An annual fundraiser for community service will return next week.

The Portsmouth Rotary Club will hold its 35th annual barbecue at the former Tidewater Community College campus on College Drive in Suffolk on June 21. Ticketholders will enjoy food, music, beverages and good company from 3 to 9:30 p.m.

“This is our biggest fundraiser of the year,” said Steve Milner, Portsmouth Rotary publicity chair.

Advance tickets are $35 — in honor of the event’s 35th year — and $45 at the gate. Barbecue and chicken will be provided by Rodman’s barbecue, with both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. Local rock band Strictly Bizzness will perform.

Every ticketholder will be able to take their fill of the food, drink and entertainment.

“People have a good time,” Milner said.

All money raised goes towards Rotary Club charitable contributions and community programs, including St. Mary’s Home for Disabled Children, Hoffler Creek Wildlife Preserve, Portsmouth Reads, Edmarc Children’s Hospice and the Mariner’s Museum.

The first responder awards held by the club are supported by this fundraising, as well as the dictionary donations to Portsmouth Public Libraries on each member’s birthday.

There’s also Paint Your Heart Out, which encourages members to help elderly or otherwise challenged homeowners paint and maintain the exteriors of their homes.

“What comes in goes out throughout the year to fund these activities,” Milner said.

He said the event draws an average of 1,000 people throughout the day annually, and that he’s expecting at least 500 participants this year to eat at long tables and under tents, with a gentle breeze from the James River.

“The group really covers a lot of bases as far as the area and people,” he said. “It’s all ages and backgrounds. We really have a diverse group in every sense of the word.”

TowneBank is the Rotary barbecue’s premier sponsor and has tickets for advance tickets for sale at its Harbour View location in Suffolk, plus the Churchland, Portsmouth Boulevard and Olde Towne, Portsmouth locations.

Call 775-8513 for more information.