WhistleStop was dead. After a 22-year run, the Huntsville barbecue festival was officially discontinued on Jan. 20, announced via the festival’s social media.

At its height, around 20,000 people attended the weekend-long festival each year. Its barbecue competition attracted 150 cook teams from across the Southeast. The music lineup featured the likes of Charlie Daniels Band, Kansas, Drivin’ N’ Cryin’, 38 Special, Spin Doctors, Gin Blossoms and a young Blake Shelton. Local talent filled out the lineups.

By its late aughts/early 2000s prime at longtime site Historic Huntsville Depot downtown, WhistleStop was one of Huntsville’s signature events, along with Panoply Arts Festival. It was also the primary fundraiser for EarlyWorks Children’s Museum, which organized and ran WhistleStop with the help of 200 or so volunteers each year.

But during the latter part of the 2010s, the number and quality Huntsville’s entertainment and festival options increased significantly. Meanwhile, WhistleStop’s music lineup began relying on tribute bands instead of legit headliners. In 2020, like many festivals around the world, WhistleStop was canceled because of the pandemic. For 2001 and 2002, a scaled down version of the festival relocated to John Hunt Park, a site closer to south Huntsville. Attendance dropped to around 3,500.

“When we were downtown at the depot, we were in our heyday,” says EarlyWorks executive director Bart Williams. “We had all the great bands and everything, and then started growing so much we were trying to strategically plan a move to John Hunt Park. And then COVID hit and it kind of sapped us for a while.”

Meanwhile, EarlyWorks which also operates the Historic Depot and Huntsville’s Constitution Hall Park, decided on a new fundraising approach. Instead of relying on WhistleStop, they’d hold several smaller fundraisers throughout the year.

“It was tough,” Williams says of the decision to shutter the festival. “Nobody wanted to do it. But we knew financially we couldn’t afford to try to keep doing WhistleStop. We were going to divide things up and take smaller bites out of our fundraising goals every year.”

But the festival’s longtime supporters refused to let it die. Williams kept hearing from longtime attendees how much they wanted WhistleStop to continue. Most importantly, Integration Innovation Inc. (aka i3), a sponsor in recent years, reached out to EarlyWorks about taking over the production of the festival, while still donating the proceeds to EarlyWorks.

Alison Kniepkamp leads i3′s community engagement. A native of the Kansas City area, a barbecue hotbed known for its “burnt ends” brisket, Kniepkamp says, “Here in Huntsville, WhistleStop is an age-old name. Being around for 22 years, so many people in Huntsville have some sort of WhistleStop memory. And when we got word it was being canceled, we were really interested in making sure that it didn’t go away permanently. So to us, WhistleStop was a way of holding on to a tradition and making sure we still had that, but also continuing to support EarlyWorks for our youth growing up in Huntsville.”

On Aug. 28, WhistleStop announced on Facebook it wasn’t done after all. Today and Saturday a rebooted version is coming to The Camp, the vibey outdoor venue at MidCity, the development where Orion Amphitheater is located at 5909 University Drive. Formerly known as WhistleStop Weekend, the festival now has more direct branding: WhistleStop BBQ Festival.

Jacksonville, Florida, band JJ Grey & Mofro — a hot live act and fave of festivals like Bonnaroo and Austin City Limits — was booked as Saturday’s music headliner. JJ Grey & Mofro’s rock-soul revival sound crystalizes on tracks like “Orange Blossoms,” “The Sweetest thing” and “Lochaloosa.” Each have racked up more than 10 million Spotify streams. Frontman Grey’s vocals can evoke the guts and heart of R&B legend Otis Redding.

WhistleStop’s Friday headliner is Carver Commodore, a talented Florence bluesy/poppy rock group likely to appeal to fans of the Black Keys. Carver Commodore’s song “Stars & Galaxies” has been streamed more than 2 million times on Spotify.

Support acts include the Dave Anderson Project, a solo project from Atlanta Rhythm Section guitarist Dave Anderson, also known for his time with ‘90s rock hitmakers Brother Cane.

The WhistleStop music lineup also boasts Florida indie-groovers Ben Loftin & The Family and slinky Kentucky R&B act Joslyn & The Sweet Compression. Huntsville group The Silver Silos’ sound echoes the likes of Tom Petty and Wilco. Full music schedule and tickets ($15 Friday, $25 Saturday, $35 weekend pass, and up) at whistlestopweekend.com.

Festival hours are 4 to 11 p.m. today and 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Saturday.

WhistleStop’s barbecue competition bona fides are well earned. But many attendees complained the festival was a place you could go watch barbecue, but — unless you were friends with or on a cook team — not eat barbecue.

In response, the rebooted fest lined up a compelling array of food vendors, including Blue Oak BBQ, a soon to debut in Huntsville notable from New Orleans. Other vendors include local standouts like Phat Sammy’s, Standard Social Market, Tamarind Island Grille, Fusion Barbecue and new eatery Hickory Store Craft Barbecue. There’s a complete list of vendors on the festival website.

Winners of WhistleStop’s barbecue competition, with more than 50 cook teams vying for honors, will be announced 7:30 p.m. Saturday before JJ Grey & Mofro’s set. The “grand champion” team gets 2,000 bucks, a shiny trophy and bragging rights.

Organizers are aiming for an attendance of somewhere between 5,000 and 10,000 this weekend. Around 85 volunteers have signed on to help with the festival. That includes EarlyWorks staff like Williams, who’s put sweat into every single WhistleStop.

Back when i3 was first envisioning what a 2020s-viable version of WhistleStop would be like, they looked at the possibility making John Hunt Park work better. Or maybe holding the festival on Orion Amphitheater’s grounds.

In the end, it made way more sense to team with MidCity and its Octo Hospitality arm, which programs The Camp, a venue new enough to still have buzz but old enough many locals have been there by now. Kniepkamp says ticket buyers from as far as California and Canada are coming to WhistleStop specifically to hear JJ Grey & Mofro.

MidCity/Octo Hospitality’s Cody Morgan says WhistleStop this year received important input and support from the City of Huntsville Music Officer Matt Mandrella. Orion has come onboard to do artist hospitality for the weekend.

“As far as the music lineup goes,” Morgan says, “we really wanted to see a music lineup that music lovers would love. We wanted to make sure we highlighted local musicians. That’s really important to us. But also at the same time, to keep things fresh and fun and exciting, you want to bring some bands from out of town as well. We wanted a diverse lineup.”

Within MidCity, WhistleStop’s 2023 footprint will extend from The Camp to the Little Richard mural on the exterior wall of burger restaurant Walburgers. Some streets and parking within MidCity will be closed down to accommodate the festival’s cook teams and vendors.

In future editions, organizers see WhistleStop evolving from its barbecue roots into a wider spectrum food festival. Adapting to the times is essential in any business, including running a festival.

“Things have changed and the community around us changed, and WhistleStop wasn’t keeping up with that change,” Williams says. “But I think we’re on absolutely the right path. It was the i3 folks and then the MidCity and Octo guys that said, ‘You don’t need to let it go away, you need to reimagine it.’”

For Huntsville to keep its cultural soul, it’s important classic local events like WhistleStop don’t get trampled underfoot of all the new things to do in the city.

The reason behind this particular festival is important too. To date, WhistleStop has raised nearly $1,500,000 for EarlyWorks, which plans to expand its history-centric theme into more science exhibits and interactives.

“All the research shows us,” Williams says, “the brain development in kids, 90 percent of that is happening within the first five to six years of life. And so having a children’s museum for our community where kids can come and be exposed to activities that they may not get in the classroom, that they may not have the ability to get at home, is extremely important for our families.

“It’s important to build confidence in these kids. Maybe some of them go on and invent the next iPhone. But most likely these kids are just going to become great people and fantastic citizens and really help our community over the next 20, 30 years as they grow up and get into the workforce.”

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