Barbecue-and-comedy festival draws families to El Segundo Library Park

Organizers and attendees said a combined barbecue-and-comedy festival at El Segundo Library Park brought families and out-of-town pitmasters to El Segundo this week.

"I've always wanted to also bring a barbecue festival to El Segundo. If I do them together, that's gonna be a super unique thing," said Mel Schmiller Jr., a stand-up comedian who said he ran a comedy festival for five years before the pandemic and organized the current event.

Schmiller said the festival featured food, live music and comedy across the city. "This year, we did 6 comedy shows over 4 nights in 6 different venues," he said. He described pit masters flying in to cook and said, "we fed pretty much the whole city." Attendees praised individual vendors: one visitor singled out a Wagyu tri tip and another praised a spicy pork taco from Sazzle.

Residents described the park gathering as family-oriented. "Just delighted to have events like this that bring everybody together," one attendee said. Another said the town had an almost "Mayberry feel," and several cited family-friendly programming and food from local vendors such as Slice and Pine.

No formal city action, permitting details, budget figures or public-safety incidents were discussed in the remarks captured in the transcript. Organizers and attendees framed the event as community building and local entertainment; Schmiller said he intends to expand next year, saying, "I cannot wait for next year. It's gonna be twice the size and twice as much fun." That projected expansion was presented as an organizer's plan, not a city commitment.

Attendees and organizers repeatedly praised the mix of barbecue and comedy but did not provide attendance counts, economic impact estimates, or contract or funding details in the recorded remarks.