March 10, 2008

LIVINGSTON, Ala.--Join us in Livingston April 18 and 19 for the fifth annual Sucarnochee Folklife Festival and the first Kansas City Barbeque Society-sanctioned BBQ & Blues Cook-off.

The weekend begins with music, food and fun at the BBQ & Blues Cook-off on Friday at 5 p.m. at the UWA intramural fields. Guests can dance to live bands while sampling some of the best brisket or perfect pork from professional cooking teams from across the Southeast.
 

“Barbecue is a part of the traditional folkways of this area, and we feel that a cook-off and judging school sanctioned by KCBS will give our great cooks of the region the opportunity to showcase their talents on a larger stage,” said Dr. Tina N. Jones, Center for the Study of the Black Belt director.
 

The cook-off will feature a $7,000 payout in three divisions, with professional teams vying Saturday in four tasty categories—pork, ribs, chicken and brisket—while backyard teams compete with ribs and young cookers contend in the kid’s chicken competition.
 

The Sucarnochee Revue, the nationally syndicated radio program that showcases Black Belt music to listeners across the nation and the world, also returns to UWA’s Bibb Graves Auditorium on Friday, April 18 for a 7 p.m. live taping of its 40th performance.
 

Presenting Black Belt music in its most authentic manner, the Revue features many of the top acts in blues, gospel, bluegrass, country and roots music from the Black Belt region of Mississippi and Alabama. The show not only preserves original music and the works by original artists, but also captures the evolution of that music and its current generation of performers, according to producer and host Jacky Jack White.
 

The Sucarnochee Revue can be heard on commercial and public radio stations across the country. The show airs Saturday nights at 10 p.m. on Alabama Public Radio.
 

The Sucarnochee Folklife Festival begins downtown Saturday, April 19, at 8 a.m. with the Sucarnochee 5K Run and ends that evening with a walking ghost tour of Livingston. Sponsored by UWA and the City of Livingston, the family-friendly festival showcases some of the Black Belt’s best musicians, artists, storytellers and cornbread chefs.

“A celebration of regional folk songs, stories and crafts, the festival hopes to restore memories of rural Black Belt folklore that have faded from many people’s minds,” Jones said.
 

The day is packed with a variety of activities situated around Courthouse Square. The Cornbread Cook-off is a culinary delight, allowing cooks of all ages to wow the judges in three cornbread categories. Artisans from around the region will create a variety of folk crafts including handmade baskets and brooms, quilts, metal works, wood carvings and pottery. Musicians from several genres, including the old-time string band Red Mountain, bluegrass and blues, will take the stage throughout the day. Food vendors and artists allow visitors to take home a piece of tradition.
 

For more information about all of these exciting events, visit www.centerforblackbelt.org.