The City of Kennesaw will host its 14th annual Pigs & Peaches BBQ Festival at Adams Park on Friday, August 22 from 6 to 10 p.m., and Saturday, August 23 from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. For the second consecutive year, the festival’s presenting sponsor is Superior Plumbing. Entrance is FREE. The festival is a rain or shine event.
Over 50 cook teams, comprised of pitmasters from across the southeast, are set to compete for over $16,000 in cash prizes, including a Primo ceramic grill, artisan handcrafted pottery “trophies”, and bragging rights. Contest divisions include a Kansas City Barbeque Society (KCBS) sanctioned and Georgia State Championship professional contest for seasoned cookers, and a backyard contest strictly for fun and BBQ braggin’ rights. Ancillary events include an “Anything Butt” and peach dessert contest. This year’s cash purse is the largest in the history of the festival.
Dozens of vendors, including several cook teams, will be selling barbeque, beer and other festival foods; as well as arts, crafts and general merchandise. The SCANA Energy stage, featuring area dance ensembles and other family entertainment, will be located in the festival’s Kid Zone, along with free and pay-to-play inflatables, interactive games and other child-friendly activities. Festival organizers have also secured a new thrill attraction – a 32-foot-high, 300-foot-long mobile zip line. The “zipping experience” can accommodate single and tandem riders.
Live music will be offered on both days. Performers on the XFINITY Main Stage includes Sons-N-Britches, Johnny Cash Now, The Rhubarbarians, Kyle Grubb, Kate and Corey, the Georgia Blues Brothers, and Sol Junky. The Miller Lite Second Stage will feature solo artists and duos including Peachy Pyron, Krysta Nick, Sylvan Rails, and “Roger Hurricane” Wilson.
“We’ve lined up some amazing talent this year,” according to Special Events Coordinator Laurel Fleming. “Sons-N-Britches was voted the best band in Cobb County by readers in the Jan/Feb 2014 issue of Cobb Life magazine; Johnny Cash Now recently played at the Johnny Cash Museum Event Center in Nashville; and our Saturday headliner [Sol Junky] are seasoned musicians on the Atlanta festival scene.”
Adams Park is located at 2753 Watts Drive in Kennesaw. For more information about the festival, visit www.pigsandpeaches.com, or call the Kennesaw Parks & Recreation Department at (770) 422-9714.
