Music festival getting under way

by David Reed

September 25,2009

There's good news and bad news for the third annual Roots ‘N Blues ‘N BBQ Festival being held downtown tonight and all day tomorrow.

The weather forecast took a positive turn: no rain is expected before midnight and it's expected to be partly sunny tomorrow afternoon in Columbia.

But one of the top performers is too sick to perform Saturday night. Dan Tyminski, who's won 13 Grammy Awards, told festival organizers that he has bronchitis. They filled his spot with another notable bluegrass act, the John Cowan Band.

More than 60,000 people attended each of the last two festivals, which had free admission. Festival spokesperson Tara Hart said it’s too early to estimate how many people will attend this weekend’s festival, the first to charge admission for the main acts.  

Hours before the festival was scheduled to start, participants in the barbeque contest were already cooking what they hope will be their award-winning entries. The judging takes place Saturday from noon until 2 p.m.

Festival-goers are encouraged to check twitter @rootsnbluesnbbq for updates, schedule changes, artists swaps and any other pertinent information.  "We're hoping the rain holds hold out, but the show is on rain or shine," Hart said. 

For more information, including a list of who's playing where and when and a map of the event: www.rootsnbluesnbbq.com

Boone County National Bank hosted a free festival in 2007 as a way of celebrating the bank's 150^th anniversary, and covered the cost. The main organizers were Steve Sweitzer and Terry Woodruff of the Woodruff Sweitzer communications company and Blue Note owner Richard King. Last year, they formed a company to run the festival, which grew, but lost money. This year, the festival will be charging admission to two of the three stages and a VIP lounge to help Thumper Entertainment cover its operational expenses.

Tickets bought in advance cost $10 for a one day and $15 for the weekend and those bought at the festival are $15 for one day and $25 for the weekend.