New BBQ & blues festival canceled in Lombard

A new barbecue and blues festival in downtown Lombard has been canceled, due to a lack of people to run the event.

Lombard Town Centre Executive Director Sarah Richardt said the organization recently re-evaluated the decision to sponsor the new LomBar-B-Que and Blues Fest on Aug. 8 and decided the event would need more resources than what is currently available.

“We don't want to do anything poorly,” she said. “Without the amount of people that we needed we just were not confident that it would be a great event. We don't want to do anything less than a great event.”

Richardt acknowledged that a lot of disappointment has been expressed by residents since the announcement was made last week, but said Lombard Town Centre will consider taking a look at the festival again next year.

“It's a great event,” she said. “There's a lot of people who like barbecue. We just have to have more manpower, and when that happens we can consider another larger event.”

The organization did not have any trouble finding people to take part in a barbeque competition; in fact, 32 people signed up months ago, Richardt said.

“That was the easy part,” she said. “I don't think that was ever a concern of ours.”

However, the hope was to have a full committee of about 14 people who would organize the event. Instead, only about five people signed up, including some who became preoccupied with other commitments in recent weeks, Richardt said.

“This is not a new thing, that Lombard Town Centre struggles with volunteers and struggles with committee people,” Richardt said.

Anyone interested in volunteering their time on one of the organization's four committees is encouraged to call the Lombard Town Centre office at (630) 620-8063. The committees include design, economic restructuring, promotions and organization.

“It's just about getting involved,” she said. “People are so busy. If people have the time to really commit, it would be a great time to get involved. There's so much happening down here.”

Lombard Town Centre hired consultants Greg Bane and Tom Koprowski to serve as co-chairmen of the event. The two founded the Glen Ellyn Backyard BBQ, which was scheduled to continue this year without them at the helm.

Richardt said the consultants received money for the initial work they did on the event, but none of it was from a $7,500 village grant given to the organization earlier this year to help with LomBar-B-Que startup costs.

“The village is not out any money,” she said, adding that grant money typically is not given to an organization until after the event, when receipts are handed in.