19th Decatur BBQ Blues & Bluegrass Festival Moves To New Location

DECATUR, GA — The 19th annual Decatur BBQ Blues and Bluegrass Festival will be held Saturday, August 10 from 1-9 pm. The festival will feature live blues and bluegrass music from Randall Bramblett, Sandra Hall and The Shadows, Grizzly Goat, Roxie, and more, along with a variety of barbeque. This year, the festival moves to a new location, Legacy Park, 500 South Columbia Drive, in eest Decatur.

General admission before the event is $15, while event-day admission is $20.

The festival was founded by the Decatur Preservation Alliance (DPA) in 2000. The alliance had managed to save the old Decatur train depot, located at Candler and Howard Streets, from demolition but needed funds to move the building off of the railroad right-of-way and secure the structure.

With permission from the city, they closed off Howard Avenue east of Candler, brought in a flatbed trailer to serve as a stage, rounded up some bands, and threw a party. The 2000 festival was a success and DPA made it an annual event. Along the way, they invited other organizations to participate including the Decatur Active Living , the Community Center of South Decatur and the Oakhurst Neighborhood Association (ONA). By 2005, the Depot sat on new footings with a new roof, and DPA bowed out of the festival.

The festival relocated to Harmony Park in Oakhurst. Led by the Community Center of South Decatur, organizers set new goals and presented the most successful event yet. Close to 5,000 people came through the gate, and the festival netted more than $35,000. Each of the three presenters—the Community Center, the Decatur Recreation Department, and the ONA—channeled their share of the profits directly back into the community through various initiatives.

In 2012 the festival drew a record crowd of over 6,500 people. In 2014 the festival made a major event area change by expanding to the adjacent 630 East Lake lot. In 2016 the festival expanded to a multi-stage event with 10 bands and more than 6000 attendees.