Beer, Bourbon, & BBQ Festival

The Charlotte Symphony Orchestra makes its home at the aptly named Symphony Park in Charlotte, North Carolina at the South Park Mall. Here the orchestra performs a smorgasbord of audible poetry throughout the year to the delight of thousands.
But not on May 8th.

No, on May 8th, from Noon to 6 o'clock PM, the Beer, Bourbon, & BBQ festival takes the place of third violin and second piccolo, and replaces their orchestral seating with 60 different beers, 40 different bourbons, and a deluge of barbecued hog meat. Over 18,000 attendees every year come to sample the varietals of the celebration. But, the festival doesn't merely offer up scrumptious pig and sauces accompanied by miles upon miles of beer hoses, and hundreds of barrels of bourbon.

There are also contests. Now, you might be wondering exactly what kind of contests. My first thought would be something involving the drinking of beer - keg stands, perhaps - or maybe a blind bourbon taste-test to finally, at long last, settle the jousting between Jack Daniels and Jim Beam (there is such a rivalry, right?) But, to my delight the festival brings a brand of competitions that are, shall we say, good-natured and down-home. One such contest - which I've learned is the favorite - is the "Best Beer Belly Contest." In this competition, a cavalcade of liquid hops guzzlers parade themselves on stage to bare their midsections. He (or she?) who satisfies a screaming audience with the largest beer-spawned protrusion (and good personality) staggers home with a belly full of pork and a glass mug declaring champion status. The winner also gets a picture with a few pretty girls. (Must be 21 or older to participate).

The other notable contest, hosted by the Circle C Petting Farm, is a series of pig races. Participants range from piglets to full-blown hogs, all tearing hoof through the sawdust as they are cheered on by onlookers. Personally I would think this would be more entertaining than the prior contest, because it's only a hair away from being horse racing. Well, okay, maybe it's not close at all. But I am almost positive I would try to lay down a couple of bucks on #5 with anyone who would take the bet.

And no festival of drinking and meat can be complete without live music - especially live music which caters to southern tradition in the form of the Drymill Road Band and the New Potato Caboose. This music serves the later events greatly, which include bourbon and whiskey-themed workshops intended to enlighten and educate crowds on the finer points of both distillation and cooking whole pigs. Some other culinary workshops include pointers on how to grill other meats, such as beef, chicken, and fish.

All-in-all the festival sounds like a good time, especially if (and I don't mean to be sarcastic) you're into bourbon, beer, or barbecue. Sure, the Charlotte Symphony Orchestra will be cleaning up shredded beer wrappers and pork shavings for a couple of months. But, isn't this such festival just as valid as any harmony produced by an orchestra? Pork, beer, and bourbon sounds like a harmony to me. A harmony of awesome, that is.

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