by James Coulter
What’s better than eating finger-licking good barbecue? How about listening to finger-picking good bluegrass? The Annual Bluegrass Bash and BBQ offered all of this last Saturday at scenic Lions Park.
Several barbecue vendors and food trucks served good old-fashioned barbecue from ribs and brisket to southwestern eggrolls and mac and cheese sliders.
Steve Gillettee and his team at Kick Yo Butt BBQ served their world-famous barbecue eggrolls, including pulled pork and brisket and mac, along with mac and cheese and French fries.
Steve and his team have been attending the annual barbecue event for several years. Both the people and the overall experience keep them coming back time and again.
“It is amazing,” he said. “It is a decent turnout. Everybody is doing pretty good it looks like. It is an awesome event with good music, good food, great crowd. Not good weather, but it could be worse.”
For Jerry Burns, on the other hand, this was her first time at the event. She and her food truck Tantrums were invited to participate. She considered the invitation an honor, as the event is a local tradition. Her food truck served some of their specialties including bacon jam burger sliders and gator bites.
“It is pretty good thus far,” she said. “It looks like more people are trickling in. This is our first time here. We were invited by the city. We love it. We love the bluegrass music. It is a great community event.”
Aside from barbecue, attendees could also enjoy live bluegrass music performed by various local bands including Flatland, Ramblin Roses, Beaumont, Southern Express, the Wilson Brothers, and even students from Union Academy.
Despite the cool and windy weather, this year’s event experienced a decent turnout. Joey Foley, who has been hosting the event for 24 years, owes its success to the event being free and family-friendly.
“The turnout has been pretty good considering the wind we have out here blowing. Bluegrass folks are a little bit different than most. They are not scared of a little bit of wind or weather. Bluegrass is very popular up north, so these folks are used to a little coolness…I love the family atmosphere. PC has a big tradition of bluegrass, so this is almost like a family reunion.”
