Blues, Views, and BBQ visitors Izzy Cardello (l) and Bailey Blaikie, both 16-year-old Staples High School students, show off their painted faces today on the second and final day of the festival. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo

Pie eating and ribs eating contests for youngsters and adults were part of the School of Rock Jesup Jam activiities today at the second day of the Blues, Views, and BBQ Festival. Luke Ingber (l), 12, of Norwalk took first place in the children’s pie eating competition. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo

Scenes from today’s first day of the 10th anniversary edition of the Blues, Views, & BBQ Festival at the Levitt Pavilion in Westport. J.C. Martin for WestportNow.com and WestportNow.com photos

A youngster wore some ear protection today at Westport’s 10th annual Blues, Views, and BBBQ Festival at the Levitt Pavilion. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo

Soul and blues singer Slam Allen delights the Blues, Views, and BBQ Festival crowd in Westport today by getting up close and personal. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) Matthew Mandell for WestportNow.com

By Susan Granger

As the suspenseful murder mystery “Wind River” begins, a terrified teenage Native American girl is running across the snowy Wyoming tundra. Barefoot and bloody, she eventually stumbles and falls, dying under the bright light from a full moon.

According to Cory Lambert (Jeremy Renner), the rugged U.S. Fish & Wildlife Officer who found her as he was tracking a predatory mountain lion, she died of pulmonary trauma, drowning in her own blood, having inhaled too much sub-zero air, causing her lungs to burst.

That’s what both he and the coroner tell rookie FBI Agent Jane Banner (Elizabeth Olsen), who declares her death a homicide. After all, there’s conclusive evidence that the Arapaho girl was not only beaten but also raped - and she was obviously fleeing from someone.

“I’m just trying to do the right thing,” Jane explains, evoking memories of Clarice Starling in “The Silence of the Lambs.”

By James Lomuscio

The sounds and scents of New Orleans are set to fill downtown Westport as the 10th annual Blues, Views & BBQ Festival fires up this weekend.

Part of the crowd at last year’s Blues, Views, and BBQ Festival. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo

The Westport Downtown Merchant Association (WDMA)-sponsored event runs from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday on Jesup Green and the Levitt Pavilion.

On stage the smoking sounds of headliner bands will complement the real smoke of 15 pitmaster teams vying for Kansas City Barbecue Society (KCBS) titles in the nearby Imperial Avenue parking lot, according to Bob LeRose, event founder and former WDMA president.

“To me it’s always been about first and foremost community and giving Westport something to be proud of,” said LeRose, owner Bobby Q’s Cue & Co. of Norwalk, formerly of Main Street, Westport. “Basically, it’s a fun street party for the weekend.

There was a full house tonight for the closing night of the Levitt Pavilion’s 44th season. Headlining the finale was Beau Bolero, a Steely Dan cover band. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo

Elizabeth Levitt Hirsch of the Mortimer Levitt Foundation thanks the Levitt Pavilion closing night audience tonight on behalf of her family for their support of the Westport summer performance series. She said communities across the nation are now emulating Westport in offering similar performance series. (CLICK TO ENLARGE) WestportNow.com photo