Festival attracts thousands to Littleton

By Maurice Emery
Editor Emeritus

For one weekend a year the streets of Littleton morph from a few people to a few thousand people, the Main Street parking lot transforms into a mini town of fun.  The area will be host to more people in one day than live- in the town permanently.  Parking lots in town are filled with vendors, custom cars and hot rods, rides for the kids and a stage where acts would perform throughout the day were all used to bring out the best of Littleton and the Lake Gaston area. 

A small group of volunteers work for months to turn the town into the second largest city in Halifax County for one weekend a year.

It started late Friday afternoon when some of the state’s best cookers were arriving to set up for the 5th Annual Littleton Lions Club BBQ cook-off.  It continued throughout the evening with a few food vendors, including Littleton organizations, providing the best festival food around. Some kid’s rides were set up for those who wanted to get a head start on the fun. It culminated with the sounds of Carolina Beach Music as a background for dancing in the streets.

As the night wore on the cookers were all that was left to keep things going until Saturday morning when more vendors came into town in full force to line the streets of the north side of town. One by one the south side of the town began to fill up with classic cars as part of the Stray Cats Hot Rod and Custom Car Show that has become as much a part of the Festival as the BBQ, rides, entertainment, crafts and food.

Everything got off to an early morning start next to the Littleton Volunteer Fire Department with the BBQ cooker teams setting up their little outdoor cafes in preparation for the judging. Twelve little kitchens, with only one thing on the menu – BBQ. With team names like Pot Billy Pigs, Get-R-Done, Big T’s Backyard BBQ, Minutemen and Down Home Cookers  they came from as close as Roanoke Rapids and as far away as Chesapeake, Virginia.  

Local judges Sue Skinner, Mike Butts and John Skinner made their way to four of the teams to judge them for Showmanship trophies. Then it was time for the Culinary Judging by George Evans, Rodney Elmore and Lumar Van-Brackle. The judging was done under the watchful eyes of BBQ organizer Carolyn Allen and Theresa Stansbury.

During the BBQ judging and throughout the early morning hours all the early arrivers were treated to a continuous show of some of the 150 or so classic cars and hot rods making their way west on Rt. 158 to the south side of town for their show.

As the morning continued it wasn’t long before the all the main streets and parking areas within a half mile of town looked like one big parking lot. The later they arrived the further they had to walk, but the visitors did so with smiles on their faces and laughter in their voices. The weather was next to perfect and the crowds were friendly and courteous. The Littleton police were out in full force, but their major roll was guiding people around the area.

An elderly man told us early on that this was like a big family reunion. “Please tell the organizers that they sure are doing a great job.”  He added that this is one event he looks forward to every year. 

While there was no official count several people involved with the event talked about 5,000 plus people enjoying themselves. From one vantage point at the east end of town we noticed almost as many people coming into the festival area as those leaving and this was at 3 p.m.

Funnel cakes and anything BBQ were the main foods you noticed people eating.  The line for the Lions BBQ plates, with half of the BBQ sold using Lion Quinton Qualls sauce and half using prize winning cooker Joe Petersons sauce, was the longest line for food. Of course the American Legion 425 was serving BBQ ribs and chicken plus fried chicken and fish. If you’ve tasted it you know why they sell out every year. 

There was plenty of the regular festival fair for everyone. Hot dogs, hamburgers, french fries, snow cones, Philly cheese steaks, bologna burgers, chili cheese fries, and much more were offered in one or more of the eighteen food vendors on hand.  The food tents were filled most of the day, so the Griffin family from Nashville, N.C., decided to picnic on the walkway.    

Of course one of the greatest pleasures during the annual festival is watching the kids enjoying themselves. They may gravitate to the rides, but they also enjoyed many other aspects of the event. Their eyes would get big when they saw some of the coolest cars on the east coast. Their faces lit up when they saw the face painting booth.  For many of the older kids the National Guard Booth guided them through some physical exercises.

The festival is always a good family event. Families and extended families use the event for mini family reunions. Kevin Karen and Anna Hill with Jordan Collins were spending time at the festival while visiting their parents at Wildwood Point on the lake

It was common to find former Littleton residents returning home to visit family and enjoy a fun weekend in the place where they spent their youth. That was the case for Yolana Lee and Chucky Laster from Raleigh visiting with Channie Zollkoffer and Rat Lee, from Littleton.

Another family was on their way out with their son, William Thomas Fitts, sound asleep in the stroller. Then there was Shatorya Gills, Tahj Sykes and Nazir Gills who we found walking out with the abundance of energy. 

The festival was a great place for friends of all ages to enjoy themselves. We found Andrew Atkinson, Kristen Hight and Jeremy Horne strolling along the vendor’s midway.

Throughout the day the bandstand was the gathering place for those who wanted to take a relaxing break and enjoy one of the many acts performing. Take Two & Rambling Rose Band was playing while we were watching.  Also scheduled to play were Smith Brothers & Friends; Julie’s Taps & Tutus; Ridgeway; Chockoyotte Creek Cloggers; Watts Brothers; White Water Junction; and Rusted Nails.

The Stray Cats show was the largest to date. Custom and classic cars took up all the parking area behind BB&T, the pharmacy and the town hall as well as most of the lawn area south of the there. 

There were shining vintage cars that reflected hours and hours of work and dedication to make them ready for the show. There were even a few cars parked in front of the First Citizens bank that reminded passer-bys of the show behind them.  (You can enjoy photos of the cars on our Website at www.littletonobserver.com.)

The Ladies club provided treats and seats in the drive through area of BB&T. St Albans band provided live music for festival goers on North Main Street. The Lions provided an information booth, sold brooms and refreshments, as well as BBQ plates at the center of all the fun. Lake area organizations were set up to welcome visitors. The Rural Health Group provided blood pressure test next to the stage. 

This seemed to be one of the biggest festivals yet. It took the whole day to see and enjoy it all. When four o’clock on Saturday came it seemed like everything went to fast, but then you can always look forward to next years event. After all in North Carolina family reunions are held every year, in Littleton it’s on Labor Day weekend.  Mark your calendar for next Labor Day so you can join in the fun and be part of the biggest family reunion held each year.