Fourth annual Hannibal Bar-B-Q rolls out the red carpet for some big names

HANNIBAL, Mo. – Good food, cool cars, and some famous faces will be found in Hannibal starting July 21 and 22.

The fourth annual Hannibal Bar-B-Q Festival will be held at 4015 Market and hosted by Heartland Auto Body and Towing. It will be two nights of live music, with Friday night dedicated to rock and Saturday night dedicated to country.

Gracing the stage will be Great White and Trixter Acoustic on Friday, and then Trace Adkins and Confederate Railroad on Saturday. Favorite local band No Wake and regional band Fuedin’ Hillbillies will start the shows.

Food vendors will be available on Friday, and on Saturday enjoy barbeque from up to twelve teams competing for prizes. This will be the first year Hannibal Bar-B-Q festival will host a car show.

Jason Krigbaum, owner of Heartland Auto Body and Towing, started the event in 2019 after purchasing the lot where it’s held. Krigbaum wanted a chance to give back to the community, along with nearly 20 local sponsors, by offering affordable and clean entertainment. 

James Hark, communications specialist for Heartland Auto Body and Towing, said they are committed to keeping the event a safe, family-friendly environment. 

“We have a certain responsibility to keep it a family environment,” he said. “The groups we pick are not offensive. It’s something you can do here and that you can take your kids to.”

With an average attendance of around 6,000 to 10,000 attendees per weekend, the group hires 15-20 security guards, and asks law enforcement and fire department and medical experts to be on-site.

The highest attended concert was Travis Tritt in 2021 where around 7,000 attended in one night.

“We want to promote a family friendly event. We don’t want things there that shouldn’t be there,” he said. “We have been fortunate that people have respected one another and never had an incident that requires anyone to leave because of behavior.”

They also make sure the event has plenty of facilities and bartenders.

“There’s nothing worse than going to an event and having to use the facilities or wait at the bar and miss four or five songs while in line so we try to have plenty,” he said. “Sometimes there might be a line but you won’t miss much. We don’t want people to miss the performance.”

To find out more about the event and a full list of sponsors visit hannibalbbq.com