This summer – June 28 – 30 – in Winchester, Virginia Big Fat Daddy’s will be hosting the first ever Hogging Up BBQ & Music Festival.

We were fortunate enough to get an interview with the owner and organize, Wayne M. Schafer.

Before we get into the music festival, what led you down the path of BBQ? And how did that lead into the Hogging Up BBQ & Music Festival?

I started experimenting with smoking meats when I was a teenager, and I had a food concessions business when I was 19 and a restaurant before I was 30.

My first festival was at the very fairgrounds (Frederick Co. Fairgrounds in Winchester) that I’m holding the Hogging Up BBQ & Music Festival at. I guess I never forgot where I got my start.

At first it was just going to be a barbecue competition, but I wanted much more for the public so it turned into a three day full blown festival.

We wanted to do something to raise money and awareness for a cause near and dear to us, (CancerCare) so we went full blown. First year festivals are hard to get off the ground but we are hopeful since we have a reason to succeed.

Is this the first one or has this been going on for a while?

I have been selling food at fairs and festivals for thirty years, and helped a lot of organizations with their festivals, but this is my first one that’s solely in my hands.

What style(s) of music should we expect at this festival?

We picked a nice selection of Panhandle bands, from Indie to Folk, Bluegrass, Newgrass and Country to Rock!

You have Stoney Creek Bluegrass which is your classic bluegrass, then Circa-Blue which is boot stompin’ newgrass.

Kirsten Sowers does country, and Burnt Orange some classic rock and blues. We then have Gary Smallwood jamming out solo, and Dangerous Mood doing everything from Patsy Cline to their original Folk and Indie music.

Let’s not forget Avey Music when combined with band Mountain Ride that’s a mix of Country, Bluegrass, and Classic Rock hits with banjos. This should be interesting.

Are the bands only from your area or do you go beyond the local to bring in talent from everywhere?

We have them from PA, WVA and VA this year. We tried to stay in the Panhandle but a nice selection so that everyone can enjoy something.

What guides your decision process? What separates a chosen band from the ones you pass on?

We actually listened to the demo’s and went to see some. It was a hard choice but we only had so much room.

How many bands will be playing this year’s festival? One stage or multiple stages?

Due to the festival hours and county ordinances, you can only have eight hours of music in any given day, so that limited us to a few bands per day. We have one big stage but there will be activities, something to see, do, eat, or buy in between gigs.

What other activities beside music and BBQ will be going on between the 28th and 30th of June?

We have vendors, artists, crafters, beer and wine tasting, barbecue item and bbq food for sale, a Family Fun Zone with fun cars, a Blue Angels Plane, the Virginia Giant Monster Truck, a giant Cornhole area (that’s big in those parts) .

Fri and Saturday there will also be a KCBS Barbecue Competition on one side of the field which is a State Champsionship, and has celebrities such as 3EyzBBQ, who was on Season 2 Pitmasters TV show.

We also have local book author Roger Engle doing book signings. You never know who you may see walking around this place.

How much are tickets? What else do we need to know about attending?

Since this is a first year festival we made it cheap, $5 Fri and Sun and only $8 for Saturday.

Kids under 10 are free.

Bring a chair but no coolers. There will be vendors selling food and drinks!

Where can we find you online? Connect with you?

• http://www.HoggingUp.com
• http://Facebook.com/HoggingUpFestival
• or follow me on Twitter for my festival tweets at http://twitter.com/BigFatDaddys

Have all the bands been chosen? Are you still accepting submissions?

We are full!

Any last thoughts or shout outs?

Our festival is happening for three reasons.

One, to bring money back into the town because a lot of teams and judges are coming all over the country and staying in the local hotels and gassing up at the pumps.

Two, all proceeds from libations are going to the Local Winchester Exchange Club, which will help put money back into the town.

Last but not least our festival is to raise awareness and donations for CancerCare.org who is a non profit that helps counsel patients with Cancer and their families, and provides them solutions and ideas when they have extensive bills that insurance doesn’t cover.

There’s a link on the front of our site to see how much we’ve raised. Sponsors like CF Sauer, Hatfield, Around the Panhandle Magazine have stepped up to help us but we still need more support.

You can visit the website for news and full details about this festival. If you are in the area on these dates, I would stop by and tell ’em Middle Tennessee Music sent you.