Shelby shows up for music, mutts and mush at the NC Liver Mush Festival | Opinion
By Brandon Bridges | Guest Columnist
OPINION — As a lifelong Cleveland County resident, I'm ashamed to say that this year was a first for me to attend the NC Liver Mush Festival in my hometown of Shelby, North Carolina. From work obligations to other events, the Liver Mush Festival was something that I had always wanted to attend, yet always seemed to be on a weekend that I had already obligated for something else.
Waking up at 6:30 on a Saturday was well worth it to be a part of the first All American Car Show, and it allowed me a chance to see everything unfold from start to finish. After cracking a questionably well placed joke about Mustangs and crowds, I rode in with a convoy from the Cleveland Mall to park on Lafayette Street to showcase our rides to what I've been told was one of the largest turnouts ever for the NC Liver Mush Festival.
Early on, mother nature teased us with a handful of raindrops that decided not to show up again for the rest of the day, which turned out to be windy at times but overall sunny and extremely pleasant. After parking, I walked over to watch Madison Bridges and Friends play a well thought out mixture of classic rock, Americana, and country music that seemed to offer a little bit of something for everyone in a crowd that continued to grow into the morning. As the day went on, musicians on multiple stages throughout the venue kept the music flowing and the crowd engaged.
Around mid-day I stopped by Mack's for the quintessential liver mush sandwich. With a line that spanned something between a city block and a country mile, an entire team of people manned the grills to cook out 'mush as quickly as possible. The line moved at a steady pace and the sandwich was just as good as I had remembered. It was awesome to see a team of people working hard not only to cook out their own food but keep other vendors supplied with product at the same time.
Long time champion Michael Ellis Sr. ended up winning the Liver Mush Eating Contest for the 9th year in a row, eating over two pounds of it straight from the pack. In the Liver Mush Cook Off emceed by Johnny Ray, Daniel Brock of The Bread Lab and Clint Boyd of Saltwater Markets competed in a close race separated by only two points that was ultimately won by Brock, who added his winnings to match for a total of $1,000 that was given to the Broad River Community Market.
If the massive turnout was in any way burdensome for the organizers, you'd never know it by how well things ran. From the musicians to the vendors to the special events, everything seemed to run like clockwork.
If you drove for a few hours in most directions from Shelby and told anybody that a food called Liver Mush could draw tens of thousands of people together for a yearly festival, they'd probably tell you they didn't believe you after asking what Liver Mush was…but it happened. The event was what I would consider a resounding success, and it was worth it.
I'll be back next year.
Brandon Bridges is a lifelong Cleveland County resident who was born, raised, and currently resides in Shelby, North Carolina. He currently works in motorsports technology and enjoys racing remote control cars and writing articles for local publications in his free time.
Copyright © 2026 Brandon Bridges.
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