Date: May 24, 2018
Contact: Sandy Caligiore, 518-523-2071 X 112, sandy@usaluge.org, twitter.com/usa_luge
New event July 7 to include the BBQ brawl for it all!
LAKE PLACID, N.Y. – Lake Placid will emit a special aromatic scent from July 6-8 when the annual I Love BBQ and Music Festival returns for the 13th time on the 1980 Olympic Oval. No matter the direction, either Routes 86 or 73, just follow your nose to Main Street.
You will be brought directly to the site, which is the Olympic Speed Skating Oval, site of Eric Heiden’s five Olympic gold medals in 1980. The top barbecue pit bosses and teams will once again return to this Adirondack resort village to raise needed funds for the nearby Shipman Youth Center, located just down the street from the barbecue festival venue.
Approximately $250,000 has been raised thus far for youth programs since the inception of the festival. The namesake of the Shipman Youth Center, former Lake Placid police officer Thomas Shipman, created this facility.
Organizers will offer special invitations to members of the military, past and present, and their families, as well as First Responders and families, to attend this event free of charge with identification.
Event organizer Dmitry Feld, of Lake Placid, marketing manager for USA Luge, tweaks the festival each year. The Winter Olympic federation, based in Lake Placid, organizes the annual event.
The 13th year of the festival merges a worthy cause, great eats, barbecue competition, the region’s top musicians and some of the most radical BMX exhibitions allowed by law.
“Each year we have to introduce something new to the festival, and this year, we’re happy to announce the inaugural Lake Placid North American BBQ Brawl,” said Feld. “This will become an annual event among three randomly drawn barbecue teams each from the United States and Canada.”
Specifically, on Saturday, July 7 at 3 PM, the teams will be asked to blindly create a three-course meal. The judging will likewise be blind. Each of the six teams will get a score; the team total will win the brawl and have its name engraved on the event’s perpetual trophy.
The festival - with 25 teams currently registered - has received kudos from the Kansas City Barbecue Society, delish.com, Rachel Ray, Huffington Post and an eighth-place finish in 2016 in USA Today’s 10Best BBQ Festivals.
There is a complete schedule of events, including kids’ culinary competitions, World Championships and musical acts at: https://www.ilbbqf.com/schedule-of-events
Although a number of vendors offer summertime barbecue fare at the festival, over the years there has been an increasing demand from the public to taste the products from the teams.
Feld has announced that on July 7-8, The Best Ribs in the East will be offered for a nominal fee, allowing the public to sample the best ribs of the participating teams.
In addition, the I Love BBQ and Music Festival and the I Love New York Horse Show have partnered to offer reciprocal admission. Anyone holding a pass to one of these events will receive complimentary admission to the other.
Daily admission is $6, with youngsters under 10 admitted free of charge. The festival is alcohol and tobacco-free.
The success of the I Love BBQ and Music Festival is made possible by the following businesses, organizations and individuals. We thank them.
Sponsors and supporters: Champlain National Bank, Henry and Mildred Uihlein Foundation, Robert and Doreen Imbriani, Best Western Adirondack Inn, NBT Bank, Bernard and Karen Dayan, Norton Saint-Gobain, ORDA, Taylor family, WSLP 93.3 FM, The UPS Store, USA Luge, Casella Waste Management, Cape Air, Cushman Productions, Connecting Youth and Communities, Ward family, Lions Club of Lake Placid, Free and Accepted Masons of Lake Placid, Lake Placid Central School District, Community Bank, Lake Placid News, Bear Essentials, Coca-Cola, Saranac Beverages, Cornell University Uihlein Forest, Lake Placid Summit Hotel, Placid Productions, Price Chopper Supermarket, US Olympic Training Center, McDonald’s of Lake Placid, Adirondack Bank, High Peaks Ford, Blue Moon Cafe, Lake Placid Family Dental, Coakley High Peaks Hardware, Foreverwild.com, Guideboat Realty, Golden Arrow Lakeside Resort, Lisa G’s, Meister Accounting, JDE Computer Staffing, NEBS, Merrill Thomas Real Estate, Hannaford Supermarket, High Peaks Resort, Burnham Solutions, Wildwood on the Lake, Tim Forman, Greg Peacock, Adirondac Rafting Company, The Olive Oil Factory, Queen family, Mountain Dental, Margaret Sears
Special thanks to the Village of Lake Placid, Town of North Elba, Lake Placid Volunteer Fire Department, Lake Placid Police Department, Lake Placid Volunteer Ambulance Service, Butch Martin and the North Elba Park District.