Apple Blossom Festival events kick off Friday night at Civic Center Park in St. Joseph.

The “Made with Uncommon Character” community branding campaign is putting on the BBQ contest this weekend. Campaign Director Kristi Bailey said the People’s Choice contest takes place from 5:30 to 8 p.m. Friday with the opportunity to sample the entries.

“People can buy a wristband for (the) People’s Choice contest and for $10 they can sample 24 competitor’s pork samples and then vote for their favorite. The winner will get a cash prize the next day,” Bailey said. “If you don’t want just samples of pork, we do have multiple vendors there selling BBQ, tenderloins, kettle corn, ice cream, all kinds of things.”

Eighties cover band Blue Oyster Culture Club will perform from 7 to 10 Friday night at Civic Center Park.

The Apple Blossom Parade begins at 9:30 a.m. Saturday and travels from Noyes and Frederick to Fourth and Felix Downtown. Bailey encourages everyone to head to Civic Center Park after the parade.

“Come eat lunch, eat some BBQ, but also we are going to have a lot of kids activities. We’ve got bounce houses for the little ones.. We have these giant obstacle courses for big kids, just really a lot to do,” Bailey said. “So after the kids eat too much sugar at the parade, bring them over to the park and let them burn off some of that energy and have a good time at the BBQ.”

For a full schedule of events, go to uncommoncharacter.com.