By Staff
Music in the Streets,Smoke on the Waterpair off on Oct. 24-25
By MIKE VOSS
Contributing Editor
The Beaufort County Idol winner will be crowned during Smoke on the Water, which returns to Washington’s waterfront for the 11th year in a row Oct. 25.
On Oct. 24, the last Music in the Streets for 2008 will take place from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Finalists already selected for the Beaufort County Idol grand finale include McKenna Cox, Patricia Langley, Leah Clark, Amanda Rose, Vicki Bortz, Mackenzie Roberts, Joseph Conner, Renee Stalls, Destiny Tyson, Hayley Foy, Melanie Piercy, Gladys Hines, Macon Williams, Mary Elizabeth Nuckols, Kim Rogers and Jessica Smith.
The final stage of the competition begins at noon at the main stage off Stewart Parkway.
A Halloween-themed show presented by the Deplorable Folly Players will be part of this year’s Music in the Streets/Smoke on the Water weekend in Washington.
Each performance of the show lasts about 20 minutes, according to Clayborne. The shows are free, but donations will be accepted. Those donations will be given to the Beaufort County Arts Council to help fund its programs and projects.
The show is about a troupe of Vaudeville performers who board a train in Norfolk, Va., headed for Washington, where the troupe plans to present its last performance at the Turnage Theater, according to Clayborne. The troupe performs as Dr. Tad Avuncular’s Mystery &Merriment Show.
The train and troupe become lost in a storm during the trip from Norfolk to Washington. The troupe’s members seem to be a some sort of limbo, not sure if they are dead or alive, Clayborne said. Simpson and Clayborne said describing the troupe’s members as “haints” would be a fair description.
Tomasulo said the pig cookin’ contest — to be judged the morning of Oct. 25 — has attracted 25 contestants. The festival’s chili contest also takes place that morning.
Barbecue contestants, who may begin setting up their cooking stations at noon Oct. 24, will receive their pigs at 9 p.m. that night. The public is invited to watch the cookers begin preparing and cooking their pigs.
After the judging, the meat from the pigs is chopped and sold to festival-goers.
The first-place cook in the barbecue contest will receive $1,200, with the second-place finisher picking up $900 and the third-place cook earning $700.
In the chili contest, $300 goes to the first-place cook. The second-place finisher gets $200. The third-place cook receives $100.
Unlike past chili contests at Smoke on the Water, this year’s chili contest does not require the meat base to be beef. In fact, there does not have to be meat in the chili.
Other ingredients, such as spices, chili peppers and beans, are left up to the cooks. Each contestant is required to prepare at least three gallons of chili per entry. Chili will be judged on four criteria: color, aroma, taste and consistency.
Barbecue sandwiches, barbecue by the pound and chili will be the featured food items available at Smoke on the Water.
Returning to the weekend lineup is the car show presented by Down East Rods &Classics.
Patch Clark, a Washington resident, is bringing East Carolina University’s Storybook Theatre to downtown for a performance the morning of Oct. 25. Clark is coordinator of the theater-education program at ECU’s School of Theatre and Dance.
The Beaufort County Arts Council’s 44th-annual Fine Arts Show opens to the public Oct. 23. The free show will take place in the Washington Civic Center.
Tomasulo said he’s looking for sponsors for barbecue contestants. A sponsorship costs $200. For their contributions, sponsors are mentioned in festival advertisements and other considerations. He’s also seeking volunteers to work during Smoke on the Water. Prospective sponsors or volunteers are asked to call Tomasulo at (252) 402-7974.
In addition to barbecue and chili, festival-goers will be able to buy homemade ice cream, funnel cakes, cotton candy and similar festival food, he said. Artisans and other vendors will be selling their wares downtown and on Stewart Parkway during Smoke on the Water.