BBQ Competition Debuts at Balloon Festival

Get the grills and taste buds ready – the First Annual Wakefield Rotary Campus Cookoff and State BBQ is putting meat to the heat Sunday, July 22.

The competition will provide a heated finale to the 34^th Annual South County Hot Air Balloon Festival at the URI Athletic Fields from July 20 to July 22. BBQ teams will compete for cash prizes and the champion will earn the right to compete in the National BBQ championship in Jack Daniels Hollows, TN in August, sponsored by the Kansas City Barbeque Society.

Local BBQ teams are encouraged to enter, and up to 40 will be selected for the competition. Entrants will be judged in four categories: chicken, pork, pork ribs and beef brisket. For entry forms contact Arthur Faria at budfaria@yahoo.com or call (401) 789-3902.

Entry and registration forms for Competition Teams, Judges and Food Vendors are available for download at the following link: www.wakefieldrotary.org/RegistrationPage.cfm

While competition is closed to registered team members and judges, the public is welcome to observe this high stakes and high-energy challenge. 

The organizers of the Balloon Festival also plan to have barbeque available for sale to balloon festival patrons, so they won’t go hungry while inhaling the tantalizing aroma from the competition.

The balloon festival is comprised of three days of varying events, culminating around hot air balloon rides in the morning and early evening on all three days. 

Other events include a Friday night concert with John Cafferty and the Beaver Brown Band, a Saturday night firework display, carnival rides, kid’s rides and attractions, food vendors and crafters. 

For the past 34 years, the Balloon Festival has become a much-anticipated event in Southern Rhode Island, drawing in as many as 15,000 patrons over the course of the weekend.

For more information, visit www.southcountyballoonfest.com.