Heavy traffic expected around Roots N Blues N BBQ weekend

Roots N Blues N BBQ kicked off for the 10th year in Columbia Friday night. There were some technical issues, but event organizer Richard King says everything should be running smoothly the rest of the weekend.

Thousands are expected to attend this weekend’s festival, bringing a lot of extra people into town, specifically the area of Stephen’s Lake Park.

To try to lessen traffic for non-festival goers passing through, Roots N Blues N BBQ is offering free shuttle rides from any of the downtown parking garages. The shuttle will take you directly to the festival gates. Shuttles start one hour before the festival gates open. On the weekends, parking is free is the city’s downtown garages. Shuttles will run from 10:30 a.m. to Midnight on Saturday and 10:30 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. on Sunday. COMO Connect is also offering free rides this weekend.

You can find more information on transportation and parking here: http://rootsnbluesnbbq.com/festival-info/

There will also be a 10K and Half Marathon across Columbia Saturday morning. Most of these routes will be on sections of the MKT Trail, but there are some sections that go through parts of the city, including downtown.

You can find maps of the race routes here: http://rootsnbluesnbbq.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/rnb13.1participantguide2016.pdf

Columbia’s economy also benefits from the festival. Last year’s festival brought in an estimated $860,000 for area businesses.