or sell food during a competition. But not to worry, there will be plenty of food available.

At the intersection of Kickapoo and Pulaski Streets (the corner nearest the movie theater), there will be a food court with six vendors offering a variety of products. Barr said in selecting the vendors, the BBQ committee invited three vendors to attend and the LCA invited three.

Barbecue vendors will include Dixie-Cue, Country Fryers, and 17th Street BBQ owned by renowned barbecue guru Mike Mills. Also on hand Culler’s Fries, and Roger and Pat Bay Walleye. New this year is a dessert vendor, Tastefully Twisted will serve ice cream desserts. Barr said that with these vendors diners will have options between BBQ, turkey legs, walleye, corn dogs; and of course, the ice cream desserts; so there will be hopefully something there for everyone.

 



There will be festival booklets available for visitors to assure they get to see everything offered. Barr said the booklets are available at several local businesses, plus the Logan County Tourism Bureau will have an information station set up at the festival and will have programs available there as well.

The “Pigs” portion of Pigs and Swigs weekend is only one component of the festival. In the coming articles LDN will outline the events that comprise the “Swigs” portion, as well as offer an overview of the Oasis Craft and Flea Market, the Railsplitter Auto Show, and the Taste of Logan County.

[Nila Smith]

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