Lexington Barbecue Festival Facts for Kids

The Lexington Barbecue Festival is a fun, one-day food festival held every October in Lexington, North Carolina. This city is known as the "Barbecue Capital of the World"! Each year, about 200,000 people visit the festival. They come to try delicious foods from many local restaurants and other food sellers. There are also hundreds of other vendors selling all sorts of cool things.

People enjoying the festival at Main & Center streets

This yearly event is so famous that it's even mentioned in the book 1000 Places to See in the USA & Canada Before-You-Die. In 2012, U.S. News & World Report said Lexington was one of the top cities for barbecue in the USA. The 2025 festival will be held on October 25.

History of the Festival
- How the Festival Grew
Train Travel to the Festival
Barbecue Styles and Fun Rivalries
- Official Festival Status
Other Fun Activities
Images for kids
See also

History of the Festival

The festival also features the Pigs in the City event

The idea for this amazing festival came from Joe Sink, Jr. in 1983. He was the publisher of Lexington's newspaper, The Dispatch. He talked to BB&T bank, and they agreed to help. They hired Kay Saintsing to see if a festival would work.

It turned out to be a great idea! Lexington was already a popular place for barbecue on weekends. So, the very first festival happened on October 27, 1984.

How the Festival Grew

The Lexington Barbecue Festival quickly became one of the most popular food festivals in the country. The first festival had 30,000 visitors. Chefs cooked 3,000 pounds of barbecue to feed everyone! By 1994, over 100,000 people came, and 11,000 pounds of meat were cooked.

In 1995, the North Carolina Championship Pork Cook-Off joined the festival. This let visitors watch experts from eastern North Carolina cook whole hogs.

Downtown Lexington during the festival

The festival takes over several city blocks on Main Street in uptown Lexington. These streets are closed to cars for the event. Besides barbecue, there are usually more than 400 other vendors. They sell arts and crafts, homemade fudge, and many other items. Big companies like Childress Vineyards, Pepsi, BB&T, and Walmart have helped sponsor the festival over the years.

When the festival began in 1984, most participants were local restaurants and shops. Now, hundreds of vendors sell all kinds of products. While barbecue is still the main focus, many merchants sell unique items from the area. In 2020, the festival was held online.

Train Travel to the Festival

During the festival, NC By Train sets up a special temporary train station. It's just one block away from the festival! Amtrak trains like the Carolinian and Piedmont stop there. This makes it easy for people to visit by train.

Barbecue Styles and Fun Rivalries

Some of the rides at the festival

The festival mainly features Lexington-style barbecue. But you can also find vendors selling the eastern style. This sometimes causes a friendly (and sometimes not-so-friendly) debate! People in North Carolina love their barbecue, and there are two main styles.

The "battle" between Lexington style and eastern style has even reached the state government. In 2006, some bills were suggested to make the Lexington Barbecue Festival the official barbecue festival of North Carolina. But nearly half the state prefers eastern-style barbecue. So, these bills didn't pass. People didn't want to pick one style as the "official" state barbecue.

Official Festival Status

In 2007, a new bill passed. It gave the Lexington Barbecue Festival the title: "Official Food Festival of the Piedmont Triad Region of the State of North Carolina". By focusing on just the Piedmont Triad area, they avoided the big debate about which barbecue style was "official" for the whole state. This made everyone happy!

Other Fun Activities

Besides all the delicious food, there are many other things to do at the festival! You can watch exciting lumberjack games. There's live music playing on up to five different stages. You can also enjoy street performers doing amazing tricks.