New logo unveiled for the BBQ Fest on the Neuse

The BBQ Fest on the Neuse is about two months away, but the branding has arrived.

The new logo was unveiled Thursday to give a different look to the BBQ Fest, which will be held May 3-4. Jan Parson, director of events for the Kinston-Lenoir County Chamber of Commerce, said the design is running concurrently with others for the area.

“We have been working with new branding for Kinston and Lenoir County, and Arnett Muldrow (and Associations) had offered several signs for Kinston,” Parson said. “The colors had to coordinate to the brinding, so we have something united and cohesive when visitors come to Kinston. Brandon Potter has done complementary work with the plans for rebranding of this event.”

The BBQ Fest has exploded in terms of popularity and Parson said arguably the largest whole hog cookoff in the nation is held in Kinston now.

“We like to think each year people like the hospitality and come back to the festival,” Parson said. “We had 23 cook teams 13 years ago and now, we have a waiting list and 100. We’ve grown from about 3,000 attendees back then to 40,000 now — I’ve heard people comment that we may not have the largest monetary awards, but they enjoy themselves and the way we do the festival.”

More than 160 vendors are expected at the BBQ Fest. For additional information, go to kinstonbbq.com.