The 42nd Annual Octoberfest in Downtown Cleveland
OctoberFest has served as the largest festival in Bolivar County. The Cleveland-Bolivar County Chamber of Commerce presents a weekend that is jam packed with food, music, arts, and entertainment for the entire family! Join us for the classic BBQ battle, artistic showcase, and some awesome Delta jam sessions! Vendor applications for arts and crafts will be live soon, and we look forward to hosting you!
This year's festivities will include a barbecue contest sanctioned by the Memphis BBQ Network, the Mississippi Delta State Barbecue Championship, arts and crafts, children's activities, and live entertainment on Saturday evening!
Octoberfest is also a contest on the Delta BBQ Battle circuit, which awards $10,000 to the Championship team and $3,000 to the Patio team with the highest cumulative score from three of the four contests on the circuit. With the participants hungrier than ever for competition, the food is sure to be out of this world! Check out our vendors and plan your weekend's itinerary to secure your spot for the fall's biggest party in the Delta!
The weekend will kick off on Friday with the Mississippi Delta State Barbecue Championship competition. This event is sanctioned by the Memphis Barbecue Network and is the final competition of the Delta BBQ Brawl circuit, which awards approximately $13,000 to winners at Octoberfest. Applications for patio and professional teams are available at octoberfestms.com.
A couple of exciting new additions to the festival this year include BBQ demonstrations and a tour of champions. Malcom Reed with HowToBBQRight and Killer Hogs BBQ Products will be offering ticketed BBQ Demonstrations at Delta Arts Alliance on Friday evening. Wicker's Tour of Champions, sponsored by Jeff Jones, will also be offered on Friday evening and will allow registered participants to tour the championship BBQ row as well as sample and judge the offerings. Tickets for both demonstrations and the tour of champions are on sale at octoberfestms.com.
There will also be live entertainment provided by singer/songwriter/guitarist "Mississippi Marshall" Hopper from 6 - 8 pm at the Delta Arts Alliance pavilion.
Saturday morning kicks off at 8:30 am with a Kid's Confetti Run sponsored by Junior Auxiliary of Cleveland. There will be a crafts area at Delta Arts Alliance following the Confetti Run. Children of all ages are welcome to participate.
Entertainment will begin at 9:30 am with community performances from dance troupes and gymnastics teams followed by OcTUBAfest, a brass ensemble from Delta State University's music department that will perform a selection of tuba and horn polka pieces.
At 12 pm, there will be a partial eclipse viewing at the Wiley Planetarium tent. Eclipse glasses will be available for a donation of $1, and arts and crafts activities will be offered at no charge. This annular eclipse is the second of three notable solar eclipses viewable from the USA, and it will appear as if the sun is forming a 'ring of fire' around the moon.
Live music will begin at noon featuring Gospel singer Alicia Perry, Deep Roots artist Variety, Thomas "Little Killer" Sanders and Joe Garcia. Announcement of the BBQ competition winners will take place between 5 and 6 pm followed by the festival headliner, Billy Allen and the Pollies who will take the stage around 6:30 pm.
