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April 11,
2008
LIVINGSTON,
Ala.--The
fifth annual Sucarnochee Folklife Festival and the
first Kansas City Barbeque Society-sanctioned
Sucarnochee BBQ & Blues Cook-off are set for April
18-19 in Livingston, Ala., proclaimed as Sucarnochee
Folklife Festival Days in Alabama by Gov. Bob Riley.
A variety of other events planned throughout the
week help celebrate Black Belt regional culture.
Master storyteller, journalist, photographer, author
and historian Kathryn Tucker Windham kicks off the
week with her storytelling Monday, April 14 at 10
a.m. in UWA’s Bibb Graves Auditorium. The event is
free and open to the public.
On
Wednesday, April 16, author Tony Grooms will be on
the UWA campus for a luncheon presentation at noon
in the Bell Conference Center. He will read from and
discuss his novel, “Bombingham.” The Black Belt
Symposium on Literature is open to the public. UWA
students are admitted free. Admission is $5 for
other guests to cover the cost of lunch.
Later that evening, UWA’s Department of Languages
and Literature will host a reading of the
Sucarnochee Review, the University’s literary
journal, at 6 p.m. at the Callaway Schoolhouse.
The
weekend begins with music, food and fun at the
Sucarnochee BBQ & Blues Cook-off on Friday at 5 p.m.
at the UWA intramural fields. Nashville
singer/songwriter Austin Cunningham will headline
the event, while guest sample 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 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
state championship 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.
This
edition of the Sucarnochee Revue features Nashville
songwriting legend Wood Newton; blues artist Russell
Gully; singer/songwriter Austin Cunningham; New Wave
rockers, Red Hill City; bluegrass banjo great Herb
Trotman; country artist Melissa Luman, daughter of
rockabilly king Bob Luman; and Alaska's Ambassador
of Country Music Earl Hughes.
The
Sucarnochee Revue regulars, including Jacky Jack
White, J. Burton Fuller, Britt Gully, Track 45 and
Mississippi Chris Sharp, will round out the
performance. Tickets are $5 at the door.
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 The University of
West Alabama 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
bluegrass, blues and the old-time string band Red
Mountain, 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,
please call 205-652-3752.
Monday,
April 14
Kathryn Tucker Windham storytelling event
10
a.m.
Book signing to follow
Bibb
Graves Aud.
Wednesday, April 16 Black Belt
Symposium speaker, Tony Grooms
Noon
Author of Bombing ham (luncheon $5 for non
UWA Students)
Bell
Conference Center Book Signing to Follow
6
p.m. Sucarnochee
Review, UWA’s literary magazine
Callaway
Schoolhouse Reading and Reception
Friday,
April 18 Sucarnochee
BBQ & Blues - live stage
Intramural
Fields Featuring Austin Cunningham 7
p.m. - $5 at the gate
Gates open
at 5 p.m. UWA Students get in free with
current I.D.
7
p.m. Sucarnochee
Revue Radio Show – Bibb Graves Auditorium
Saturday, April 19 Sucarnochee Folklife
Festival and Sucarnochee BBQ & Blues Judging
7:30
a.m.
Registration for the Sucarnochee 5K River Run
8
a.m.
Sucarnochee 5K River Run
9
a.m.
Stage opens - – Danielle and Danny Buckalew,
UWA
9:30
a.m.
Cornbread Cook-off Registration
On stage – Dr. Joe Taylor, UWA
Janiece Poole and the Sumter Academy Players
10
a.m.
Cornbread Cook-off Judging
On
stage – West Alabama Gospel
Singers
Booths
open until 4:30 p.m.
Demonstrators for Festival
Mark
Rigsby – potter
Estelle
Jackson – split oak basket weaver
Mary
Jane Everett – basket weaver
Butch
Fuller – woodworker
Randal
Jones – woodworker
Martha
Wheeler - quilt maker
Alabama
Art Castings – metalworkers
Benny
and Linda Crevitt – blacksmith and broommaker
10:30
a.m. On
stage - Danielle and Danny Buckalew, UWA
11
a.m.
On stage – Red Mountain, old-time string band
Noon
Folk Play
performed by Demopolis Drama Club & director,
Jody Tartt
White
“Meetin’ of the Animals” – Tale collected by Ruby P.
Tartt from Rich
Amerson
1
p.m.
On stage – Gary Jones
2
p.m.
On stage – Red Mountain
3
p.m.
On stage - Russell Gulley
4:30 p.m.
Walking Ghost Tour of Downtown Livingston
Featuring Dr. Alan Brown, author of six books
of ghostlore |
