Chicken Festival Bill Brings Back Memories Of 'Cue Clash

Organizers of a long-running Duplin County poultry jubilee are crying “fowl” over a bipartisan bill that would recognize a new Fayetteville celebration as the state's official fried chicken festival.

We here in the Triad might know how they feel. We've been through this whole thing before.

You see, we're the regional home of Lexington-style barbecue, known across the ‘cue world for its pit-cooked goodness. The Lexington Barbecue Festival is the biggest one-day food festival in the whole state. You'd think getting some kind of official recognition for our signature dish would be as easy as polishing off a side of hush puppies.

Yet when we tried to do that ten years ago, a legislative food fight erupted. Powerful supporters of the rival eastern North Carolina style pushed back. The fight to pick an official ‘cue ended up as kind of a draw. Lawmakers were able to agree only that the Lexington festival is the “official food festival of the Piedmont Triad Region.”

But it's been okay. As it turns out, not getting the coveted “official” designation hasn't hurt much. The Lexington festival is still packing them in, and will celebrate 34 years in October.

The NC Poultry Jubilee has been running for more than 50 years now. It's in the the town of Rose Hill, off of Interstate 40. It claims to have the world's largest working frying pan, which can cook 365 chickens at once.

The town has a population of about 1,700, and the jubilee attracts about 9,000 people.

The Fayetteville festival hasn't happened yet. Organizers say they were unaware of the Rose Hill jubilee.