A bright, outdoor daytime portrait photograph of the four members of the band Fox n' Vead standing in a row in front of the brightly lit, solid yellow side of a large trailer. From left to right: the first member has long hair and a mustache, wearing a black bucket hat and black overalls over a t-shirt, smiling with their arms crossed. The second member is wearing a white backward baseball cap, glasses, and a black t-shirt, holding a sunburst-finish electric guitar with both hands. The third member is wearing a loose, olive-green short-sleeve button-down shirt and dark pants with their hands resting casually at their sides. The fourth member has a beard and is wearing a backward baseball cap, a black graphic t-shirt, and camouflage pants, holding a white electric guitar by the neck. The overall image has a warm, distinctly retro color grade.Fox n’ Vead Credit: foxnvead / Facebook

Organizers for this meaty gathering could’ve popped the word “music” in front of “festival.” Heavy hitters of the Bay area ‘cue scene will be in the pit (shout out Kenny Alexander from Big Red BBQ), but the lineup of bands is no small feat.

The appropriately-named Blackberry Smoke is set to close it out, but don’t miss Fox N’Vead, a Carolina quartet that blurs the lines between southern and garage-rock on songs like a 2025 breakout single, “Waste Away.”

Tickets for the Tampa Bay Barbecue Festival & Competition happening at Vinoy Park in St. Petersburg from Saturday-Sunday, May 23-24 are still available for $15 and up. Children 10 and under get in free.

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This article appears in May 21 – 27, 2026.

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Read his 2016 intro letter and disclosures from 2022 and 2021. Ray Roa started freelancing for Creative Loafing Tampa in January 2011 and was hired as music editor in August 2016. He became Editor-In-Chief…
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