Cumming Council To Reconsider BBQ Cup Alcohol Sales Denial

The Cumming City Council has called a special meeting tonight at 6 to reconsider a special permit application for the sale of beer and wine at the upcoming National BBQ Cup. 

After its October vote to allow for special permits for beer and wine to be served at Cumming Fairgrounds events, the city council Tuesday night—in a surprise move—voted 4 to 1 to deny the National BBQ Cup's application to serve beer and wine at the two-day event set for Nov. 15 and 16.

The move "blindsided" organizers, who say they've consulted an attorney and will file a lawsuit against the city and its councilmen if the council doesn't reverse its decision on the matter, reports the Forsyth County News.

“This, if it stands the way it is, will be the end of the National BBQ Cup in the city of Cumming or Forsyth County,” founder and lead organizer Randall Bowman told the newspaper, citing the loss of sponsorships from beer companies and sales would cost the event tens of thousands of dollars. Now in its third year, it drew 18,000 people last year to the city's 235 Castleberry Road facility.

The National BBQ Cup, a Kansas City Barbeque Society-sanctioned competition, benefits three local charities—Bald Ridge Lodge, Jesse’s House, and Forsyth Community Connection—and includes a "variety of different food vendors, arts and crafts vendors, product demonstrations, live entertainment and a kids zone," its website says.  

Organizers also had planned this year to have a Beer Garden at the event.

The council, which meets at 100 Main Street in Cumming, is set to hold an executive session to discuss "pending and threatened litigation," before reconsidering its previous 4 -to-1 vote, according to the agenda. 

Should the Cumming City Council reverse its earlier decision and allow beer and wine sales at the National BBQ Cup? Tell us in the comments why or why not.

• Will You Be Que'n in Cumming With No Beer?