COVINGTON, Ky. — Smoke on the Rive BBQ Fest returned to Covington this weekend with vendors bringing out their best low-and-slow smoked dishes.

Patrick Gramaglia, owner of Big G’s Barbecue and Catering, is one of those vendors. His business has been in operation for about five years now.

“I got in it by accident and someone said hey you ought to sell your food and the rest is history,” Gramaglia said.

He runs the business with family and friends. This year, the business is taking part in the Smoke on the River Barbecue Fest for the first time ever. The festival kicked off on Friday and they said they’ve been busy selling food and trying to keep up with the demand, especially for their brisket.

“We didn’t expect to sell so much. It’s awesome!” Gramaglia said. “We’ve got some shrimp back there on the barbie, so to speak, and we’re heating up sides.”

Gramaglia can be found with the meat on the grill, with family and friends serving sides like macaroni and cheese. It takes a lot of work for the weekend.

“It just takes a long time,” he shared. “We were up Friday morning at one o’clock in the morning and came down here with our meat. You don’t get any sleep. You got to put wood in every hour in the smoker.”

This is the third year in a row for the festival. While it’s Big G’s first year, places like The House of Brisket have been taking part in the festival for years. Owner Kable McAlpine said the event is known to bring in some good business.

“It’s pretty big. It’s pretty big for us,” he said. “Anytime you have festivals on the weekend, it’s great. This is kind of an early festival in May, June, July, August, September, so we start ramping up, but this is normally one of our kickoff festivals right here.”

Gramaglia said they’re grateful for the business and think the weekend has been a big success so far.

“Everyone just loves our food and it’s been a lot of fun, but a lot of work,” he said.

The final day of the festival is Sunday and it runs from 12 p.m. to 9 p.m.