ST. LOUIS – The “Q in the Lou” Barbecue Festival, an event that was expected to bring pitmasters from across the country to downtown St. Louis, has been canceled less than two weeks before it was scheduled to take place.

The event, which was to be held at the Arch grounds from September 6-8, is a disappointment for many barbecue enthusiasts and has been a popular attraction in St. Louis for about a decade.

Event organizers cited a lack of VIP ticket sales and corporate sponsorship as the primary reasons for the cancellation, a problem they say stemmed from safety concerns surrounding recent high-profile shootings downtown over the Fourth of July weekend.

Sean Hadley, one of the event organizers, confirmed the news to our reporting partners at the St. Louis Post Dispatch and expressed disappointment, saying, “We’re seeing a lack of support. It’s not there.”

The organizers had been working to address sponsor concerns, including downtown safety, but were unable to secure the necessary funding to move forward with the festival.

The cancellation comes as a surprise, given that just a month ago, organizers had promoted the festival at a news conference with Mayor Tishaura Jones and Greater St. Louis Inc. CEO Jason Hall as part of ongoing efforts to revitalize the city.

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While the mayor’s office expressed disappointment in the cancellation, a spokesperson pointed out several other successful downtown events, including the City Social Block Party on Washington Avenue in May, Downtown Summer Nights on Kiener Plaza, and the recent Festival of Nations in Tower Grove Park, which was a success, further underscoring St. Louis’ ability to host major events.

“We’re disappointed that Q in the Lou won’t be back this year. St. Louis knows how to throw a festival,” the spokesperson said. “Between the Festival of Nations, which just wrapped in Tower Grove Park; City Social, which was hosted downtown earlier this year; the upcoming Taste of Black St. Louis, which will be hosted downtown; and so many others, bringing people together to celebrate our culture is one of the things we do best as a city. Should Q in the Lou try to come back next year or any year after that, they’ll have the support of the Mayor Jones administration.”

For now, fans of the “Q in the Lou” will have to wait until organizers can reassess the event for the future. The barbecue festival, which has been a St. Louis tradition, remains canceled for this year.

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