LEXINGTON, N.C. (WGHP) -- Thousands of people will be bringing their appetites to the 40th Lexington Barbecue Festival this weekend. Festival organizers and local restaurants are busy getting ready to welcome the crowds.   "It's going to be a celebration,” Lexington Barbecue Festival Director Stephanie Saintsing said. The Lexington Barbecue Festival will cover a stretch of nine blocks on Main Street in uptown Lexington. There will be hundreds of vendors and live music, and admission to the festival is free. With this being the 40th festival, it has something new to delight fans.  There will be a parade to kick off the festival in the morning and fireworks following the grand finale concert. "We just wanted to add a new element to the festival. And I thought in 40 years, we need to really kick start the event, and so a theater company out of Charlotte has created this production ... and it's going to be really special,” Saintsing said. Crews are setting up at Breeden Amphitheater for the Jammin' at The Amp Pre-Pig Shindig that will kick off the fun on Thursday ahead of the festival on Saturday. Artists are also at work on a festival fan favorite: the sand sculpture of pigs "It's a really a year-round production ... We couldn't do it without our great team here at the City of Lexington and all of our sponsors, and it's just a real team effort,” Saintsing said. The highlight of the event is the barbecue. There are three official restaurants participating in the festival: Barbecue Center, Stamey's Barbecue of Tyro and Speedy's Barbecue. “This is our 40th, and Speedy's has been in every one of them, So that's 40 years behind us,” Speedy’s Barbecue Owner Roy Dunn said. Speedy's Barbecue is gearing up to start prepping sides like slaw and dip that will go with the barbecue. They plan to bring it uptown on Friday. It will take them around 200 pork shoulders to feed the crowd, and they will start preparing that meat soon. “It takes about eight or 10 hours to cook the shoulders, and then we have to chop them ... It's just like a slow process, but it's just a little bit bigger than usual,” Dunn said.  “So we're hoping it'll be a great day, though.” They look forward to seeing people enjoying the fun, music and food. “Just tell the people to come hungry. We'll fatten them up,” Dunn said. The Jammin' at The Amp Pre-Pig Shindig kick-off event tomorrow at the Breeden Amphitheater will run from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. with live music. Admission is free with five cans/boxes of food to support Pastor’s Pantry. On Saturday, the festival will start with the opening ceremony on the grandstand stage at 9 a.m. in the square. Festivalgoers have the option to travel to the city by Amtrak train. It will stop in Lexington for the festival from Charlotte to Raleigh.