The 14th annual Maryland State BBQ Bash in Bel Air is the place to be this weekend if you are a connoisseur of barbecue, but this year, it is also the place to be if you appreciate bourbon and cigars.
Roll Out the Barrel, billed as a "premium bourbon and cigar event," starts at 5 p.m. Friday, according to the website of the Bel Air Downtown Alliance, which has put on the BBQ Bash each year since 2002. This year's bash runs from 4 to 10 p.m. Friday and from noon to 10 p.m. Saturday.
Tickets for Roll Out the Barrel are $75 apiece, and they can be purchased online at http://belairmaryland.org. Click the "Events" tab at the top of the page and then the link for Roll Out the Barrel.
"I view it as the skybox of the [Bash]," Craig Ward, president of the Downtown Alliance board, said Monday.
Admission to all other BBQ Bash events Friday and Saturday is free. The festival will take place in the parking lot of the Mary Risteau State Office Building at the intersection of South Bond and Thomas Streets. The lot is between Bond and Hays Streets.
Roll Out the Barrel will be in a separate lot at Hays and Thomas, Ward said. It is sponsored by Window World of Harford County, and it will feature tastings of bourbons from more than a dozen distillers, coordinated by Bel Air Liquors, cigars provided by Main Street Cigar, dinner by One Eleven Main and craft beer from Independent Brewing Co., according to the Downtown Alliance website.
The BBQ Bash, which has been named Best Annual Event/Festival in Harford Magazine's reader poll in 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015, typically draws 30,000 to 40,000 people to downtown Bel Air.
Last year's festival set a record with 40,000 people over two days, according to the Downtown Alliance website.
Ward, who founded the event, noted it can be challenging to track attendance because general admission is free.
"We think it's 30,000 to 40,000 people, if the weather is good," he said.
As of Monday, the weather forecast for Friday was partly sunny with a 30 percent chance of thunderstorms, according to the National Weather Service website.
The main attraction will be amateur and professional barbecue cook teams from throughout the U.S.
About 45 local teams will compete Friday during the Maryland State BBQ Bash Tailgate Challenge, and about 45 professional teams will compete for the Maryland state championship Saturday, Ward said.
Professional teams are battling for a $12,500 prize and a spot in the annual Jack Daniel's World Championship Invitational Barbecue in Lynchburg, Tenn., and The American Royal in Kansas City, Mo., according to the Downtown Alliance website.
The judges for both competitions will be certified by the Kansas City Barbecue Society, according to Ward.
Ward said free shuttle bus service is typically available from Bel Air High School and The John Carroll School campus on Churchville Road, but it will only be available at Bel Air High this year because of a conflicting event at John Carroll, Ward said.
The beer service area will also be moved from its previous location near the live music stage along Hays Street, according to Ward. Patrons can purchase beer at the Bond Street end of the lot this year.
"We thought it would be better for our attendees if we created a little more elbow room in front of the stage," Ward said.
Festival patrons can check out live music Friday and Saturday. The Reagan Years, an '80s tribute band, will be the headliners Friday night, with Southern Charm as the opening act.
Music starts Saturday at 2 p.m. with Peterbuilt, followed by Walk Ins Welcome at 5 p.m. Country artist Clare Dunn, who's single "Tuxedo" has been a hit this summer, will be the Saturday night headliner. Matt Gary will open for her at 7:30 p.m., and Dunn is scheduled to go on around 8:45 p.m., according to the Downtown Alliance website.
The Saturday night headline show is sponsored by country radio station WXCY-FM, of Havre de Grace.
Major sponsors of this year's BBQ Bash include Visit Harford and MedStar Health, which opened its Bel Air Medical Campus off Route 924 near the intersection with Plumtree Road earlier this year.
"We've been talking to them for a number of years," Ward said of MedStar. "Now that they've opened their facility, they're on board."