Downtown Fun

Down East Festival offers good times

Downtown Rocky Mount is about to come alive.

About 30,000 people are expected to fill the areas around Main Street this weekend at the 28th annual Down East Festival, said Ian Kipp, the city’s downtown development manager. The event, which begins Friday morning and ends Saturday evening, will fill downtown with music, food, games and crafts.

“People enjoy this event. ... If they are from Rocky Mount, it is a chance for them to be proud of where they are from, and if they are from the outside, it is a chance for people to see this is a pretty interesting place,” Kipp said.

The event will have a low-key kickoff Friday in front of the Rocky Mount Train Station, said Debbie Julio, special events coordinator for Rocky Mount Parks and Recreation. The Carolina Barbeque Co. will sell barbecue plates for $7 beginning at 11 a.m., a beer garden will open at noon and a free children’s activities area starting at 5 p.m. will include inflatable rides, face painting and balloon animals. A concert featuring The Rhondels begins at 6 p.m.

Throughout the day, 38 teams will arrive for the second Eastern Carolina BBQ Throw Down and set up their cookers in the Rocky Mount Senior Center parking lot or the field across the street, Julio said.

Teams will cook through the night and begin handing in contest submissions at noon Saturday. Winners will be announced at 4 p.m. in front of the train station.

Teams from several different states will cook chicken, ribs, pork and beef brisket to compete for $17,000 in prize money, Julio said. The 24 teams last year mostly were from North Carolina.

“The Down East Festival for the past 27 years has been 98 percent local, so this is opening the door to bringing more people from outside of our area into this town, which is part of our purpose,” Julio said.

New this year to the contest is “Speak to the Pros,” a free tour starting at 2 p.m. Saturday that will let people visit seven of the competing teams to learn barbecue cooking tips and ask questions.

Saturday’s festival activities run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Kipp said. Food, craft vendors and nonprofit groups will be set up in the Main Street Market on either side of the railroad tracks. There will be roving street performers, a race car simulator and a BMX bike stunt show.

Five stages will be set up in the area off of Main Street for performances throughout the day, Julio said. There will be a gospel stage and one for country, bluegrass and beach music. The Home Grown and Kids stages will feature local and North Carolina performers. The East Country Hoedowners, a clogging group, will have four shows at the Kaleidoscope stage.

A few blocks away from the festivities on Main Street, two other celebrations will be going on from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Imperial Centre’s parking lot, said Candy Madrid, director of the Children’s Museum and Science Center. Science Safari is being put on by the museum to compliment its “Inside Africa” exhibit. Visitors will be able to make bird feeders, learn how to track and enjoy exotic live animals.

“Noah’s Landing will bring a fennec fox, a Capuchin monkey and a wallaby. Right there are three continents. ... Our friends from Sylvan Heights (Waterfowl Park and Eco-Center) will be back with birds that have a kind of African twist,” Madrid said.

The Rocky Mount Arts Center’s Tarside Tales will run alongside Science Safari and feature storytellers, traditional artisans and its annual cake contest, Madrid said. A free horse-drawn carriage will carry people between Main Street and the Imperial Centre.

For a complete schedule of events, go to downeast.rockymountnc.gov .