Assorted ramblings from the world of entertainment:
• Home cooks who believe their corned beef is better than what’s available at any restaurant now have a chance to prove it.
Organizers of the Mahoning Valley Irish Festival have opened their second Corned Beef Challenge to amateurs as well as professionals.
Both will have a chance to serve up the Irish staple on Feb. 2 at Penguin City Brewing Company in Youngstown.
There will be a cash prize for the amateurs. The pros are competing for bragging rights and a plaque they can hang in their establishments.
Organizers are asking for a $25 deposit from corned beef cookers that will be refundable after participation.
For those who are more interested in eating than cleaning up, tickets are $10, which includes a plate for samples and an opportunity to vote on the winners. Children ages 9 and younger are admitted free.
Tickets and more information for both cooks and customers is available online at mahoningvalley irishfestival.com.
• Meghan Reed and Ryan MacLennan from the Trumbull County Historical Society will be behind the bar at Darlene Lounge in downtown Warren from 5 to 8 p.m. Tuesday.
They’re not moonlighting; they’re kicking off TCHS’s membership drive and raising money for the organization as it works to preserve local history and create a science fiction museum built around the collection donated by Warren native and Modern Props founder John Zabrucky.
Grab a beverage and tip generously because 100% of the tips collected will go to the society.
• Nelson Ledges Quarry Park announced the lineup for its Grassfire festival earlier this month.
Greensky Bluegrass will headline the Aug. 2 to 4 event, which mixes traditional and contemporary bluegrass with some of the jam band sounds normally hosted by the park. In its 20-plus years, Greensky Bluegrass has collaborated with the Grateful Dead’s Phil Lesh and Bill Kreutzmann, Billy Strings, Sam Bush and Yonder Mountain String Band and released 11 albums.
The Del McCoury Band and the Travelin’ McCourys will be back, and the lineup also includes Leftover Salmon, Peter Rowan Band, Donna the Buffalo, Rumpke Mt. Boy, Becky Buller, The Steel Wheels, The Slocan Ramblers and others.
Weekend passes are $120, and admission is $80 for Saturday arrivals.
• There’s no news on WonderStruck or WonderBus, and the silence has me wondering about the future of those events.
The two Ohio music festivals staged by The Elevation Group put early bird tickets on sale in November 2022 for its 2023 festival, and organizers made about a dozen posts on its Facebook page by this time last year for concerts on the grounds of Lakeland Community College in Kirtland (WonderStruck) and the Lawn at CAS (Chemical Abstract Service) in Columbus (WonderBus).
There hasn’t been a post on the Facebook page since its cover photo was changed last August. Its Instagram and X accounts are equally quiet. Same with WonderBus, WonderWorks (Elevation Group’s festival in Indianapolis) and WonderRoad (outside of Pittsburgh).
Maybe it’s just a change in strategy. Elevation Group certainly had some disgruntled fans last year after WonderStruck shifted its lineup from predominantly adult alternative and indie pop to a mix of bro country and hip hop. Those who bought early bird tickets expecting the kind of acts that had been a part of the event since it was called LaureLive flamed its social media accounts when it announced headliners like Walker Hayes, Nelly and Flo-Rida.
With a couple of exceptions further down the bill, I had zero interest in that lineup, but WonderStruck / LaureLive was a quality, well-run event.
Hopefully, Elevation Group is keeping quiet now, because it wants to make a bigger splash when it announces the lineups. It would be a shame for those events to disappear.
Andy Gray is the entertainment editor of Ticket. Write to him at agray@tribtoday.com.
