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Barbecue Festival Cancelled Amid COVID-19 Uncertainty

PAUL GARBER/WFDD

Organizers of the annual Barbecue Festival in Lexington have called off this year's event amid the ongoing effort to control the spread of COVID-19. 

The planned festival was still three months away. But given that it annually attracts upwards of 100,000 people a year packed into the streets of Uptown Lexington, the decision was made to wait until next year.

Organizers say they talked with city leaders, healthcare officials, and law enforcement, and determined that cancelling the event was in the best interest of the health of attendees.

They cited Gov. Roy Cooper's executive order that prohibits large gatherings in making their decision.

The Barbecue Festival has been a huge draw to the region for more than 30 years. Organizers say they're planning to do some smaller events and virtual shows to highlight Lexington's most famous cuisine.

For the most up-to-date information on coronavirus in North Carolina, visit our Live Updates blog here. WFDD wants to hear your stories — connect with us and let us know what you're experiencing.

Paul Garber is a Winston-Salem native and an award-winning reporter who began his journalism career with an internship at The High Point Enterprise in 1993. He has previously worked at The Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The News and Record of Greensboro and the Winston-Salem Journal, where he was the newspaper's first full-time multimedia reporter. He won the statewide Media and the Law award in 2000 and has also been recognized for his business, investigative and multimedia reporting. Paul earned a BA from Wake Forest University and has a Master's of Liberal Arts degree from Johns Hopkins University and a Master's of Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He lives in Lewisville.

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