BLUES AND BARBEQUE TOP THE MENU AS POPULAR “GUITARBEQUE FESTIVAL” RETURNS TO ASBURY PARK SAT. AND SUN., JULY 8 AND 9

Third Annual Edition of Crowd-Pleasing Free Event Features Pro BBQ Teams Competing for $10,000 and Trophies as World-Class Blues Guitarists Entertain

ASBURY PARK, N.J., June 27, 2006 – It’s guaranteed to be a smoking good time when award-winning barbeque teams and world-class blues guitarists join forces for the “Third Annual Guitarbeque Festival,” to be held July 8 and 9 at Bradley Park (opposite Convention Hall) in Asbury Park. The festival will run from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. each day.

The free admission event, previously featured on the Food Network’s “All American Festivals” and a crowd-pleasing staple of summer on the Jersey Shore, will be hosted by the historic Convention Hall/Paramount Theatre and Asbury Partners, master developer of the 56-acre Oceanfront Asbury waterfront redevelopment.

On Saturday, barbeque teams will vie for cash prizes and trophies in such mouth-watering categories as chicken, ribs, pork and brisket. Teams in the competition, which is sanctioned by the Kansas City BBQ Society (KCBS), boast of such inventive monikers as 3 Eyz Barbeque, Dizzy Pig BBQ, Co., and the Smokin’ Jersey Shore Cats. The cook-off has drawn pro teams from as far as Maine and Alabama.

Headlining the entertainment on Saturday will be Hubert Sumlin, one of the last true blues legends and one of Rolling Stone magazine’s top 100 guitarists. The blues icon and multiple W.C. Handy Award winner Duke Robillard will be Sunday’s headliner. Other groups to perform include Barbecue Bob and the Spareribs, Billy Hector Band, The Bubba Mac Blues Band, Chaz DePaolo, Chris Buono, Dave Haywood Band, Frank Fotusky, Jim Campilongo, Livingston Leo, Marc Muller, Michael Hill’s Blues Mob and the Vivino Brothers Blues Band.