Pair July Fourth fun with great barbecue, and the result is a holiday event with something for everyone.
The inaugural Rocky Mountain Freedom Festival is this weekend at the Douglas County Fairgrounds in Castle Rock. Happening today and Sunday, this event packages carnival rides, a barbecue competition, outdoor concerts and, yes, fireworks in a family-friendly fundraiser for the Ripple Project, a fledgling nonprofit
patient-advocacy group.
“We tried to make (the festival) affordable and patriotic,” says Ripple Project Founder J.J. Dedmon. “There’s really nothing else like it in the area.”
Dedmon is a registered nurse and longtime community volunteer who started the Ripple Project to help seniors and those with life-threatening diseases navigate medical care. Dedmon said earlier this week that the Freedom Festival will enable her organization to establish deeper roots without relying on grants.
One festival will be its high-caliber barbecue competition, with more than 50 teams vying for cash prizes.
“These are serious barbecue competitors,” Dedmon says.
Competitors borrow tricks from Texas, Carolina, Memphis and Kansas City barbecue styles, each of which has its own flavor nuances. Even the wood used for smoking various meats brings up heated debate, Dedmon says. “Some people swear by mesquite, but others use apple, pecan, hickory or cherry.”
Sanctioned by the Kansas City Barbecue Society, this weekend’s grandprize winner will qualify for the Colorado State Barbecue Championships later this summer and will take home $2,000 in cash, a trophy and, of course, bragging rights.
Qualified KCBS judges will determine the winner, and the public can enjoy entry samples.
Dedmon expects the Freedom Festival to have a county-fair-style atmosphere, thanks to other types of festival food (roasted corn, funnel cakes and corn dogs to name a few), midway games and carnival rides.
Inside the festival’s Patriotic Pavilion, visitors will find a traveling museum of military artifacts — including an original U.S. flag from the Revolutionary War era and a display of World War I uniforms and artillery. Representatives from the American Legion also will be on hand for flag retirement. Faded, tattered or otherwise worn American flags can be dropped off for proper disposal.
There will be two stages for live music with local fave Hazel Miller taking the main stage at 7 tonight. Sunday’s lineup includes country crooner Matt Buckstein and funk group the Hot Lunch Band.
The event goes out with a bang at 9:30 p.m. Sunday with a synchronized music-and-fireworks display.
Rocky Mountain Freedom Festival
This event provides both a patriotic celebration and community outreach.
When: 11 a.m.-11 p.m. today and 11 a.m.-10 p.m Sunday
Where: Douglas County Fairgrounds, 500 Fairgrounds Drive, Castle Rock
Admission: $5 for adults; free for kids under 5, seniors 60 and over, and those with a valid military ID
Details:
