Tri City BBQ Fest #9 is in the books
Volunteers, sponsors made event possible
A big crowd showed up for the Tri City BBQ Fest on both days this weekend. Adam Doleac was the final act on Saturday night. Photos by Dan Mundt, Gordon Wolf and Lorena López
“It seemed to go pretty smoothly,” said Paul Plumb, the new executive director of the Chamber & Development Council (CDC) of Crawford County, about last weekend’s Tri City BBQ Fest. “We had a few bumps in the road, but nothing too dramatic.”
“We had a great turnout,” said CDC Office Manager Mariah Nutt.
Plumb said they were pleased with the crowds on both nights of the event.
“You know it’s crowded when I can’t get through on the golf cart anymore,” Nutt said.
Both nights at around 7 p.m., she had to park the cart and go by foot around the various parts of the event she had to keep an eye on.
Plumb said he expects revenue will be close to what the festival has brought in during recent years.
“No huge losses, no huge gains,” he said.
He said volunteers were responsible for making the event run without problems.
“They pulled through in a huge way,” Plumb said. “We couldn’t do it without the volunteers and the experience they have. They’ve done it for years and know exactly what’s going on.”
Nutt noted that the event’s volunteer managers often took care of issues on their own, such as when a potential problem arose with power for the stage.
“I didn’t even know some of those things happened,” she said.
Jameson Ganz, of Denison, pokes his head out of the mouth of this colorful inflatable bug. The inflatable has a slide on the other side.
The Safety Zone parking lots and a block and a half of 1st Avenue North were filled with entries in Saturday’s Hog Wild Car Show.
Jeff Bruck, of Denison, entered his 2015 Corvette in the Loud Pipes contest at the Hog Wild Car Show.
Jeff Bruck, of Denison, entered his 2015 Corvette in the Loud Pipes contest at the Hog Wild Car Show.
Plumb said the Tri City BBQ Fest sponsors, from small to big, were equally responsible for making the event happen.
“It wouldn’t be possible without the sponsors,” he said.
Nutt said the 2023 bands exceeded her expectations.
“Even the smaller bands, when you hear them on the stage with Iowa Sound, they sounded really, really good,” she said. “Our headliners were amazing.”
Cleanup on Sunday morning also went smoothly, Plumb said
“Shout out to the Boy Scouts (Troop 55),” he said. “It was the first time they took that over, and they did a great job. That’s kind of a thankless job on the morning after. They dug in and got it done.”
The CDC office was closed on Monday to give staff a chance to decompress after the weekend.
“I don’t want to abuse the word ‘excited,’ but I was kind of ready to come back and get the office cleaned up and look at the numbers,” Nutt said.
“A lot of counting has already been done; we’re pulling all of that together into data we can sort through and use,” Plumb said.
Nutt said the information will be compiled into several reports, and information will be gathered from the volunteer managers and the CDC board members who pitched in.
“We’ll put together notes for next year about what worked and what didn’t,” Plumb said.
As someone who was recently an outsider, Plumb said what he saw was an event that brought the whole community together.
“We need to give a huge thank you to all the folks,” he said.
“Whether you volunteered, attended or sponsored, thank you,” Nutt said. “It wouldn’t have happened without you.”
“We’re aiming for bigger and better for barbecue number 10,” Plumb said.
John Osmanski from Denison gets People’s Choice ribs piled high on his plate.
Eric Martens, Clayten Martens and Steve Frazier, all of Denison, had been up for hours when this picture was taken early Saturday morning. They started work at 2 a.m. The three form the team Casual Smokers. It was their first time to enter the Masters contest at the Tri City BBQ Fest.
Jesus Godina from Charter Oak bites into a tasty People’s Choice rib.
The United Bank of Iowa People’s Choice Award went to Backroad BBQ (letter A). Second was Smokeback Mountain (letter F) and third place went to Smokin Fools (letter B). Presenting the award are Whitney Reimers (left) with United Bank of Iowa and Miss Iowa 2023 Alysa Goethe. See more barbecue fest winners on The Denison Free Press Facebook page.
Last Call Heroes BBQ, of Brandon, South Dakota was the overall winner in the Masters Division of the Kansas City Barbecue Society contest at the Tri City BBQ Fest in Denison this past weekend.
Valeria Acosta, of Denison, takes a ride on the mechanical bull.
Ezra Bygness, of Denison, went down the road a little way in this truck simulator but had a collision. As a member of the Iowa Motor Truck Association, Ty Rosburg, of Charter Oak, reserved the truck simulator last spring for this year’s Tri City BBQ Fest. The Iowa Motor Truck Association simulator is taken to a number of events to give youngsters a sense of driving a big rig. Rosburg’s son, Zach, and his wife, Natalie, were running the simulator for kids. Rosburg said the simulator can be set for any number of road types and terrains and is quite realistic. He tried the simulator himself on a mountain road setting.
Kids flocked to the climbing tower to test their strength and bravery, and to get a bird’s eye view of the barbecue fest.
Hazel Allyn, of Denison, digs into this colorful cup of shaved ice.
The dynamic trio of Spider-Man, Ariel, the Little Mermaid, and Cinderella entertained children and adults on Saturday.
At the WESCO All-N-1 Fun Run on Saturday morning, Brayten Reisz marveled at the suds clinging to him, Tatum Haberl enjoyed getting blasted with paint powder and Anna Wempe made a big splash in the glow paint tent.
The music picked up on Saturday evening with Decoy (top left); Tyler Rich (top right) took the stage at 7 p.m. and Adam Doleac (right) played to a big crowd at 9 p.m.
The Boyer River Band kicked off Saturday’s musical performances at 1 p.m.
Daniel & The Deliverance was the second band for Saturday.
Amber Britton with In Due Time sings a solo
Tim Kletti and Haley Dawn with Arch Allies, a tribute band, perform together.
Osiris, a performer with Tribute to Jenni Rivera by Cintas Acuario, smiles after she gave a kiss to this man she pulled out of the crowd to perform for.
A huge Tri City BBQ Fest crowd gathers at the stage to hear the performance by Angel Fonte with Tribute to Jenni Rivera by Cintas Acuario.
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