Silver Dollar City’s Bluegrass Music and BBQ Festival

The 2006 edition of Silver Dollar City’s Bluegrass Music Festival and BBQ Festival will be held at the theme park in Branson on May 13 through June 4. Packed with music and great food the festival combines two of America’s greatest traditions Bluegrass and BBQ into one great unique event.

Dan Hayes, Executive Director of the International Bluegrass Music Association said, “Silver Dollar City reaches hundreds of thousands of fans each year and make it one of the most significant and vital presenters of live bluegrass music anywhere in the world.” The expanded festival features a who’s who of American Bluegrass, with 50 bands and more than 1,000 performances from award-winning artists to rising stars, at a time when bluegrass music is exploding in popularity.

The list of performers includes the ambassador of Bluegrass Music and eleven-time Grammy Award Winner, Ricky Skaggs and Cherryholmes the 2005 IBMA Entertainer of the Year. Over the 23 days of the festival there will be over 500 shows. For a daily schedule of performances click here and for a complete list of the performers click here. In addition, on May 27-28 young bluegrass artists from around the country will compete for honors and cash prizes during the annual Youth in Bluegrass Band Contest.

And let’s not forget the other featured part of the event, the BBQ. It will be the biggest Silver Dollar City BBQ event to date featuring the mouthwatering tastes of sweet and tangy All-American BBQ at “The House of BBQ. And what a house it promises to be.

For 2006, The House of BBQ has been moved to the largest presentation hall on the park, The Red Gold Heritage Hall. Barbecue choices feature smoky Texas-style, sweet Kansas City favorites, Memphis dry rubs and Carolina vinegar-based sauces. Tasting begins on the Square with demonstration of pit-style cooking and hundreds of barbecue sauces from around the country to sample.

Nationally recognized barbecue experts and authors Karen Adler and Judith Fertig, co-authors of 9 cookbooks as the BBQ Queens,share grilling tips and recipes on Saturday, May 13. “Everyone likes to put their own signature in their barbecue and we like to introduce people to new flavors, such as smoking meats using ground pecan shells, corncobs or fruitwoods such as apple or pear,” Adler said. “At Silver Dollar City, we’re saluting two traditions with deep America roots – bluegrass and barbecue.” And that pretty well sums it up, just about all the bluegrass and barbeque a person could hope for all in one place.