This Saturday, October 11, the City of Pembroke’s Theater and Arts Board will host their first ever Pembroke Pig Pickin’ Festival in the historic downtown.

The barbecue and music event begins at 10 a.m. and last until 8 p.m. With nine bands hitting the stage the crowd is sure to have a great time.

"We are really excited about the great line up of music," said Entertainment Coordinator Mike Reed. "We really do have something for everyone."

Local sweetheart Taylor Stanfield is opening the festival with the national anthem and will be immediately followed by the Tybee Mountain Boys, a blue grass band from Chatham County.

Next on the venue is Christian Rock Group Driven. The six member band is a local favorite from First Baptist Church in Pembroke. Driven is a contemporary rock band, and has traveled to many churches and events to lead worship. The band has also opened for recording artists Austins Bridge. Members of the band include, Bobby Creech- Lead Vocals, Brittany Creech-Vocals, Brandon Creech- Rhythm Guitar, Quint Moore- Drums, Jessie Hill- Bass, and newest addition Brian Conley- Lead Guitar.

During the morning acts Country 106.9 FM will be hosting a live broadcast of the Official Pig Pickin’ Hog Callin’ Contest. Join D.J.’s Mike and Laura as they see how many hog farmers and country boys and girls can call the pigs home.

After the Hog Callin’ the Pig Olympics will begin. Children of all ages are invited to come and compete in a variety of games like sack races, pig tosses, corn hullin’ and more. There will also be arts and crafts for the kids. For the adults there will be horseshoes, checkers and other old time favorites. Everyone will enjoy the bee keeping display, the quilt making, local art, and other historic displays.

"We have plenty of rides, inflatables, a rock wall, dunking booth; just so much for the entire family," said Reed. "There will even be a few puppet shows by the Puppet People from Savannah."

Just before noon the Crystal Beer Parlor’s house band the Beer Parlor Ramblers will get the crowd’s feet stomping and dancing around to some authentic New Orleans Dixieland jazz! Buddy Kosic, Royce Johnson, Sandra Embly, Willie Hammett, Jon Miller, and Christian Flores are sure to liven up the crowd. They are followed by Savannah alternative country band the Train Wrecks. Savannah, Ga.’s own local-boys-done-good, the Train Wrecks offer up raucous and rollicking Americana that’s as equally indebted to the traditionalist legacies of A.P. Carter and Johnny Cash as it is to the forward-thinking rock & roll of Wilco and Lucero.

Local reviewers have been "blown away" by the band’s live shows, and the Wrecks have been officially dubbed "The Hardest Gigging Band in Savannah", a testament to the love and dedication they have for their music.

The Train Wrecks are a band in the truest sense, all the members are involved in the writing and arranging of the songs, and each member plays multiple roles during their high-energy live shows. The Wrecks perform at 1 p.m.

The music keeps coming and so does the fun. At 2 p.m. Motown and R&B band the Tradewinds bring their smooth sounds and rhythmic moves to Pembroke for an hour of cool listening. Put on your shagging shoes and be ready.

Next is Perception. This party band can best be described in 3 words… I WANNA ROCK. And that’s what they do, from playing timeless dance classics like Brown Eyed Girl, Mustang Sally, and Brick House to bringing down the house with modern favorites from bands such as Drowning Pool, Godsmack, and Rage Against The Machine. With well over 80 popular songs, Perception can and will entertain whatever crowd they are performing in front of.

If you enjoy music from the 70's such as Grand Funk Railroad, Steppenwolf, C.C.R and Thin Lizzy....Or music from the 80's such as Rick Springfield, Twisted Sister, BonJovi, and Michael Jackson.... You will be entertained. This music a little to "retro" for you, they also perform some of the more 'grungy' music from the 90's as well, such as... Alice In Chains, Bush, Everclear, and Nirvana... Sometimes all this Rock and Roll can be a little to overwhelming, that's when they will settle down the mood, from time to time, with songs such as 'The Dance' by Garth Brooks, 'Purple Rain' by Prince, 'Turn The Page' by Bob Seger, and 'Simple Man' by Lynyrd Skynyrd.

Catch Perception in a good mood and they might even sing you a bar or two of everyone's favorite backyard bar-b-que anthem 'Freebird' by Lynryd Skynryd.

At 4 p.m. local country crooner, Hannah Dasher will also be hitting the stage. Twenty-two year old Dasher, a native of Springfield packed the park back in July when she opened for Grammy winning country singer Billy Dean at J. F. Gregory Park in Richmond Hill. Her songs "July" and "No "U" in Tennessee" are taking the south by storm.

Check out her music before the show at http://www.myspace.com/hannahdashermusic .

Finishing up the afternoon is Pembroke resident Jay Jourden with his original folk rock. Jourden has been involved in the music industry for decades and is sure to put a groovin’ twist to the festival line up. He is sure to get the crowd jammin’ for the evening when headliner, indie recording artist, eighteen year old, Kristen Capolino rocks the stage just before 7 p.m.

Romanian born, Capolino is already an accomplished blues guitar phenomenon having played/opened for Bret Michaels, the Blue Oyster Cult, UFO, MSG- Michael Schenker Group, Copy Cats and many other well known artists. Her influences are Michael Schenker, Gary Moore, Carlos Santana, Molly Hatchet too name a few.

Capolino is rapidly becoming a respected musician on the New York music scene. In September 2004, she was invited onstage to jam with Michael Schenker during Rock Bottom, at The Downtown in Long Island New York. The crowd was amazed by Kristen's confident and inspired performance, during which she shared the solo with Michael, playing note for note even though she'd never met Michael until that moment, let alone rehearsed with him! Not only an amazingly gifted guitarist with a very assured stage-presence, Kristen also writes and sings her own songs, and has her own band. Impressive by any standards but Kristen is still only eighteen years old, and at the time of her jam with Michael she was only fourteen! Since then, Kristen has recorded an album of her own songs. Kristen's debut CD "All that I am" was released in 2006 to rave reviews.Check out Capolino’s fan favorite, hard rockin’ cover of Paula Abdul’s Straight Up on You Tube or listen to a few of her tracks on MySpace at http://www.myspace.com/kristencapolino .

All with the great music festival organizers guarantee some of the best barbecue in the region, other great foods, a large variety of vendors, and more. The Savannah based Jail House Choppers will have their custom motorcycles on display and the Over the Hill Gang will also be showing off their classic cars.

"Come spend the day in Pembroke," said event committee member Rhetta Gibson. "We will be cooking the pigs all day and enjoy the great company and music."

Event coordinators encourage everyone to bring a lawn chair and come early. All funds generated by the festival will go towards the restoration of the historic Tos Theater in Pembroke.

"We have a lot of displays and shows to enjoy," says Gibson. "It is sure to a great family fun day!’