Photo gallery: Blues, Bandits & BBQ in Oak Cliff (September 12)

by Elliott Muñoz

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If any neighborhood in all of Dallas can throw a street party, it's Oak Cliff.

OAK CLIFF — In yet another incredibly successful family festival, Oak Cliff hosted Blues, Bandits & BBQ on its streets on Sunday. It's estimated that 2,500 to 3,000 people were in attendance.

Early Sunday morning, huge lines formed outside the Kessler Theater for a chance to purchase the remaining wrist bands to be “official tasters” for the people’s choice. More than 20 teams participated in the cookoff and the sweet smell of BBQ wafted over several blocks of Oak Cliff.

Among the judges were SMOKE’s chef Tim Byers and WFAA’s Jason Whitely. The categories were sausage, chicken, ribs, and the prestigious brisket. Judging for the BBQ began at about noon. In the end, Lagarto Catering took first place in sausage and Best Over All. Heavy Metal took first in best brisket, and Texas BBQ Posse took first in chicken.

While bellies were getting full, there was plenty of beer and live music. Legend Bobby Patterson was one of many that took the stage outside the Kessler. If you missed out on getting a wrist band, SMOKE, Luckie’s Smokehouse, and Spiral Diner were out to sell to the public.

Along with the Blues, Bandits and BBQ festival, Go Oak Cliff’s The Better Block Redux gave streets an amazing face lift. Within 24 hours, the streets of Oak Cliff between N. Clinton and Edgefield on Davis were transformed to pedestrian-friendly environments, with a couple of “pop-up” shops, plenty of trees, outside café seating, deck patios and plenty of what we'll call concrete landscaping. You’d almost think this was always here! There was plenty to do for the whole family, like miniature golf, Giant Jenga, giant chess, and football throwing. A block down the street at Nova, the art gallery Crave was in full effect, with plenty of art, live music, and a bounce house for the kiddos.

Oak Cliff being a bike friendly community had plenty of bike parking, and if you didn’t ride your bike and were a little hot from all the sun and walking, there was plenty to do indoors to cool off. Pop-up shops like Fair Play and WIGWAM had local goodies to keep visitors happy, and Urban Acres was open for business. The Kessler had a model of Oak Cliff’s Stevie Ray Vaughan memorial. This conceptual clay model is by San Antonio artist Victor L. Rangel.

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